AOCS Mint, Frisco TX Overview
The AOCS Mint, Frisco TX, was the marketing name under which the American Open Currency Standard sold its bullion rounds. AOCS, founded by Robert J. ‘Bobby’ Gray, AKA Rob Gray, promoted precious metals as private, voluntary currency. It never operated a minting facility: every AOCS Mint round was struck under contract by a third-party mint, while AOCS set the designs, branding and quality standards.
From approximately 2009 through at least 2018, the AOCS Mint program spanned a diverse range of silver, copper, and gold issues supporting Austrian economics, sound money, and voluntary exchange. The program also served as the foundation for numerous affiliated issuers, including Republic of Texas, Andrew Jackson, Lakota, and the Silver Bullet Silver Shield (SBSS) partnership. Following a 2013–2014 split between AOCS founder Rob Gray and SBSS co-creator Chris Duane, Gray retained the SBSS name and AOCS Approved branding, relaunching the program under AOCS’s own infrastructure in 2014 (see AOCS Mint Evolution below); Duane began issuing separately under the “Silver Shield” name, manufactured by Golden State Mint.
AOCS Mint, Frisco TX Parent Organization
AOCS Mint operated as the bullion-issuing arm of a larger organization, the American Open Currency Standard — a movement founded by Gray to promote gold, silver, and copper as voluntary, honest money. AOCS coordinated a nationwide network of more than twenty affiliated currency programs, only some of which issued bullion through AOCS Mint. See the AOCS Collection page for the complete list of AOCS Approved rounds.
AOCS Mint, Frisco TX Manufacturing Partners
AOCS Mint was a marketing name, not a manufacturing facility. Every round sold under it was struck under contract by a third-party mint. Current research identifies the following production partners and periods.
| Period | Partner | Status |
|---|---|---|
| c. 2009–2016 | Osborne Coinage | Attributed |
| c. 2009–2011 | North American Mint | Documented |
| Date uncertain | Unknown Contract Mint | Pending |
| c. 2011–2012 | The Old Glory Mint | Documented (equipment) |
| 2012–2013 | Mulligan Mint | Documented through Sept. 2013 |
| 2014 – ? | Unknown Contract Mint(s) | Pending |
Osborne Coinage (Cincinnati, OH) — c. 2009–2010
Status: Attributed, unconfirmed by contemporaneous source
A 2021+ self-published “About” page from the d’Anconia Copper/Patriot Coins operation (Rearden Metals family, understood to be a later Rob Gray venture) says Osborne Coinage struck the first production run of the 2009 d’Anconia Copper design, alongside Bud’s Gun Shop rounds and the Community Dollar. Osborne Coinage is a legitimate, long-established private mint (est. 1835, Cincinnati, OH) with no documented operational connection to Gray’s later ventures. No contemporaneous (2009–2010) source has been located corroborating this attribution; it is treated as a possible AOCS contract mint pending independent confirmation.
A second, independent instance supports Osborne Coinage as an AOCS contract manufacturer. Dealer documentation for the 2016 Bitcoin Proof AOCS Approved Silver Round (MJB/Michael Bruce design) credits Osborne Coinage with striking that round: a different product, year, and source than the 2009–10 d’Anconia Copper claim. This does not confirm the 2009–10 attribution specifically, but it does support Osborne Coinage as a recurring AOCS-affiliated manufacturer rather than a one-off unverified claim.
North American Mint (Rochester, NY) — c. 2009–2011
Status: Documented
Archived AOCS Mint material identifies the early minting operation in Rochester, New York, with in-house design and minting capabilities. This corresponds with the North American Mint and supports attribution of early AOCS Mint production.
Unknown Contract Mint — Date Uncertain
Status: Pending additional research
Certain AOCS Approved issues cannot presently be attributed to a documented manufacturer. This category is reserved for issues awaiting conclusive physical or documentary evidence.
The Old Glory Mint — c. 2011–2012
Status: Documented equipment connection
Evidence indicates The Old Glory Mint participated in the evolution of the AOCS Mint program prior to Mulligan Mint. Mulligan Mint subsequently acquired Old Glory’s coining presses and related minting equipment. The specific issues produced by Old Glory remain under investigation.
Mulligan Mint (Dallas, TX) — 2012–2013
Status: Documented through September 2013; post-filing status unconfirmed
Mulligan Mint became the principal manufacturing partner for the later AOCS Mint program, producing documented issues for AOCS, Republic of Texas, Andrew Jackson, Lakota, and early Silver Bullet Silver Shield releases.
MJB Monetary Metals Bitcoin copper rounds (Michael Bruce design) are linked to Mulligan Mint by dealer listings and Mulligan Mint’s own program list, which includes Bitcoin. One collector account attributes the earlier MJB copper design to Central Metals Corp (CMC), with only the later circuit-board design struck at Mulligan Mint. See the AOCS Bitcoin Collection.
Mulligan Mint filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy (reorganization, not liquidation) in September 2013; litigation over the estate continued at least through August 2014. Whether Mulligan Mint continued physical production during this period, or when production stopped, has not been independently confirmed. The relaunched SBSS site (silverbulletsilvershield.com) still listed Mulligan Mint as a connected entity as of March 2014.
Unknown Contract Mint(s) including SBSS Relaunch / ARISE Collection – 2014 – ?
Status: Pending additional research
Following the Gray/Duane split, Gray relaunched silverbulletsilvershield.com under AOCS’s own hosting infrastructure (opencurrency.com), releasing new AOCS-affiliated SBSS designs under “The ARISE Collection” (including Decentralized). No manufacturer has yet been identified for this 2014 output; it is not confirmed to be Mulligan Mint, Golden State Mint, or any other documented partner.
AOCS Mint, Frisco TX Evolution
Archived websites document the evolution of the AOCS branding.
- 2009: Early AOCS Approved products entered the market. One documented John Galt reverse variety includes the LIBRECOINS.COM inscription.
- March 2010: The John Galt product line was marketed directly under The American Open Currency Standard.
- June 2010: The organization adopted the abbreviated AOCS identity.
- 2011–2013: AOCS Mint became the primary public-facing mint brand while production continued through contract manufacturers.
- 2013–2014: Following a partnership split between Rob Gray and Chris Duane, Duane exited SBSS and began issuing designs separately under the “Silver Shield” name (manufactured by Golden State Mint, Sanford, FL, beginning 2014). Gray retained the SBSS name and AOCS Approved branding, relaunching silverbulletsilvershield.com under AOCS’s own domain infrastructure (opencurrency.com) by June 2014, with new output marketed as “The ARISE Collection.” The relaunch site described SBSS as belonging to “a passionate group of collectors, customers, authorized dealers, and interested parties” rather than any one individual, and operated “in association with the Open Currency Standard” per its own 2014 copyright notice.
AOCS Mint, Frisco TX Notes
“AOCS Mint” was a marketing name used by the American Open Currency Standard; AOCS never operated a physical mint. Current research supports documented production by the North American Mint and Mulligan Mint, identifies The Old Glory Mint as an important predecessor through its documented equipment lineage, and recognizes that some early issues remain unattributed pending additional research. A 2021+ self-published source further attributes an early 2009–2010 production run — the John Galt companion piece, d’Anconia Copper — to Osborne Coinage (Cincinnati, OH), though this attribution is not independently corroborated by any contemporaneous source and should be treated as attributed, not confirmed. The 2013 Gray/Duane partnership split affects attribution for any SBSS-branded round dated 2013 or later: designs carrying “AOCS Approved” and “Silver Bullet Silver Shield” branding after the split belong to Gray’s continuing AOCS-affiliated operation, not to Chris Duane, who issued separately under the unrelated “Silver Shield” name beginning in 2014.
AOCS Mint, Frisco TX References
- Archived American Open Currency Standard websites (2009–2014)
- Archived AOCS Mint webpages
- Mulligan Mint documentation
- North American Mint / AOCS Mint archived material
- Wayback Machine, silverbulletsilvershield.com “About Us” and “History 2012–2013” pages (2014 captures)
- Wayback Machine, opencurrency.com/wp-signup.php SBSS subsite provisioning (June 2014 capture)
- The Survival Podcast, “Silver Bullet Silver Shield to Relaunch” (2013)
- Silver Stackers forum, “SBSS Final Mintage” and “SBSS Freedom Girl Revealed” threads (2014)
- Wall Street Journal Bankruptcy Beat / The E-Sylum, Mulligan Mint Chapter 11 filing coverage (September 2013)
- Mulligan Mint Inc. v. Republic Metals Corp., U.S. District Court, N.D. Tex. (appeal decision, August 2014)
- danconiacu.com “About” page (Wayback Machine, January 2022 capture) — Osborne Coinage production claim
- WorthPoint, “2012 MJB Monetary Metals Copper Bitcoin Art Round / AOCS Approved / ANACS Graded” (sold listing)
- Bitcointalk forum, “MJB Monetary Metals coins” thread (May 2024): collector attribution of early MJB copper rounds to Central Metals Corp (CMC), later circuit-board design to Mulligan Mint
- AOCS Bitcoin Collection — Texas Stacker collection page
- Texas Stacker Archives
Coins from AOCS Mint (Frisco, TX) (34)
