Indian Head gold pieces was modified by Barber, was "worthy of J.J. Audubon". Dies for the half eagle were sent to the mints in Denver and San Francisco; both western mints reported difficulties in striking the new pieces. Landis wrote to his counterparts at the other mints, advising them that the planchets, or blanks, needed to be shaved very slightly to strike properly. The new coins proved to be thinner than earlier coins of their denomination, due to the field being raised above the design. This meant that automated sorting machines could not reliably sort them when mixed with earlier coins. The new gold
Larvell Blanks two months of the season as a pinch hitter and pinch runner for Atlanta before being demoted to the triple A Richmond Braves at the end of May. Blanks batted .261 with twenty home runs and 82 runs batted in over two seasons at Richmond before receiving a call back up to the majors in September . With incumbent shortstop Craig Robinson not hitting, Blanks was shifted over to short early in the season. He batted .234 with three home runs and 38 RBIs while committing 27 errors on the field his only major league season as a regular. Feeling