New 1794 Dollar found?

DAM

I just heard Paul Harvey say a previously unknown 1794 Dollar will be displayed next month (didn't hear where). He described it as a very well struck piece.

Does anyone know about this? I haven't been doing much reading lately and hadn't heard about it until now.

Russ

Nope, not new - just hyped.

Russ, NCNE

DAM

Thanks Russ.

One man's hype is another man's National Treasure.

Sunnywood

Copied from the other thread

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The coin in question is the Amon Carter specimen of the 1794 flowing hair dollar. It was not "recently discovered." The coin has been well-known for many decades, and has resided in several famous collections. The only "news" here is that the marketing machine run by Steve Contursi under his "Rare Coin Wholesalers" (RCW) banner has decided to play up the coin and market it in a new way, by saying that the condition and die state are indicative of a first strike. That is not a particularly surprising or enlightening claim to those already familiar with this specimen. The coin was always fabulous, before anyone tried to put this additional spin on it.

There are high-grade "specimen" examples (prooflike in appearance and manufacture) known for other early issues as well, such as some of the early coppers. What is remarkable is how the little brochure put together by RCW tries to argue that the coin should be worth more than the 1933 double eagle. Well, hey, there's nothing new about hype and puffery, right? But this is not a new discovery.

Best,
Sunnywood

Sunnywood

Oh, by the way, the first silver dollar coin ever minted under federal authority was not a 1794 dollar, and therefore not this particular one either. Rather, it was the exceedingly rare silver striking of the Continental Dollar, which is more commonly encountered in pewter (or brass). Cf. the recent Stack's auction of Part I of the John J. Ford collection for detailed commentary.

Best,
Sunnywood

Halfsense

Paul Harvey, a respected broadcaster for decades, needs to hear "the rest of the story." His abbreviated item about the 1794 dollar was a bit misleading. The 1794 dollar is, of course, not a "new discovery" piece. Whereabouts can be traced back to Col. Green in the 1920s, Wil Neil and the legendary collection of Amon Carter Sr.

Yes, this is the Neil/Carter specimen. What's new is that over the past year, a lot of experts' eyes have now seen the coin in person for the first time. NGC certified it as a 66 in March 2003 with the silver plug; so far, unique among the 130 or so surviving 1794 dollars. In June, PCGS certified it as Specimen 66. It now has been compared (again) at The Smithsonian with the copper die trial piece which the Stacks donated after comparing it with the Neil/Carter coin for the 1984 Carter auction. In that auction, Stack's stated the silver piece conceivably was the first silver dollar struck.

More info at ANA web site, www.money.org, under "The Newsroom."

This coin, and the just recovered du Pont 1866 No Motto dollar and both the Walton and Bebee 1913 Liberty Head nickels, will be exhibited at the ANA National Money Show in Portland, Oregon.

-donn-

Conder101

Whenever Paul Harvey does a numismaticly related story, he almost always has at least some of the facts wrong.

Aethelred

<< <i>Whenever Paul Harvey does a numismaticly related story, he almost always has at least some of the facts wrong. >>



The same is true with most of the media. A few years ago, during the height of the 1943 copper cent hype, our local station did a series of reports. They stated that there was a nationwide search underway for a missing 1943 copper "Penny" and that it was valued at $1,000,000! The owner of the coin shop I now work at did an interview with the station and corrected the errors they made in the first report. The station did not use his interview, instead they said this in a follow-up report: "Local coin dealer confirms hunt for $1,000,000 'Penny' underway!"

Crackout

I live in Denver, and the local channel 7 news did a story on this last night since the coin will be displayed at the ANA museum in Colorado Springs. They basically said it was the first coin ever minted by the U.S. mint. And when the report was done, the local anchors and weatherman all giggled and bantored back and forth about how great it would have been to have "found" this coin - like Steve Contursi found this in his pocket change!

Russ

Now make sure all of you remember just how out in left field the media is on this tidbit next time you're listening to the talking heads discuss political happenings. They are no better at that. Media accuracy is a thing of the past.

Russ, NCNE

Zerbe

Tuesday March 16, 2004 12:18 PM (NEW!)



DENVER (AP) - Coin collecting experts say they have identified a 210-year-old silver dollar that is likely the first one coined by the United States Mint.

The PCGS { PROPHETS } have helped an old BUDDY { PROFIT } on a coin worth maybe 3 to 4 million to what Contursi himself says, is now worth at least 10 million.

PROPHETS=PROFIT
HYPE =MONEY

Here is the true story of the 1794 dollar;
MY great, great, great grandfather, John Taylor, was a friend of Thomas Jefferson. I have original letters sent from Thomas Jefferson to John Taylor, who was a farmer. In one of the letters I possess, dated, February 28, 1795, Thomas Jefferson thanks John Taylor for his farming help through the years and encloses a "special silver dollar " as a momento, with detailed instuctions " to not use it for barter ". From these facts I surmise that I may possess the first silver dollar ever struck. My silver dollar is in very fine condition, and does not have a plug. It has been handled by almost every person in my family for the past two hundred years, and we will keep it in the family, in its present state. I " surmise " that I may have the first silver dollar struck, but do not plan to capitalize on that, as I consider it to be a " National Treasure ".

Paul Taylor



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MORGAN PROOFS #1

Conder101

That million dollar 1943 copper penny hunt STARTED based on a report by Paul Harvey. I wrote an article for the Old Fort Coin Club on it that covered how the story changed each time it was picked up with new mis-information being added at each retelling and how the story grew because each teller "knew" something about it. It was entitled "A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing"