The William Cutler Atw8ter collection-- how significant was it, and do many pieces remain today?

Longacre

I was taking a look at the Doug Winter site, and the description of this coin caught my eye. Does anyone know how significant the William Cutler Atw8ter collection was as to other great collections of the past (maybe Coinguy1 knows, because his (uncle?) (father?) was B. Max Mehl). Does anyone know if other coins with this pedigree are still in existance? There seem to have been a limited number of New Orleans gold coins with this pedigree, so I am not sure if the collection focused on other areas.

1843-O $5.00 PCGS EF-45 Small Letters variety. Atw8ter Collection pedigree. Die State I; very early state with absolutely no cracks seen on the reverse. This coin is very desirable for a number of reasons. Fist of all, it is a scarce variety which is hard to locate in any grade. Secondly, it is appealing for the grade with enough remaining luster to suggest a higher grade. But the “neatness factor” of this coin is made even greater by its pedigree. It is from the William Cutler Atw8ter collection which was sold by B. Max Mehl in June 1946. The Atw8ter collection was one of the three or four greatest collections ever sold by Mehl and there are just a handful of New Orleans gold coins known with the Atw8ter pedigree. If you care about pedigree (which you should) you can’t find an 1843-O half eagle of any variety with a much better provenance than this!

********

PS. The smut filters would not let me put the letter "a" between the "w" and "t" in his last name!

Cladiator

You mean the William Cutler Attwater collection?

coinguy1

"The marvelous collection of William Cutler At (space for language filter) water, sold by B. Max Mehl at mail bid auction on June 11, 1946, was one of the most important sales of the first half of the 20th century. At water’s collection was nearly complete for all U.S. coins from 1793 to 1920, missing only a few of the greatest rarities. However, At water had rarities of his own, including not one, but two, 1804 Silver Dollars, Proof-only examples of the 1884 and 1885 Trade Dollars, the 1838-O Half Dollar, an 1876-CC Twenty-Cent piece, and many others. All told, the sale contained just over 2,400 lots, which sold for a total of $153,514.60. While today, you could hardly touch a single rarity for that amount, at the time, it was the largest sum ever realized for a coin collection sold at auction in the United States. Ever the showman, B. Max Mehl added, “And as far as I know in the world.”

B. Max Mehl was my Great uncle, as opposed to my uncle or father.

RichieURich

<< <i>B. Max Mehl was my Great uncle, as opposed to my uncle or father. >>



I had no idea! Do you have any stories about B. Max Mehl that you'd like to share?