"1792" Dickeson Restrike Cent Token
Zoins
Posts: 33,863 ✭✭✭✭✭
Anyone follow these?
The Alan Weinberg specimen just sold for $5,040.00 at FUN. I bid on it well into the 4 figures but lost out.
Is there any information on these from the 1792 date? Was this really originally designed for the US 1792 cent?
- https://coins.ha.com/itm/patterns/1792-dated-cent-circa-1859-dickeson-restrike-token-breen-1380-judd-c1792-1-ms64-red-and-brown-pcgs-secure/a/1291-4323.s?ic2=mybidspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyBids-101116
- https://www.pcgs.com/cert/35743615
Alan Weinberg's Commentary: The fascinating "1792" Dickeson patterns were apparently struck in two batches at separate times in 1859 or 1860. This is one of the few Prooflike specimens known with almost "watery" fields and considerable original color. Most often this beautiful coin is found with non-reflective, satiny, dark brown surfaces. I did feel this "pattern" was so aesthetically pleasing and attractive that it belonged in a 1792 U.S. pattern collection, as did Woodin, Pollock and the three authors of the new 1792 coinage reference.
Comments
Fascinating!!!!
I was watching that one too. These go for good money so I have a electrotype that fills the foid
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CoinsAreFun Toned Silver Eagle Proof Album
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Gallery Mint Museum, Ron Landis& Joe Rust, The beginnings of the Golden Dollar
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More CoinsAreFun Pictorials NGC
That’s awesome @coinsarefun! I might have to look into electrotypes myself!
I gave it a good bid too, but got caught up at the NYINC show, so didn’t follow through.
I once handled one of those and sold it on consignment in an absolute auction (on eBay). That was many years ago and, as I remember, it brought around $4,500 at the time.
The Breen Encyclopedia attributes these to Montroville Dickeson, circa 1850s. (See Breen numbers 1376-1381). The eagle is a degraded die purportedly intended for embossing Federal paper. The "Trial Piece" die was ordered by Dickeson for use with the eagle, which Dickeson apparently thought was a discarded pattern die for 1792 coinage.
I bought this excessively rarer spread wings example a decade ago and wrote the following below...
1850's Dr. Montroville Wilson Dickeson "1792 Cent Trial Piece" Judd-C1793-4 / Pollack 6015 / Breen-1381
I was able to acquire this 1850's Dickeson Re-Strike today which made my day, as I first read about them when I received a copy of Breen's Encyclopedia in the late 80's and have followed them on and off since. Upon researching although the Breen 1380 variety with the Eagle perched on a half shell or rock has been available within the last decade alone on a few occasions. I have not seen this Eagle wings spread on a shield Breen 1381 variety cross any major coin auction since the Abe Kosoff era. I had seen this example become available a few weeks ago and was drooling at my keyboard, it was one of the main reasons I ventured to the show today.
As the story goes Dickeson obtained a pair of dies created by early mint employee Adam Eckfeldt. Those dies were never used for coinage or pattern purposes, and were assuredly sold as scrap metal by the Mint. Dickeson apparently believed the die was connected with the 1792 Getz or Birch cents. Dickeson thereby had a reverse die made which read "TRIAL PIECE/DESIGNED FOR/UNITED STATES/CENT./1792." and struck his tokens. The dies where actually not for the 1792 Cent as Dickeson believed but embossing dies for stamping revenue paper in 1816.
These are also listed in the Judd US Pattern book, along with a bit of info on www.USPatterns.com
It's NGC MS63BN lots of red present with a nice overcast of blue patina. The obverse has a few die cracks and is a bit hard as it was struck from rusted dies, whereas the reverse is somewhat proof-like. It's 1 of 6 known which where struck by Dickeson and just another final frontiers of numismatics esoteric item that fits my collection well.
A bit more info on Montroville Dickeson from a Stack's blog-
Among our favorite “characters” in 19th century numismatics is Montroville W. Dickeson, M.D. We have mentioned him a number of times over the years in various studies, including in the book, American Numismatics before the Civil War. However, he remains generally unknown to most numismatists today, and is absent from the ANA Hall of Fame.
As were many other important figures early in our hobby, Dickeson was a man of many interests—multi-tasking we would say today, but with regard to different pursuits. While he was a numismatist, Dickeson was also a medical doctor, an archaeologist, an expert in Indian culture, and a Philadelphia landlord (one of his tenants was E.B. Mason, Jr., the coin collector). Today, Dickeson is probably better remembered for his excavation of Indian mounds in the prairie states, than he is for his numismatic contributions.
In the realm of coin collecting, his American Numismatical Manual, published by Lippincott in 1859, was large in size, comprehensive in scope, and illustrated in color (with tinted, embossed plates). At this time there was very little for Dickeson to draw upon in the way of earlier published information. An Historical Account of American Coinage, by John Hickox had been published in 1858, but only in an edition of 205 copies, mainly to historical societies, and of a very small size. Other than that, nothing, except for some scattered auction catalogues, treatises on medals, and Joseph B. Felt’s 1839 book on coin and paper money of Massachusetts.
Dickeson made some assumptions, some of which are humorous today. For example, he suggested that the letter C on the reverse of a gold coin meant that it was made in California. Today, we all know that the letter signifies the Charlotte Mint. Some coins that we know are rare today were listed without comment, and others he called rare are now thought to be, if not common, at least only scarce. Still, in the main, the reading of the American Numismatical Manualis very educational and informative. Some related discussion of this appears in our current “Spotlight” feature on our Website. The book went through subsequent editions in 1860 and 1865, at which time the title appeared slightly differently as American Numismatic Manual. As the coin hobby had started in a large way in 1857 and 1858, terminology was still in a state of flux. What we now call numismatics in 2007 was often called numismatology in the late 1850s. We use the adjective numismatic to describe something, such as a numismatic book, but numismatical was certainly not out of keeping with practice in 1859. Dickeson died on April 14, 1882, at the age of 69.
Today, it is easy enough to become acquainted with Dickeson and his book by submitting a “want list” to any leading dealer in out of print numismatic publications or, for that matter, searching on the Internet. The original press runs for the three editions must have comprised many thousands of copies. The typical example encountered is apt to have clean contents, but with the brown cloth cover sometimes scuffed or a bit loose. Such a book is an excellent addition to a numismatic library.
I always find fascinating when a restrike token brings that price supply and demand
Great piece @Broadstruck! Love the spread wings eagle!
Is there any evidence these were actually done by Adam Eckfeldt for revenue stamps?
Very Nice! Have never seen one of those with the spread wings!
Here are a bunch more from the Heritage Archives and one from Kagin's. Prices seem to be on the upswing. Love how far back the Heritage archives go!
I didn't realize how many of these were auctioned when I started building this post!
Heritage MS63RB - 1996 FUN - $297.00
https://coins.ha.com/itm/three-cent-pieces/other-us-sets-and-groupings-binder-lots/-1792-die-trial-appendix-c-in-judd-pollock-6001-ms-63-red-and-brown-the-obverse-features-an-eagle-perched-on-top-of-a-r/a/149-7111.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515
Heritage PR63 - 1999 ANA - $747.50
https://coins.ha.com/itm/patterns/-one-cent-trial-piece-judd-appendix-c-pollock-6001-r6-7-pr-63-the-obverse-features-a-beautifully-designed-eagle-with/a/199-5505.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ArchiveSearchResults-012417&lotPosition=0|12
Heritage MS63BN - 1999 ANA - $690.00
https://coins.ha.com/itm/miscellaneous/1792-privately-issued-cent-restrike-judd-appendix-c-pollock-6001-high-r6-ms-63-brown-struck-in-copper-by-dr-montrovil/a/208-6118.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ArchiveSearchResults-012417&lotPosition=0|16
Heritage VF30 - 2000 Philadelphia - $212.75
https://coins.ha.com/itm/miscellaneous/1792-privately-issue-cent-restrike-judd-appendix-c-pollock-6001-high-r6-vf-30-rim-nicks-struck-in-copper-by-dr-montrovill/a/232-5129.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ArchiveSearchResults-012417&lotPosition=0|15
Heritage PR 63 - 2001 Long Beach - $1,782.50
https://coins.ha.com/itm/patterns/-one-cent-trial-piece-judd-appendix-c-pollock-6001-r6-7-pr-63-the-obverse-features-a-beautifully-designed-eagle-with/a/263-6195.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ArchiveSearchResults-012417&lotPosition=0|11
NGC MS64BN - 2004 Palm Beach - $891.25
https://coins.ha.com/itm/medals-and-tokens/circa-1859-dickeson-restrike-token-ms64-brown-ngc-breen-1380-the-obverse-features-a-defiant-eagle-perched-on-a-rock-the-r/a/358-10515.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ArchiveSearchResults-012417&lotPosition=0|9
NGC MS64RB - 2004 Long Beach - $1,265.00
https://coins.ha.com/itm/medals-and-tokens/circa-1859-dickeson-restrike-token-ms64-red-and-brown-ngc-breen-1380-the-obverse-features-a-defiant-eagle-perched-on-a-roc/a/349-10440.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ArchiveSearchResults-012417&lotPosition=0|10
NGC MS63BN - 2005 Long Beach - $1,495.00
https://coins.ha.com/itm/medals-and-tokens/-1850s-dickeson-restrike-token-ms63-ngc-breen-1380-the-obverse-features-a-defiant-eagle-perched-on-a-rock-the-reverse-di/a/366-10807.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Inventory-BuyNowFromOwner-ArchiveSearchResults-012417&lotPosition=0|8
NGC MS64RB - 2007 Long Beach - $1,610.00
https://coins.ha.com/itm/miscellaneous-medals-and-tokens/circa-1859-dickeson-cent-restrike-token-ms64-red-and-brown-ngc-breen-1380-copper-the-obverse-features-a-defiant-eagle-per/a/430-753.s
NGC MS63BN - 2008 Long Beach - $1,150.00
https://coins.ha.com/itm/world-tokens/-1850s-dickeson-restrike-token-ms63-brown-ngc/a/1100-28562.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ArchiveSearchResults-012417&lotPosition=0|5
NGC MS64BN - 2018 CSNS - $2,640.00
https://coins.ha.com/itm/patterns/-1850s-dickeson-restrike-token-breen-1380-judd-c1792-1-pollock-6001-r6-ms64-brown-ngc/a/1274-5143.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ArchiveSearchResults-012417&lotPosition=0|2
PCGS MS62BN - Kagin's - $2,750.00
https://www.kagins.com/1792-1c-pcgs-ms62bn-j-c1792-1-dickeson-restrike.html
Thanks Zoins!
I never managed to find an example of the revenue stamp which was to have been embossed by the dies.
Thanks CaptHenway!
I've never seen another surface since I acquired this even within all the remaining holdings by Ford, Newman, and Bowers.
The Breen-1380 is actually quite common in comparison to the 1381.
I've bought and sold 4 NGC plastic slabbed 1380's over the last 15 years.
@Zoins said:
These were most likely made from modified dies originally engraved by John Reich in 1813, for revenue stamps which successfully raised money to pay expenses for the War of 1812.
The Act of August 2, 1813 laid the groundwork. Adam Eckfeldt stated in a contractual letter 8/13/1813, witnessed by Mint Director Patterson, "I agree to have executed for the Commissioner of Revenue eighteen sets of dies from original dies and hubs of the denominations specified in paper..." Eckfeldt sub-contracted the "have executed" to John Reich, the dies were delivered incrementally, the last delivery 11/23/1813, and the stamps were effective on January 1, 1814. The stamps were abolished on 12/31/1817 (US Treasury records).
I am busy today, but later I will post several images of examples from my collection and other sources.
First of all, I re-read the section that refers to these items in the book 1792: Birth of a Nation's Coinage. The authors had some of the same observations that I had. I included two paragraphs on the Third Federal Issue of revenue stamps in my biography of Robert Scot, but did not mention the Dickeson issues. A little more detail was added in a recent article that I submitted to Penny-Wise.
As the authors of 1792 observed, the one dollar stamp RM 280 (spread wings) visually matches (I have not done an overlay). Additionally, there were at least seven denominations ($1, $1.50, $2, $2.50, $3.50, $4, $5) that had the unusual eagle position, perched on the side of the shield. Part of the Eckfeldt contract stated "On each of the dies there will be inserted the value of the stamp with an Eagle bearing a shield, the form or position of which to be so varied that no two dies shall correspond."
I HAVE NOT seen an example of the OP post, the Eagle on a half-shield, on a revenue stamp. However, several of the eighteen denominations have never been found, so it does remain a possibility (I need to update my research on this). The eagle of that issue is perched on the side of the half-shield, and does have some stylistic similarities.
A little background on the first three issues of federal revenue stamps. The first two issues (1798, 1800) were engraved by Robert Scot, by contract, to help finance the undeclared Quasi and First Barbary wars. Adam Eckfeldt contracted to forge, turn, and file the die bodies for Scot to engrave. Eckfeldt also contracted to fabricate eighteen screw presses for these (one still exists). Some of the denominations do not survive on stamped paper, however a full set of 1798 stamp dies engraved by Scot were turned over to the Vermont Historical Society in 1902, used previously by the state of Vermont.
With the 1813 Third Federal Issue, Scot was not longer involved, and the contract went to Eckfeldt who sub-contracted the engraving.
There was an old newsletter on the three federal issues, Embossed Revenue Stamped Paper News published from 1938 until WWII caused it to cease in 1941. With an interlibrary loan, I found a complete set to read and make notes. There was much research from the Federal archives including the US Treasury department. James Magee, Jr. was the editor and also was a member of the St. Andrews Society that Robert Scot had joined in 1786, the Society retains some accurate biographical info on Scot.
Here are some images, all from the 1813 Third Federal Issue, three pics are from my collection, I may have a couple more lurking somewhere:
Excellent!
I looked into this more, with the following analysis:
1) The spread wing Dickeson issue is from a left over One Dollar federal revenue stamp engraved in 1813, from a die body forged, turned and filed by Adam Eckfeldt (US Treasury records of the Eckfeldt contract). Eckfeldt sub-contracted the engraving, which was essentially the same process as coinage die fabrication (original die, hub, working die). Since the federal stamps of the first three issues were completed at the US Mint, Eckfeldt "have executed" to a Mint-connected engraver, either Moritz Fuerst or John Reich (NOT Robert Scot in 1813, and definitely not his style). I own both Fuerst and Reich engraved eagles, and it is definitely in the style of Reich (feathers, talons, and eagle's head). There is absolutely no connection to 1792 Mint issues.
2) For the OP example of the folded-wing eagle on a half-shield, all of the one dollar and up denominations known for the 1813 federal issue are perched on the side of a shield, with one talon over a corner of the shield (seven denominations listed above, $1 to $5). For denominations .75 cents and less - the eagle is perched on the top of the shield. The eagle of the OP Dickeson issue is in the style of John Reich, and matches other features of the one dollar and up denominations of the 1813 issue.
The $10 and $50 denominations of the 1813 issue were ordered per the Eckfeldt contract and completed per delivery records. However, the usage of the $10 and $50 denominations was not defined, unlike all other denominations, in the Act of August 2, 1813 "An Act laying the duties on notes of banks, bankers, and certain companies; on notes, bonds, and obligations discounted by banks, bankers, and certain companies; and on bills of exchange of certain descriptions."
In other words, the $10 and $50 federal stamps of 1813 were ordered and engraved, but their purpose was never described and they were never used - and no stamped paper of these denominations are known to exist.
Conclusion: The first post Dickeson issue, folded wing eagle on a half-shield, is from a modified die derived from either the $10 or $50 denomination of the 1813 Federal Issue of embossed revenue stamps, which were completed but never used.
Additional information is from my sig line book, or my Penny-Wise article "Defending Liberty: Robert Scot and Adam Eckfeldt Create Wartime Revenue Stamps at the Mint".
Nysoto - Thanks for the information and debunking the Dickeson nonsense withy its endless repetition and embellishment!
Is the following an adequate summary:
All three were likely ordered by Eckfeldt and designed / engraved by Reich?
@Zoins> All three were likely ordered by Eckfeldt and designed / engraved by Reich?
Get the book Third Federal Issue 1814-1817, W. V. Combs, which is the result of 50+ years of philatelic research on these stamps, from known examples of revenue stamped paper, US Treasury records, and American State Papers. I validated some, not all, from NARA microfilm of US Treasury records, and the American State Papers is online. The key evidence is the Eckfeldt contract.
I added the attribution of John Reich as engraver. Eckfeldt did not engrave, but did prepare die bodies at the Mint, for many years, along with various heat treating functions, in preparation for engraving. I also stated the OP Dickeson issue must be a $10 or $50, for reasons stated in my earlier post. Usually, I would preface with "probably" but in this case I don't believe there is any other viable alternative.
Also, I referred to the Stamps as 1813, because they were engraved and delivered in 1813, but not effective until 1/1/1814 (thus the book title).
Numismatists usually don't cross-reference philatelic research, and vice versa, which is why the Dickeson issues were never solved. I only became interested in the federal revenue stamps because of research on Robert Scot. The stamp records are not included in NARA Record Group 104, records of the US Mint, so these were overlooked by numismatists, even though the hundreds of stamp dies were fabricated at the US Mint, with Mint engravers, coiners, and screw presses for hubbing.
I will gladly respond to any questions or challenges to the above. My interest is only arriving at the correct answers.
The above sentences are not worded correctly. They should read:
Eagle on Top of Shield is for the 75 cent and lower Federal Revenue Stamps (various wing positions, see Combs book)
Eagle on Side of Shield is for the $1 and higher Federal Revenue Stamps (various wing positions, see Combs)
Spread-Wing Eagle on Side of Shield is specific for the $1 denomination (a few other denominations have spread wings)
The only half-shield is the Dickeson folded wing issue, which is from a cut down rusted hub.
To clarify the Engraver's role at the early (pre-1850) mint - An engraver made designs and cut original master dies in soft steel. The Chief Coiner provided the steel, machined impressed working dies/hubs, and hardened steel. His workmen also made minor die repairs, but substantive repair and repunching usually went back to the Engraver. As technology changed tension between the Chief Coiner and Engraver increased to where competing pattern pieces were made by each department. Things came to a head in 1849-50 in the disagreements between Franklin Peale and James Longacre regarding the new dollar and 20-dollar gold coins. Longacre also proposed methods to increase his control over dies and to make the Engraving Department the official custodian of dies and hubs.