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
Derek Blanks Parker, Mike Epps, Eva Marcille, Akon, Cedric The Entertainer, Columbus Short, and more. In October 2011, Blanks became a cover and features photographer for, "Essence". Derek Blanks/ESSENCE covers include Wendy Williams: The Girl Friends Issue, Angela Bassett: Black Women In Hollywood 2011; features include 2011 Do Right Men featuring Amare Stoudemire, A Few Good Men: The Cast of Red Tails, Don Lemon: Transparent and Black Women in Hollywood 2011 featuring Viola Davis, Loretta Devine and Amber Riley of "Glee". Other Blanks images have graced the covers and pages of "Billboard", "Maxim", "People", "Ebony", "Life & Style", "PEOPLE en Espanol", "Uptown",