U.S. Mint Coin Glass Products

Has the United States Mint ever produced coin glass products?

The Fostoria Glass Company in Moundsville, W.Va., is responsible for most of the coin glass likely to be encountered. The U.S. Mint has experimented with making coins of glass, but these are patterns and not in the form of bowls, glasses, plates, and the like.

Is Fostoria Glass the only business to have manufactured coin glass objects?

Fostoria’s “coin pattern” is listed as number 1372 in the company’s product catalog. There are earlier manufacturers, some of the 19th-century examples having been copied from actual coins.

When did Fostoria Glass produce its coin pattern glass and has anyone made more since that time?

Fostoria Glass coin pattern products were produced between 1958 and 1982. Lancaster Colony purchased both Fostoria and its molds in 1983. Lancaster then re-produced Fostoria coin glass, but lacking detail and frosting. Some of the Lancaster glass was later sandblasted to give it the “original” appearance.

I have a pocket watch sold by the U.S. Mint a number of years ago. The watch is gold in color, the back has the seal of the U.S. Mint and the words “Mint Time.” The watch face is made of a 1995 Civil War commemorative dollar, but the fields of the coin are a beautiful pebbled texture, not the normal proof or uncirculated finish. Do you know how many were made?

According to the U.S. Mint, there were 828 silver composition 1995 Civil War dollar pocket watches produced, specifying them as Option Code B64. According to the remarks made by someone selling one of these watches on eBay, it appears the watches came without a battery.

Did the U.S. Mint produce any other similar products from these silver dollars?

The Mint also made 1,755 uncirculated clad half dollar wrist watches (Option Code 63) and 6,172 uncirculated clad half dollar money clips (Option Code 65). The Mint report does not indicate if these are the numbers sold, or simply the number produced.