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
Lance Blanks Lance Blanks Lance Blanks (born September 9, 1966) is a retired American professional basketball player who was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the first round (26th overall) of the 1990 NBA draft. A guard, Blanks played for the Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves in three NBA seasons, averaging 2.0 ppg. He played collegiately at the University of Virginia and the University of Texas at Austin. Blanks and teammates Travis Mays and Joey Wright were known as the "BMW Scoring Machine" during the 1989–90 basketball season. That Longhorn team finished second in the Southwest Conference and advanced to the Elite Eight