More On The Restrike 1804 Dollars
Rittenhouse
Posts: 672 ✭✭✭✭
John Dannreuther and I recently completed a study of the Class II and III Restrike 1804 dollars. Briefly, characteristics common to all of the restrikes show that they were all struck at the same time and historical documents support the striking as being sometime between late 1859 and early summer of 1860.
The characteristics allowed us to create the first emission sequence for Restrike 1804 dollars and that sequence shows that not only was the James A. Stack, Sr. Class III piece he first struck, but also that most of the Class III pieces were struck PRIOR to the lone surviving Class II coin. In fact, only the Linderman Class III piece is in a later die state than the lone Class II. This is, of course, completely the opposite of what many have previously proposed.
For those interested in our findings, Stacks Bowers will be printing our monograph in the auction catalog. For those who do not get a copy of the catalog, we will be re-publishing the article later next year in the numismatic press.
[edited for typo, thanks Mark)
Comments
Interesting.
Tom, You'll like the article. It debunks a lot of ancient myth - like the Class IIIs not appearing until the 1870s. Historical docs show they first appeared in late1863 or very early 1864.
Are you completely discounting the possibility that they first appeared in the back rooms of Philadelphia coin shops in late 1859 or early 1860 before being clawed back? I like to think that it could have happened. As Captain Renault said to Richard Blaine in “Casablanca,” “It’s the Romantic in me!”
.
Perhaps there are facts regarding that particular detail included in the article. Regardless, it sounds like you might have come to a different conclusion about the timing of the re-striking, but you haven’t yet presented any facts, either. In each case, I can appreciate that each of you would want to save such information until your articles are made available to the public.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
.
Bingo! Why would I "claim jump" our own article? If you want to see the evidence get a copy of the catalog or wait until we publish in another venue later next year.
What do Secret Service records, etc. have to do with die states, emission sequences, when these pieces were struck, who struck them, and when they first appeared ?
Oh yes, to answer JCH22's question as to whether the article was commissioned or paid for by StacksBowers, no it was not. We sent the article to them gratis because we thought it would be nice to have it in the catalog. Sometimes it ain't all about the Benjamins.
.
Actually, your reply shows a poor understanding of die states and emission sequences. Further, your suggestion of Secret Service records and 19th and 20th century litigation is quite silly as the objective evidence shows there is nothing of interest to find there.
The SS was not founded until well after the striking of these pieces and since these pieces regularly sold at auction from the 1870s on, there is obviously no litigation of any importance.
Two period records provide some amusing anecdotes illustrating the foregoing. First, Linderman was under Congressional investigation for wrong-doing. Interestingly, while the charges include a stock scam, kickbacks, and illegally employing relatives, there was no mention of illegal striking. Henry died before the charges could be officially brought. Nonetheless, there were enough people pissed at him that the committee's report got read into the Congressional record.
Then, in 1887, Mint Director James P. Kimball, who was seriously pissed-off at all of the illegal striking done by Lindeman and A. Loudon Snowden, had the Treasury Dept. seize Henry's collection which had been put up for auction. Several "patterns" were taken by the gov't, but, amusingly, the 1804 restrike dollar was not because his wife claimed he bought it from a coin dealer!
Lastly, none of the records you suggested have significant relevance to the subjects at-hand, that being die states, emission sequence, who struck them, and when they were struck. The records we found were more than sufficient to establish the facts. Having said that, if you wish to investigate other records, feel free to do so.
Like I said, why would I claim jump our own article? I want interested parties to read the article. That is why I made the announcement that we had completed our study and that it would be published in the catalog. You seem to not grasp the purpose of an announcement.
Where and when will this article be published?
Like I said in my original post at top, it will be published in the StacksBowers catalog. Since the auction is in Dec., the printed catalog should be ready shortly. I do know that it went to layout a couple days ago.
SB publishes their catalogs in downloadable PDF format available at: https://stacksbowers.com/auctions/catalog-library/. If you want hardcopy and are not on their mailing list, I suggest you call the NY location and ask how to purchase.
The Secret Service has traditionally limited its interest in counterfeit detection to paper money. From their point of view, a counterfeit $20 bill was 20 times more important that a counterfeit dollar, or 2,000 times more important than a counterfeit 1909-SVDB cent.
In the early 1980's when I was teaching an ANA Summer Seminar class on Counterfeit Detection I had a Secret Service Agent take the class. We chatted a bit and he said that at that time the S.S. had to rely entirely upon the Mint for expertise when the S.S. was involved in any case involving counterfeit coins, and it wanted to have one person on staff that knew something about counterfeit coins.
Of course this does not mean that things were not different in the late 19th Century.
.
However, none of the points you raise have the slightest implications on die states, the emission sequence, who struck the pieces, and when they were struck. 0 for 3.
When will your article be published and where will it appear?
the
.