Gould Inc.

At the Subcommittee on Historic Preservation & Coinage hearings held on May 31, 1978, the vice president and director of materials research of Gould Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Milton Selker, made a bid for titanium to be used in the small size dollar coin. Titanium is a strong, low-density, highly corrosion-resistant metal. It is used to alloy aircraft metals because of it’s low weight, strength, and high-temperature stability. Gould Inc. produced dollar size samples in titanium, along with samples in nickel for comparison. Utilizing the samples, Dr. Selker was able to show that titanium had a nicer, more eye-pleasing surface appearance, was lighter, and was a plausible choice for the small size dollar. It was also pointed out by Dr. Selker that titanium was non-toxic, unlike nickel which was shown in studies to cause cancer in rats. Besides titanium and nickel, Gould Inc. subsequently produced patterns in five other metals, including silver, copper, brass, iron, and aluminum. They were produced with four obverse and two reverse designs, all having a plain edge. Each type has a rarity rating of R-7 (4-12 pieces known). The piece pictured here is listed as P-5425 in Andrew W. Pollock III's book, United States Patterns and Related Issues.

Here is a planchet that was intended for use in striking the titanium Gould Inc. patterns. Note that the edge has one incuse vertical line and approximately twenty-seven horizontal lines that encircle the entire edge of the planchet.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Diameter: 2.65 cm (1.04 inches)
Thickness: .2 cm (.08 inch)
Weight: 4.25 grams (65.6 grains)
Metal Content: 99.89% Titanium; .065% Nickel; .045% Copper
(Metal content determined by being x-rayed with Thermo Scientific Niton XL2 Precious Metal Analyzer)

1978 GOULD INC. PRESS PHOTO

This is Gould Inc.'s official press photo that was released to news media throughout the United States. The back of the 8" x 10" black and white glossy photo is dated June 5, 1978.

At least one newspaper ran the following article:

"Officials at Gould Inc.'s Cleveland Laboratories would like to see the new $1 U.S. coin be made from lightweight titanium instead of the nickel-copper coin now under consideration.

The laboratories here, which have been a pioneer in powdered titanium technology, have actually produced several hundred titanium coins to demonstrate the feasibility of the metal, said Edward L. Thellman, manager of commercial and contract developments for the laboratories here."

***The newspaper and date of publication of above article is unknown.