Winnings from the sale of the William Spohn Baker Collection (Post them here, forum friends.)

DCW

Well, by now we have all heard the shenanigans of the sale (although we may never know the details.) To recap: The father of the collecting field known as Washingtonia, William Spohn Baker, upon his death in 1897, bequeathed his enormous collection to the Pennsylvania Historical Society.
It contained a vast array of tokens and medals bearing the likeness of our first president and was auctioned off at Stacks last month with much pomp and circumstance. It brought an astounding $2.5 million dollars, most of which went to a single bidder who we know only by number (3975.)
The sale offered us collectors the rare opportunity to purchase pieces that were locked away in a museum (or a historical society to be more precise) for more than 120 years! W.S. Baker's reference on Washingtonia is still the standard in this niche of the hobby. A better provenance of this type of material would only include George Washington himself.
This thread is to post anything from this historic sale you were lucky enough to win. Mine arrived today:
(1864) R.Chamberlain Storecard/Washington die by Joseph H. Merriam, 27mm struck in tin. Musante GW-687, Baker-525, Miller Va-10. PCGS MS64

This is an incredibly rare piece that I've been dreaming of owning for a long time. This is believed to have been the original storecard struck in a small sample batch for Richard Chamberlaine, who owned a wharf in Norfolk, VA near the end of the Civil War or shortly thereafter. For whatever reason, it seems he never placed an order for more tokens in any appreciable quantity, and we are left with a handful of examples known. (I personally know of only two.) The token bears Merriam's famous Washington stock die that he used on his own storecard as well as on several other medalets. This is the Musante plate for his Washington reference.
Merriam's Chamberlaine die was muled extensively in the 1870s with the dies of John Bolen on slightly larger planchets, and they are all rare in their own right. This one has eluded me for years, and I'm thankful 3975 had to use the bathroom when this special lot presented itself. Sometimes life gives you one shot, folks.
Post your wins, ladies and gentlemen. Though, I will be shocked to see much added to this thread, I remain hopeful!

ricko

Thanks for the history on this piece and Congratulations on your acquisition.... I was not involved in the auction so cannot add anything further. Cheers, RickO

Zoins

Great pickup @DCW ! I'm glad you were able to add this exceedingly rare piece to your Merriam collection. I like the "M" mintmark at the bottom of the Washington die. Given the presence of bidder 3975 in the sale, I think it was important to stay focused, or have a big budget.

Of note, William Sphon Baker was Vice President of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania from 1982 and as a director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Also, when his collection was showcased by the Historical Society, it appears it was called a collection of "engravings" and not medals or tokens. Here are some mentions of Baker's collection by the Historical Society:

William Spohn Baker collection of Washingtonania (#V67)

Baker was another collector of Washingtoniana. Contained in the collection are images of Washington, mostly engravings. There are volumes written and annotated by Baker discussing how Washington was represented in art, handwritten copies of Washington's diaries (now, that’s some dedication!), and a steel engraving of the bust of Washington.

• https://hsp.org/blogs/fondly-pennsylvania/wheres-washington

William Spohn Baker collection of Washingtoniana

Baker was an avid collector of Washingtoniana. This collection is comprised primarily of images, almost entirely engravings, of George Washington. Most are portraits, but some represent milestone moments in his career. There are books about representations of Washington, including volumes written by and annotated by Baker. There are also handwritten copies of Washington's diaries circa 1785-1799. There is also a steel engraving of the bust of George Washington.

• https://discover.hsp.org/Record/ead-V67/Description#tabnav

As for pickups, there is a pre-existing thread discussing this sale with a number of pickups posted by forum members, including myself, here:

• https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1028372/baker-collection-sale#latest

Your statement "Sometimes life gives you one shot, folks." is fitting and I wonder if this is what bidder 3975 was thinking as well.

DCW

Well, I figured we could simply display our winnings here in a separate thread, apart from the views of the entire collection itself.

Pioneer1

3975 = Dwight Manley ... just donated it all to the ANA....