Interesting question... There's been some very important research done on this and its ilk regarding their coming to existance. I'm not confident on the details, and my research material is disorganized right now. Maybe someone like Pistareen or Coinosaurus can chime in...
Wouldn't surprise me one bit if someone like BV had the coin and was working up a story (and testimonials) to proclaim it as the first and only branch mint "whatever" and ask $2,000,000 for it.
Latest thinking on the coin is that it was a bungled attempt at making a restrike of the 1851, a coin highly valued in the 19th century. In this case they apparently restruck over an O-mint dollar. Supporting this idea is the recent discovery of an 1851 struck over an 1846 dollar (ANR 3/2004:1165, did not sell). The first thing to look for on any fresh 1851 dollar is evidence of overstriking.
ER
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BTW, I've always loved this coin.
EVP
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
roadrunner
Wouldn't suprised me if one showed up on the SS Republic
I would be shocked, considering it was made at the Philadelphia mint outside normal channels.
MrEureka posted a fab photo of the "O" mintmark on the 51-O in the thread at:
http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=216001&STARTPAGE=2
Latest thinking on the coin is that it was a bungled attempt at making a restrike of the 1851, a coin highly valued in the 19th century. In this case they apparently restruck over an O-mint dollar. Supporting this idea is the recent discovery of an 1851 struck over an 1846 dollar (ANR 3/2004:1165, did not sell). The first thing to look for on any fresh 1851 dollar is evidence of overstriking.
No idea where it's at. TDN apparently knows