Marc Emory's Special Coin
tradedollarnut
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As related in Bowers' wonderful Silver Dollar and Trade Dollar encyclopedia:
Marc Emory’s Special Coin
Professional numismatist Marc Emory related the following concerning an especially nice 1875 trade dollar:
"As far as trade dollars go, there is a rather famous one I have handled (you did, too at one time), whose pedigree sounds like an old coin dealer’s tall tale: In early February 1975, I was still living in Philadelphia after graduating from college the year before. Early one morning, Bob Riethe, who had a coin shop out in Plymouth Meeting Mall, called me up to crow about the finest trade dollar he had ever seen. He said he had just bought it from Alan Woglom in Chalfont, Pennsylvania for $600—no small sum at the time. He also said it was an 1875 Philadelphia Mint coin. I said to cut out the nonsense, and to tell me what it was he really wanted to talk to me about. He swore it was no joke, so I drove out there swearing plagues upon his house if this was an early April Fool. Furthermore, he owed me $1,240 at the time.
"I arrived at his shop, wading through the snow and slush of the parking lot, and came to his counter in a mood which can politely be described as less than jovial. To boot, he kept me waiting for ten minutes to explain to someone why common silver dollars were common, and that he couldn’t pay $20 for 1922 Peace dollars in VF grade. Finally, he pulled out the coin in question. All was forgiven—provided he realized I wasn’t going to leave his shop without the coin. The 1875 trade dollar he showed me was (and remains today) one of the most exquisite U.S. silver coins I have ever seen. I finally badgered him into letting me have it in lieu of all the money he owed me. I sold it (I wasn’t too flush those days), to my great regret, to Maurice Rosen for $1,900. Maurice worked for First Coinvestors at that time. Maurice left FCI soon after that, and the coin soon appeared in one of their Pine Tree auctions. It was bought by Numismatic Associates of Ashland, Mass. for $3000+ and sold to A.H. Lamborn. His collection was sold (here’s where you come in) as the "Fairfield Collection" by your firm in 1977. The coin brought in excess of $7,000 this time.
"I lost track of it after that, as I was spending most of my time overseas by now. I did see it appear later in an ad by Jack Hertzberg, enclosed in a PCGS holder and graded a conservative MS-68. Where it is now, I don’t know, but someone should be happy with it. To this day it remains one of the two favorite silver coins I ever owned (the other was an 1855-S half dollar that went into James Pryor’s collection)."
Marc Emory’s Special Coin
Professional numismatist Marc Emory related the following concerning an especially nice 1875 trade dollar:
"As far as trade dollars go, there is a rather famous one I have handled (you did, too at one time), whose pedigree sounds like an old coin dealer’s tall tale: In early February 1975, I was still living in Philadelphia after graduating from college the year before. Early one morning, Bob Riethe, who had a coin shop out in Plymouth Meeting Mall, called me up to crow about the finest trade dollar he had ever seen. He said he had just bought it from Alan Woglom in Chalfont, Pennsylvania for $600—no small sum at the time. He also said it was an 1875 Philadelphia Mint coin. I said to cut out the nonsense, and to tell me what it was he really wanted to talk to me about. He swore it was no joke, so I drove out there swearing plagues upon his house if this was an early April Fool. Furthermore, he owed me $1,240 at the time.
"I arrived at his shop, wading through the snow and slush of the parking lot, and came to his counter in a mood which can politely be described as less than jovial. To boot, he kept me waiting for ten minutes to explain to someone why common silver dollars were common, and that he couldn’t pay $20 for 1922 Peace dollars in VF grade. Finally, he pulled out the coin in question. All was forgiven—provided he realized I wasn’t going to leave his shop without the coin. The 1875 trade dollar he showed me was (and remains today) one of the most exquisite U.S. silver coins I have ever seen. I finally badgered him into letting me have it in lieu of all the money he owed me. I sold it (I wasn’t too flush those days), to my great regret, to Maurice Rosen for $1,900. Maurice worked for First Coinvestors at that time. Maurice left FCI soon after that, and the coin soon appeared in one of their Pine Tree auctions. It was bought by Numismatic Associates of Ashland, Mass. for $3000+ and sold to A.H. Lamborn. His collection was sold (here’s where you come in) as the "Fairfield Collection" by your firm in 1977. The coin brought in excess of $7,000 this time.
"I lost track of it after that, as I was spending most of my time overseas by now. I did see it appear later in an ad by Jack Hertzberg, enclosed in a PCGS holder and graded a conservative MS-68. Where it is now, I don’t know, but someone should be happy with it. To this day it remains one of the two favorite silver coins I ever owned (the other was an 1855-S half dollar that went into James Pryor’s collection)."
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Comments
Ok. the trade dollar is neat too. I wouldn't kick it out of my collection if I owned it
Here's nice little story when I first was introduced to Marc in the mid-1970's. I recall him saying that his very first coin purchase was a gem 1917 T.1. quarter. And you know he was telling the truth. He started right at top level quality and never settled for 2nd best.
roadrunner
Yeah. And it's a good thing he doesn't collect Mexican. I don't need the competition.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
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There are 3 MS68 trade dollars. This one is technically perfect but is from Philly so it doesn't have the knock your socks off San Franscisco luster. Another is the Knoxville 1878-S, which I passed on because the toning was unattractive to me. The third is the Amon Carter 1875-S, which is absolutely drop dead gorgeous but with a tick or two.
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