Newly Discovered Treasures Dug Up in Philadelphia
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Here is a press release from Stacks about the Die Trial Dollar found in Philidelphia
Newly Discovered Treasures Dug Up in Philadelphia
Soil Near First United States Mint Yields Unique Early Pattern
(NEW YORK – JULY 9) Stack’s August Milwaukee sale will include two pieces recently discovered in the soil of Center City Philadelphia, including a previously unknown copper die trial for a 1798 dollar. Two metal detectorists, working with permission on a construction site whose location abutted that of the First Philadelphia Mint, discovered the 1798 dollar struck on copper scrap along with a 1793 half cent in the spring of 2006. Now, a year later, the coins have been authenticated by American Numismatic Society curator Robert W. Hoge, among others, and will be offered for public sale for the very first time. The pieces will be sold as separate lots, slated for sale on August 5 at the Hotel Metro in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Hoge called the piece "one of the most exciting items to have been brought to my attention†in his column in the Spring 2007 issue of ANS Magazine. The cataloguers of the piece described it as "incredible†and termed the condition of the piece "sharpness as struck, condition as found,†while noting some of the sedimentary buildup the trial acquired during 200 years in the Philadelphia soil.
The dollar trial is struck from a known die marriage in its terminal state, identified as Bolender-30a and BB-116, die state VI. It is struck on a misshapen copper planchet, but shows a significant portion of the surface area of both obverse and reverse dies. Though copper die trials from the 1790s are known on other denominations, the copper 1798 Bust dollar trial is the first to be discovered on that type and denomination. The only other early dollar die trials – both unique – are dated 1794, one with stars and one without. The ground near the First U.S. Mint has been a fertile ground for die trials before. A 1795 half dime in copper, partially defaced, was discovered when Frank Stewart razed the First Mint in 1914; it is now held by the National Park Service. Blank planchets for 1792 silver center cents were found at the same time by Stewart and also reside in the NPS collection.
The reason for producing an impression in copper from dies that had already produced a substantial number of coins is unknown – it could have been to test the badly broken dies or to show their advanced die state to a member of the Mint staff, or there could have been no reason at all.
While no Judd number has yet been assigned to this new discovery, the editor of the Judd work on patterns, Q. David Bowers, has reserved the number Judd-25A for this piece in the 10th edition. This falls between Judd-25, a $10 piece of 1797 struck in copper, and Judd-26, a copper trial of a 1799 $10.
Photos of coins
Newly Discovered Treasures Dug Up in Philadelphia
Soil Near First United States Mint Yields Unique Early Pattern
(NEW YORK – JULY 9) Stack’s August Milwaukee sale will include two pieces recently discovered in the soil of Center City Philadelphia, including a previously unknown copper die trial for a 1798 dollar. Two metal detectorists, working with permission on a construction site whose location abutted that of the First Philadelphia Mint, discovered the 1798 dollar struck on copper scrap along with a 1793 half cent in the spring of 2006. Now, a year later, the coins have been authenticated by American Numismatic Society curator Robert W. Hoge, among others, and will be offered for public sale for the very first time. The pieces will be sold as separate lots, slated for sale on August 5 at the Hotel Metro in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Hoge called the piece "one of the most exciting items to have been brought to my attention†in his column in the Spring 2007 issue of ANS Magazine. The cataloguers of the piece described it as "incredible†and termed the condition of the piece "sharpness as struck, condition as found,†while noting some of the sedimentary buildup the trial acquired during 200 years in the Philadelphia soil.
The dollar trial is struck from a known die marriage in its terminal state, identified as Bolender-30a and BB-116, die state VI. It is struck on a misshapen copper planchet, but shows a significant portion of the surface area of both obverse and reverse dies. Though copper die trials from the 1790s are known on other denominations, the copper 1798 Bust dollar trial is the first to be discovered on that type and denomination. The only other early dollar die trials – both unique – are dated 1794, one with stars and one without. The ground near the First U.S. Mint has been a fertile ground for die trials before. A 1795 half dime in copper, partially defaced, was discovered when Frank Stewart razed the First Mint in 1914; it is now held by the National Park Service. Blank planchets for 1792 silver center cents were found at the same time by Stewart and also reside in the NPS collection.
The reason for producing an impression in copper from dies that had already produced a substantial number of coins is unknown – it could have been to test the badly broken dies or to show their advanced die state to a member of the Mint staff, or there could have been no reason at all.
While no Judd number has yet been assigned to this new discovery, the editor of the Judd work on patterns, Q. David Bowers, has reserved the number Judd-25A for this piece in the 10th edition. This falls between Judd-25, a $10 piece of 1797 struck in copper, and Judd-26, a copper trial of a 1799 $10.
Photos of coins
0
Comments
<< <i>Great discovery, but why does the picture show a Maryland coin instead of the dollar? >>
I was thinking the same thing! Where's the 1798 Dollar?
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Ed. S.
(EJS)
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
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SM
SPMC - J-12338
McDCCC - Charter Member
Announcing: The Numismatic Enquirer - Website
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
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SSDC - Life Member
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<< <i>
Sweeeeeeeeet!
--Severian the Lame
They call me "Pack the Ripper"
Bloody!!
Kewl!!!!!
I wanna see the slab that that fits into!!!!!
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
And if the winner goes to ANA, I'll have some sort of prize for you there, and you won't be disappointed.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
$100,000 bucks for a pre-sale estimate ???
Both are out of this world pieces that will likely fetch a TON OF $$$$$$$$
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
<< <i>Let's see who can be the first to guess the hammer price.
And if the winner goes to ANA, I'll have some sort of prize for you there, and you won't be disappointed. >>
I'm gonna guess $32,000 hammer bid. Too bad I won't be at ANA.
Ed. S.
(EJS)
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
<< <i>Is metal detecting as addicting as cherry picking ? >>
I always suspected it was and that's why I have made an effort to resist getting started with it.
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<< <i>Anyone else think the Dollar looks like a horse head shape. >>
It does look like a horses head. Probably a bored workman put a copper horse head trinket on the lower die and struck it just for the fun of it.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Jim Matthews, Bust dollar specialist/cataloguer extraordinaire, and I tag-teamed the description.
Two of the greatest metal detecting finds of the last decade will both be in the same sale!
Betts medals, colonial coins, US Mint medals, foreign coins found in early America, and other numismatic Americana
<< <i>This thing is one of the coolest items that's been on my desk in a long time. Ironically enough, the finder was from my hometown.
Jim Matthews, Bust dollar specialist/cataloguer extraordinaire, and I tag-teamed the description.
Two of the greatest metal detecting finds of the last decade will both be in the same sale! >>
What? No Brasher Doubloon????????
TD
<< <i>This thing is one of the coolest items that's been on my desk in a long time. >>
The coolest thing that anyone has seen is years is actually.... well, lets face it, its an old discarded piece of junk.
CG
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
<< <i>How will it look in a slab? >>
Funny, I was just thinking the same thing. Anybody???
Thank you
Rob
"Those guys weren't Fathers they were...Mothers."
Oh c'mon.
If only it were a 1794 in decent condition. . . . But it's not, so I guess $28,750 with the juice. Edited to add: You asked for hammer price . . . so $25,000.
The article refers to a piece found by Frank Stewart in 1914. An interesting read is F. Stewart, History of the First United States Mint: Its People and Its Operations (1924) (available in facsimile reproduction published in 1974 by Quarterman Publications).
Garrow
I can only dream of getting permission to detect such a potentially juicy site.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
-- If only it were a 1794 in decent condition. . . . But it's not, so I guess $28,750 with the juice. Edited to add: You asked for hammer price . . . so $25,000. --
Hammer price: $26,000. I'll see you in Milwaukee, Andy. Table 1031, right?
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
<< <i>It's interesting to compare the dentils on both sides of the coin. On the obverse, the dentils are elongated and go to the edge of the die. On the reverse, a rim appears to have been cut into the die, cutting the dentils to a shorter length. >>
Compare the dentils to the uniface 1806 Obv. 11, circa 1870. Julian had one at CSNS. The new owner will have it at FUN, hopefully he doesn't slab it. Congrats to IGWT, who I got to meet in Milwaukee.