Happy 4th of July!!

For today's post I thought I'd feature my Bicentennial pieces that are neither Nevada nor casino related, but rather those produced by the U.S. Mint to commemorate the Bicentennial. All featured the same design by Mint Engraver Frank Gasparro, but came in a number of different metals and finishes:

Gold-plated bronze (very shiny and no matte surfaces, so doesn't scan well):

Proof Silver:

Large (3" diameter) Antique Silver:

There were also 3 gold pieces produced: a small (23mm) piece; a larger (33.6mm); and a very large (3" diameter) gold piece. This is the medium, 33.6mm diameter one in proof finish:

Notice the same Bicentennial Star motif on the back of each piece that also shows up on the Silver Slipper $1 chip and the Thunderbird Ashtray.

Finally, not Bicentennial, but certainly cool and somewhat related-- 4 chips made for President Eisenhower's poker set (my acquisition from the recent Chip Chat auction ):

I believe the "official" colors of the set were the pink/red, white, blue, and yellow. As such the almond may be a sample (as they may all be); and I'm missing the blue (I believe a lighter blue than the counterpart from Truman's poker set, just as the red is lighter than Truman's set as well). If anyone has any extras from either set, I'm VERY interested .

Thanks! This has been a lot of fun posting some chips from my collection. Thanks for letting me share

Have a happy Fourth of July, Everyone!!

Brent J. Jensen
R-8007
orbis non sufficit