SIDNEY — Additional Sidney Bicentennial coins are available for sale, due extra mistakenly minted.
Only 16 of the latest order of the Sidney coins are remaining due to individuals who had pre-ordered were expecting more would be ordered.
According to a city of Sidney press release, the Shelby County Bicentennial Committee announced in early January an order for additional Shelby County Bicentennial coins would be placed if there was sufficient interest. The minimum number of 25 coins was ordered, and notification was received recently the coins had been minted.
Shelby County Commissioner and Shelby County Bicentennial Co-chair Bob Guillozet was dispatched to Osborne Coinage to pick them up. Upon returning to Sidney and preparing to unpack the coins for distribution to those who had ordered them, it was discovered that Osborne Coinage had mistakenly minted 25 additional Sidney coins.
“While we did not intend to offer additional Sidney Bicentennial coins at this time, the minting mishap has presented the city with an opportunity to offer additional coins for sale,” said Sidney Mayor and Bicentennial Co-chair Mike Barhorst. “The cost of the .999 fine silver coins is $50 each. Payment will be required at the time the purchase is made.”
The coins will be available at Sidney City Hall during normal business hours by contacting City Clerk Kari Egbert. Egbert can be reached by phone at 937-498-8148 or by email at [email protected] . Because of Egbert’s work schedule, it is suggested that she be contacted in advance to ensure that she is available when those wishing coins stop by.
“For those who have not yet seen the coins, the front side of the Sidney coin contains the year of Sidney’s founding (1820) and the words ‘County Seat for Shelby County,”” Barhorst explained. “In addition, it shows the tower of the Shelby County Courthouse.”
“The reverse side of the coin shows an image of the Big Four Bridge,” Barhorst continued. “In addition, the number 200 is below the bridge along with the words ‘Gateway to the Miami Valley.””
The coins come in a protective plastic case. The case keeps the coins from being scratched when handled. The case can easily be removed if the purchaser wants to do so.
In addition, special keepsake boxes are available for $5 each. Each box can hold two coins.
“The keepsake boxes were designed for those who wanted to display both the Shelby County Bicentennial and the Sidney Bicentennial silver coins,” Guillozet explained. “There are some who have used them to display both the front and back of each coin, and that works too,” Guillozet stated. “It’s just not something we thought of when we ordered the boxes.”
“For those who ordered the Shelby County coins,” Barhorst said, “they are currently being minted and should arrive no later than March 27. Osborne Coinage apologized, and given the price of silver, there is really little else they can do although they are shipping them to us so that Bob doesn’t have to make another trip to Cincinnati.”
No additional Shelby County commemorative silver coins will be minted. With respect to the Sidney coins, the committee is taking a wait and see attitude.
“We’ll see what the demand might be,” Barhorst said. “We are not in the coin business, and we certainly won’t order any more after Sidney’s Bicentennial concludes.”
