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
Kyle Blanks the minors. Blanks was called up on May 5, after Xavier Nady was designated for assignment. Blanks only played 5 games for the Padres in 2014, getting 2 hits in 10 at bats. On May 15, 2014, the Padres traded Blanks to the Oakland Athletics for Jake Goebbert and minor leaguer Ronald Herrera. He was designated for assignment on November 28, 2014. On December 15, 2014, the Texas Rangers signed Blanks to a minor league contract with a base salary of $1 million, and $600,000 in performance related bonuses if he made the big league roster. Blanks appeared in 18