John Kraljevich's Greatest Hits, Volume I

MrEureka

John - How about posting some of your favorite catalog descriptions that you have written?

Longacre

<< <i>John - How about posting some of your favorite catalog descriptions that you have written? >>




Dude, he's probably shut out of the catalog database of the corporate conglomerate, and if we ring up Stack's, they will probably say, "John who?".

pmac

I went to the Stack's web page after reading the original thread. His biography was still listed. It seems that he is leaving Stack's on very good terms. From what I've gleamed from these threads, etc, that the higher echelon professionals don't hold axes to be ground. Am I being very naive?

mrearlygold

John K is leaving? Where's he going? Have a link to the thread you mentioned???

tmot99

here.

Pistareen

There's a lot to do right now, but I'll try to add to this thread when I need a mental health break.

The selections will have to be made from the ANR and Stack's sales I assisted with. The B+M sales I helped write from 2000-2003 are no longer online.

Here's one that I recall fondly.





1876 pattern Commercial dollar. J-1469, P-1620. Rarity-8. Proof-65 BN (NGC).

Copper. Plain edge. One of the most interesting, storied, well-traveled, and desirable of all the marvelous pattern dollars in the East Coast collection. Deep chocolate brown bronzed surfaces, produced through a post-striking bronzing process inside the Mint, with ideal and even patina, showing very subtle golden and pale blue highlights typical of coins and medals produced in this manner. Sharply struck and nicely rendered, microscopic pits from gas which escaped during the bronzing process noted near rims, evidence of double striking noted under magnified scrutiny. The rims show the very gentle filing and smoothing marks left after the piece was removed from the bronzing oven at the Mint and finished. Identifying marks for this piece include three short, diagonal scratches on the same vector up from D in DOLLAR to central reverse, tiny flake over left upright of second U in PLURIBUS, and a few tiny flakes elsewhere. The art of bronzing medals was in full swing at the U.S. Mint in 1876, especially with the large scale production of Centennial medals, and this plain edge specimen was apparently treated with the same process. In later decades, when bronzed copper was associated with low-value Mint medals and not fine patterns, this piece was apparently silver-washed - it still had silver wash on it when Judd saw it for the first time in the 1952 ANA sale. In the mid-20th century, when a silver washed bronzed pattern was less desirable than a bronzed pattern (my, how tastes change!), a cleaning was attempted. When this piece later appeared in a 1977 Superior sale and the 1981 ANA sale it was described as silver washed, then cleaned. Between a May 1990 appearance in a Superior sale and a February 1991 reappearance, the silverwash was delicately removed and the piece was certified for the first time. A bronzed proof copper coin - pattern or otherwise - is essentially a copper coin in a bronze jacket or shell, and that outer shell that was produced by baking in bronzing powder is extremely durable and nearly impossible to remove. Therefore, we can rest assured that this piece looks today much as it did 100 years ago before it was ever silvered, and there was never any need to retone or recolor it after its curation to remove the offending silverwash. Indeed, the long-term survival of the well-made patina is now assured.

When Judd noted this piece, he described it as unique, which it appears to be today. Teichman notes three "different" coins: the silverwashed piece, the non-silverwashed piece, and a piece that appeared in a 1995 Coin World ad as Proof-64 RB (PCGS). As no such coin appears on the PCGS Population Report today and no analogue appears on the NGC Census, we may assume that the Coin World ad was a typo or other sort of red herring. This piece was well-entrenched in the consignor's collection at that time. With the pedigrees of the silverwashed piece and the non-silverwashed piece now united, through matching of marks on the present coin to photographs taken when it was still silverwashed, we can rightly conclude that the plain edge copper Judd-1469 is unique, one-of-a-kind, without duplicate anywhere. And what could be more exciting than a one-of-a-kind coin! The joy of ownership received from a coin such as this is sublime, and we congratulate the winning bidder of this important and fascinating American rarity.

NGC Census: 1; none finer. This is the only certified example.

From the collection of Col. E.H.R. Green, whose amazing assemblage of coins was dispersed in the 1940s by B.G. Johnson (including all five 1913 Liberty nickels); this coin first appeared at auction in New Netherlands Coin Company's session of the 1952 ANA sale, August 1952, Lot 2903. It next appeared in Superior's sale of the Crouch Collection, June 1977, Lot 531, then later in Bowers and Ruddy Galleries' sale of the William R. Sieck Collection in the 1981 ANA Sale, July 1981, Lot 280, and soon after in Amwest's (Robert Hughes) VIP sale of November 1981, Lot 1125. It next appeared in Superior's sale of May 1990, and reappeared later in Superior's sale of February 1991. It was purchased privately in April 1991.

Pistareen

How about this old chestnut:




http://www.stacks.com/lotdetail.aspx?lrid=AN00014282&fs=true


1793 NC-3. Rarity-8. Strawberry Leaf. F-12 (NGC).

13.10 grams. Among the 295 die varieties of early cents numbered by Dr. William Sheldon, in addition to the 53 varieties so rare he deemed them "non-collectible," no variety captures the imagination of early American copper specialists so much as the 1793 Strawberry Leaf cent. Only four are known, all of which are well worn, a fact that no doubt contributes to the aura of mystery and desirability that surrounds them. The long-unknown whereabouts of the finest known specimen, a coin that is numerically twice as fine as the next best example, only adds to that aura and cachet.

That finest known example has reappeared, and now, in 2004, those who have awaited their chance to purchase a specimen of this charismatic rarity are rewarded. This coin is the Parmelee 1793 Strawberry Leaf cent, untraced since 1941 and not offered publicly since 1890. We are delighted to be the first numismatic researchers since Sylvester S. Crosby to examine this coin, and we are honored to present it for public sale to collectors for the first time in 114 years.

Its surfaces are finely and evenly granular and dark brown, the devices a medium shade of brown that contrast with the deeper toning present in the fields. Some scattered microscopic pits are visible on Liberty's cheek, but for the most part the devices are smooth and pleasing. The sharpness of this piece is almost incomparable to the other two privately-held Strawberry Leaf cents, called "tired and worn out" by their present owner. The word LIBERTY is complete and well-defined, with even and well-formed letters of small size, essentially identical in scale and character to those found on the obverse of every 1793 Wreath cent variety but for Sheldon-5. Likewise, the date on this specimen is complete, and like the word LIBERTY it closely resembles the date digits found on other 1793 Wreath cents—the numeral 3 has a delicate bottom curve that appears weak at its lowest point, identical to Sheldon 6 through 11 as noted above, and the 9 with its short bottom stroke is likewise similar to that digit on other Wreath cents, though most like the numeral as punched on the obverse of Sheldon-10. Breen noted in a 1959 article in Empire Topics that this specimen is "the only strawberry leaf coin with all four numerals of the date legible," allowing for the easiest comparison of the very strong similarity between these digits and the potentially identical punches used on other 1793 Wreath varieties.

The figure of Liberty again bears strong similarities to other 1793 Wreath cents, with the three lowest strands of hair long and of nearly equal length, two shorter strands above, another single long strand near the center, and several shorter strands above—this closely parallels the hair on other 1793 Wreath cents. Indeed, the only notable difference between this obverse die and other 1793 Wreath cents is also the precise reason for its fame: a cluster of four small trefoil (three-lobed) leaves above the date and below the truncation of Liberty's bust. These leaves closely parallel those found within the wreath on every 1793 Wreath cent variety, though they are not from the same punch as once suggested by Breen. On no other specimen of the famed Strawberry Leaf cent is the namesake design element so clearly defined. Though they are not precisely identical to the leaves on other Wreath cent reverses, it should be noted that if one looks at any two different trefoils on any single Wreath cent reverse, they are different—each was individually engraved. Around the top of the obverse of this coin, traces of the peripheral beading are present above ERTY of LIBERTY.

Careful examination of the obverse reveals some light flaws, commensurate with the amount of wear on the coin. Each acts as an identifier that links this coin with its past and future pedigree: a tiny rim nick at 10:00, a nick at the juncture of the hair and the high forehead, a nick under the lowest point of the lowest lock, a nick just inside the rim near 3:00, and a few other tiny marks or abrasions. This obverse has been chosen to illustrate the Strawberry Leaf variety in every edition of the Guide Book since 1946, Ed Frossard's 1879 Monograph of United States Cents and Half Cents, issued Between 1793 and 1857, and Sylvester S. Crosby's 1897 The United States Coinage of 1793. The reverse of this coin was likewise illustrated in Crosby's work on 1793s.

This reverse sets the NC-3 apart from the unique NC-2, which was discovered earlier. David Proskey was the first to identify this reverse die, with its distinctive high positioning of ONE CENT, and it was this coin that served as the discovery specimen. Proskey catalogued this exact specimen in 1877, when he wrote "1793 Wreath Cent. 'Stars and stripes' on edge with three clover leaves and blossom under the bust. Fair condition, but date and legend perfectly distinct. Unique, both obverse and reverse being from a different die to the one described by S.S. Crosby, Esq." Proskey was wrong about this piece being from a different obverse die, but he gets credit for recognizing the difference in the reverse. On this specimen, the tops of STATES OF are worn into the rim, and the fraction is a bit weak, but all other devices and legends are bold. A rim bruise is noted over M of AMERICA, and a few old vertical scratches near the left ribbon end are long since toned over. The style of the wreath and lettering bears a very marked similarity to other 1793 Wreath cent reverses.

The edge, though now unfortunately obscured in the certification holder, has been studied and photographed. John Kleeberg, in his important if controversial study on Strawberry Leaf cents in the 1996 ANS COAC proceedings, noted that the edge could be key to answering the ancient question of the origin and purpose of this distinctive design. Eric Newman offered that "accepting the finding that the edge decoration on each strawberry leaf cent differs from the edge decoration of the other strawberry leaf cents and that the edge decoration was cut into each such coin manually and not by Castaing methods" he would posit that the pieces were 19th-century forgeries for collectors, perhaps produced by a character like the infamous re-engraver Smith of Ann Street. Kleeberg noted that he compared the edge of the Strawberry Leaf cents and concluded that "I think the edge was added by hand." The present cataloguer (John Kraljevich) studied the two privately held specimens of the Strawberry Leaf cent along with a Sheldon-5 Wreath cent graciously provided by Dan Holmes at the April 2004 EAC show, before the present coin was rediscovered. When placed atop each other, then twisted and turned like so many facets of a Rubik's Cube, the edges of both Strawberry Leaf cents and the 1793 S-5 lined up precisely—a fact that Mr. Holmes was the first to discover. The edge die used to impress the device on the Strawberry Leaf cents on the Castaing edging machine was identical, i.e. the exact same edge die, as the one that edged that particular S-5-and probably other Wreath cents as well. This proves that the planchets were produced at the U.S. Mint and strikes down theories of extralegal origin, unless a farfetched theory of the removal of blank planchets from the Mint were to be constructed.

As per a request of Eric Newman, we have likewise scrutinized the Strawberry Leaf cluster and see absolutely no suggestions of disturbance, re-engraving, or other tomfoolery. The weights of the known Strawberry Leaf cents are all within an appropriately close range of the Mint standard 13.48 grams weight. Kleeberg calls himself a "partisan" of the theory that the 1793 Strawberry Leaf cents are contemporary counterfeits. Based upon the ease of making cast counterfeits rather than creating three new and distinctive steel dies, such a theory does not pass the common sense test for us. When further considering the fact that most circulating counterfeits duplicate worn coins (thus making them easier to pass), yet these cents are produced to a weight standard that was abandoned for a lighter one in mid-1795, the scenario becomes even less likely. The new discovery that these cents were produced with the precise same edge die as other collectible 1793 Wreath cent varieties should firmly place this and other theories in the past and confirm this enigmatic issue as an unusual product of the U.S. Mint.

"But why strawberry leaves (or clover, or laurel, etc.)?" a numismatist might wonder. The first year of coining cents for circulation at the Mint was clearly a series of trials and errors: the weight standard was lowered in January 1793, before a single coin could be struck for circulation at the original statutory weight. Chain cents were struck, then the designs were changed to the more attractive Wreath design, before finally switching gears to use Joseph Wright's masterful Liberty Cap motif. Several different edge motifs were tried: a lettered edge with one leaf, the same lettering followed by two leaves, as well as the "vine and bars" edge that was used on the Chain cents and Wreath cents, including the Strawberry Leaf pieces. Clearly the Mint was not placing a high premium on consistency of design. We are tempted to suggest that the Strawberry Leaf design was merely the result of a bit of artistic license by a Mint engraver, or it could have been the initial design for a type whose later evolution would include only olive leaves as obverse decoration. Undoubtedly the difference in design is more noteworthy to modern numismatists than to those who produced or used cents in Philadelphia in 1793. From the level of wear present on the four known specimens, it is clear that they were produced to circulate and succeeded in their assigned role.

As one of the most celebrated rarities of the 19th century—a coin which evoked enough passion to cause a brawl on an auction room floor (see more below)—it is a wonder the Strawberry Leaf is not as passionately pursued today. One of the great rarities offered at the Parmelee sale was a Class I 1804 dollar, now in the Durham Western Heritage Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. That piece sold for $570, about five times what this exact coin brought in the same sale. Over the 114 years since the Parmelee sale, there have been dozens of appearances of an 1804 dollar at auction, including some 17 appearances of a Class I 1804 dollar. While an 1804 dollar is an antedated fantasy, its fame grew at every auction appearance. The Strawberry Leaf cents have been on the market far fewer times and exposed much less to the greater collecting populace in the 20th century, indeed, only twice in the history of the variety has a collector owned a piece for less than a decade!

The history of this specimen is nearly as fascinating as the Strawberry Leaf variety itself. After its discovery by Proskey as the first with the high ONE CENT reverse, the piece was purchased at auction by the famous Boston bean baker Lorin Parmelee (for more on whom, see below). While Parmelee enjoyed "horse trading," this piece was not sold until his entire cabinet was consigned to auction in 1890. It was purchased by another Bostonian, a physician named Dr. Thomas Hall who is best known for his pioneering 1892 work on varieties of Connecticut coppers. The Hall monograph used a system that was followed by Henry Miller and remains the taxonomic standard for Connecticut coppers today. After his death in May 1909, the entire Hall cabinet was purchased intact by Chicago brewing magnate Virgil Brand, including hundreds of colonial coins, large cents, and medals. At the time, Brand had already been collecting for two decades and had developed an insatiable appetite for numismatics, a lifelong passion that is well-described in Dave Bowers' Virgil Brand: A Man and His Era. After his death in 1926, Brand left behind a vast estate including tens of thousands of numismatic items, a holding that was left to his brothers Horace and Armin at the time of his death and was not fully dispersed until the 1980s. In the decades following Brand's death, portions of the collection were consigned to various leading dealers, and in 1941 Armin Brand began to consign large cents from the estate to St. Louis dealer Burdette G. Johnson. Johnson was the proprietor of St. Louis Stamp and Coin Company and served as one of the largest wholesale dealers in the nation at the time, often handling multiple specimens of great rarities—most memorably, all five specimens of the 1913 Liberty Head nickel from the Col. E.H.R. Green estate.

The very first consignment Armin Brand made to Johnson was 17 1793 cents, on an invoice dated February 7, 1941. All 17 of those cents were Condition Census specimens, and among their number were specimens of all five "NC" varieties of the year then known! Two of those "NCs," as Dr. Sheldon would call them a few years later, are still unique and another (1793 NC-1) was unique at the time and is still 44 points finer than the only other known example. It is telling that, despite the great rarities and the number of superb Mint State 1793 Wreath and Chain cents included (such as the beautiful Koshkarian Sheldon-9 we sold last year for $241,500), the only piece Johnson was able to sell within one year of the consignment was the present specimen, the finest 1793 Strawberry Leaf cent. It was selected before the finest Sheldon-1, the finest NC-1, the second finest Sheldon-4 (considered better than the Eliasberg-Jung piece we recently sold for $391,500, a world record), the finest Sheldon-7, the finest Sheldon-9, and a number of other incredible 1793 cents. James Kelly, a dealer who had a long-standing professional relationship with Johnson, took the piece on consignment from Johnson in May 1941 for $2,500—an incredible sum at the time- and quietly sold it the same year to a nearly unknown collector from Maine, Roscoe E. Staples, for $2,750. In the same era, both the Childs and Dexter 1804 Class I dollars sold in the $4,000 to $5,000 range, an indication of just what $2,750 could buy (like, for instance, a pretty nice house). A few months later, when a new Strawberry cent was discovered (the AG-3 Starr NC-3), it was offered at $2,500 but found no buyers; it sold for $1,200 at auction in 1950.

The Staples family has held the coin since 1941, but its original purchaser enjoyed the piece for all too short a period of time. Roscoe Staples, a successful businessman, joined the Maine National Guard in 1934 as a second lieutenant and was promoted to first lieutenant in 1940, then captain in 1941 as a great world war approached. As a member of the 103rd Infantry, Staples embarked for the Pacific theatre in fall 1942 after having already been away from his Maine home for a year— it appears by the time he purchased this coin from James Kelly he had already left for training elsewhere in the United States. In early 1943, Staples' regiment was part of a force that left for Guadalcanal and received further training in jungle warfare on the nearby islands. A few months later, in the summer of 1943, orders came down the chain of command that Staples was to help command the regiment as it worked to secure the Munda airfield in the Solomon Islands, then under the control of the Japanese. A young naval officer from nearby Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy, captained a PT board off the coast of Munda (now New Georgia) to patrol for Japanese destroyers during the same action. Kennedy was famously injured when a Japanese vessel collided with his PT-109 off the coast on the night of August 1, 1943. A few miles away the next day, while his troops were actively engaged in taking the Munda airfield from the remaining Japanese forces, then-Major Staples was shot and killed by a Japanese sniper who paid for his actions with his own life. Staples was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for bravery, and he was noted for being "a brilliant officer who had the respect of his men and his superiors." The airfield was secured soon after, after a month of incredible difficulty, on August 5, 1943. His citation noted that "although his duties as a regimental S-3 did not require him to expose himself to enemy fire at the front lines, Major Staples repeatedly visited the companies at forward areas to check the progress of operations and to make suggestions to company commanders in an effort to save lives and to bring the battle to a decisive finish. Major Staples' courage and devotion to duty were an inspiration to the troops and contributed immeasurably to the success of operations."

While World War II and a 1793 Strawberry Leaf cent would seem to have little in common, we feel it is important to recognize the character and contributions of a little-known past owner of this famous coin. While Proskey, Parmelee, Johnson, and others are well-known to numismatists, and many rare coins can be traced to their hands, Staples' most notable contributions clearly came outside of the realm of numismatics. Since Staples' death, the coin has remained with his family, still enclosed in the 1941 James Kelly envelope. Its significance both as family heirloom and numismatic rarity have always been appreciated.

We at ANR could not be more proud to offer this great rarity to the modern numismatic community, thereby becoming some small footnote in its remarkable history. The next owner will themselves become the next chapter, joining Proskey, Parmelee, Hall, Brand, and Staples as leading characters in this remarkable story and appending his or her name to this historic provenance. There is no need to cite the great specialized large cent cabinets who have lacked a specimen of this rarity—nearly all have—or the great collectors of the last 150 years who have never owned one, as most never did. With 25% of the population permanently off the market and the two privately held specimens standing tall as the pride and joy of their current, active owner, we cannot foresee another opportunity to purchase a specimen in the upcoming decade or more.

NGC Census: 1; none finer. This is the only 1793 Strawberry Leaf cent to have been certified by any grading service.

As noted above, the most famous (though perhaps not the most recent) case of numismatic fisticuffs revolved around a specimen of this precise variety. As described in Carl Carlson's superb November 1978Numismatist article entitled "Strawberry Leaves and Shiners," the ANS example of the NC-3 was the root of a physical struggle between two of the most respected dealers of their era: Ed Frossard and Lyman Low. When the Merritt-Haines-ANS specimen was presented for public sale in December 1894 as part of Frossard's 130th auction, for some reason Lyman Low called Frossard a "liar," though what he lied about is not recorded. Two later recollections of the scene have survived and both describe how Frossard and Low ended up rolling around on the floor until pulled apart by Harlan P. Smith, who lost a diamond stick pin in the fracas. A.G. Heaton noted the "two numismatic sages were soon mixed up on a dusty floor in a manner that would have made football adversaries envious of their combative qualities until, in a badly circulated condition, they were dragged apart by dismayed spectators." Charles Steigerwalt, who sold the piece offered today to Dr. Thomas Hall after the Parmelee sale, noted in a 1911 piece that the Parmelee specimen "described as 'good' was really 'fine' and the best known" and went on in the sale article to state that Frossard and Low "rolled around on the floor of the auction room, trying to kick each other." Notably, Carlson chose to illustrate his article with a photo of this exact specimen, taken from the 1897 Crosby plate.


First identified by David Proskey; Scott & Co.'s sale of October 1877, Lot 201 (at $77.50); purchased on the floor by H.G. Sampson, acting for Lorin G. Parmelee, outbidding Joseph N.T. Levick's $75 commission for Sylvester S. Crosby; New York Stamp and Coin Co.'s sale of the Parmelee Collection, June 1890, Lot 671 (at $79); purchased by Charles Steigerwalt and resold to Dr. Thomas Hall in October 1890 for $90; sold as part of the intact Hall Collection to Virgil Brand on September 7, 1909; Brand estate; consigned by Armin Brand to B.G. Johnson along with 16 other important 1793 cents on February 7, 1941; to James Kelly in May 1941 for $2,500; to Roscoe E. Staples for $2,750; Staples family.

Pistareen

Another favorite, found in the Eliasberg Collection:




http://www.stacks.com/lotdetail.aspx?lrid=AN00019636&fs=true

(ca. 1787-1800) Countermarked and reeded cast imitation Lima 1735 8 escudos. Fr-7 (Peru). Fine by details, but nearly as made. SB for Standish Barry, Baltimore, Maryland.

26.42 grams, 28.70 mm. Reverse counterstamped SB in oval at center of cross and again near edge at 3:00 on cast imitation Peru host (Fr-7). Edge hand-reeded to prevent clipping. Mark attributed to Baltimore silversmith Standish Barry in American Silver: Garvan and Other Collections in the Yale University Art Gallery, 1970, which illustrates this precise mark on a ca. 1790-1800 Standish Barry teapot stand. Yale's attribution of dates is, of necessity, speculative but Barry's independent workshop opened in 1787. A previously unpublished American counterfeit from the earliest days of the Republic, most closely analogous to the 1742-dated struck counterfeits produced by Standish Barry's contemporary Ephraim Brasher of New York. Pale yellow gold, smooth and somewhat polished near the rims but rough and granular among the central details, consistent of a piece produced by a casting process. Some tiny pits near the rims are likewise consistent, as are the file marks on the edge. After filing, the edges of this piece were carefully decorated with 41 distinct impressions of a flower-like prepared punch that would act as reeding. Marked twice by Barry, once at center and once at an angle near 3:00 on the reverse -- Barry's silver productions of this period are typically marked twice and with the marks at an unusual angle to each other, something of a Barry signature trait.

In 1795, the Director of the Mint for the United States, Henry W. DeSaussure, wrote that "In this country, mints are said to be boldly erected at Baltimore, and elsewhere, professedly to imitate the coins of foreign countries, and to furnish a debased coin for the West India markets; and so much of the gold bullion which would be brought to the national Mint is carried to these private establishments, which degrade our national character." (Quoted in American Journal of Numismatics, July 1892, p. 14.) Baltimore, then a boom-town enjoying newfound prosperity in the shipping trade that began during the American Revolution, was Standish Barry's home; he made a name for himself there as a war veteran and was even elected sheriff late in his career. In 1790 he was known to direct a private mint, where he coined a silver threepence coin dated 1790 that featured his name. Specimens of his silver threepence are extremely rare today.

The analogy of this coin to the Brasher Lima-style doubloon is easy to draw: both are copies of a Lima 8 escudos cob intended to circulate, both were produced by a well-known metalsmith and marked at the center of the cross, and both are now extremely rare (there are two Brasher pieces of that design, and this coin appears to be unique at present). Importantly, this piece and the Brasher pieces weigh the same: this piece is 26.42 grams, while the two Brasher Lima coins have been measured at 26.39 and 26.40 grams -- precisely the New York standard for a Spanish doubloon of 17 pennyweights or 408 grains. The famous "New York" style Brasher doubloons weigh 26.36 grams, 26.41 grams, 26.40 grams, 26.43 grams, 26.45 grams, and 26.63 grams. There are also differences, principally that the Brasher coins were struck and not cast, that the Brasher piece shows the maker's name completely spelled out, and that Brasher went on to produce the other more famous "New York" style doubloon issues.

As evinced by the present description, we feel that the present piece is of great interest to collectors of early American issues and those who collect circulating counterfeits made for the West Indian market. It is previously unpublished and was included among the Peruvian issues in the Eliasberg collection until identification by our numismatic staff. Were it simply a Lima 8 escudos marked or regulated by Barry, it would be a highly significant piece, but as it was signed twice by Barry in the manner of other well-known silver pieces produced by his smithy, we feel a high certainty that this piece was actually made by Barry, probably for the West Indian trade as suggested in the letter by Mint Director DeSaussure. It is a highlight of the Eliasberg collection and deserves a place alongside other more famous early American gold rarities. ($15,000-25,000)

From the John H. Clapp Collection; Clapp estate to Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr., 1942.

Dentuck

JK, wrap a couple of those between hard covers, add a title page and index, and we'll have a nice hefty book.

rays

John's description of the Strawberry leaf cent is fascinating, thanks for posting.

Regulated

There was something interesting about a hippocampus recently.

EagleEye

I love that Commercial Dollar write up!

Unique, Bronzed at the Mint, silvered, cleaned, silvering removed, Three seperate ones listed, certified PR-65BN NGC, now unique again.

The forum would have had a field day with this matching before and after pictures (if the internet existed to the extent of today in 1991) had you not explained it so expertly.

Pistareen

This'un is pretty.




http://www.stacks.com/lotdetail.aspx?lrid=AN00023040&fs=true

(1782) Libertas Americana medal. Betts-615. Silver. MS-65 (PCGS).

A glorious specimen of this most famous American historical medal, remarkably toned and beautifully preserved. This example, once the property of famed numismatist Harry Bass, was prominently featured in both Part I of the presentation of the Bass collection and Dave Bowers' book More Adventures with Rare Coins. As one of the great masterpieces of medallic art and a centerpiece to any collection of numismatic Americana, few items could be more desirable to a wider range of people.

This specimen shows richly reflective surfaces mostly toned silver gray but with delicate highlights over both obverse and reverse. Shades of pale gold and pastel blue are most prominent at the peripheries, while the fields show golden, violet, and rose tones. The overall eye appeal of this example is magnificent. It is one of the sharpest specimens of this medal in silver we have seen, with the hair full and sharp and the reverse details perfectly delineated. Most silver specimens—because of their presentation to non-numismatists and institutions—show signs of scuffing, cleaning, rub, or contact. This example has nearly immaculate obverse fields with only some faint hairlines. The reverse is similarly appealing, but for what the 1972 New Netherlands cataloguer called "minute and insignificant scratches," located behind the lioness and below INFANS, with a few beneath the lioness' belly as well. They are not a significant distraction. Clear signs of double striking are evident with a glass.

We can count on two hands the number of silver Libertas Americana medals we have seen. We sold a specimen a year ago that was not as nice as this one, with some scuffs and marks, and that piece has since appeared at auction again. This is the finest specimen sold at public auction in years and ranks as one of the very finest known in private hands. Numismatic scholar John Adams and Massachusetts Historical Society curator Anne Bentley, who is the caretaker of the silver Libertas Americana medal that Jefferson presented to Washington in 1790, have recently completed a thorough accounting of known specimens of this and the similar Comitia Americana series. We look forward to their census, and until its publication we would estimate that perhaps two dozen or so exist, the vast majority of which are in institutional collections.

The Libertas Americana medal is most famously associated with Benjamin Franklin, as the designs and legends were the result of his collaboration with other top minds of his era: Robert Livingston, who offered early encouragement; Sir William Jones, the Englishman who suggested a line from Horace be used as the reverse legend; fresco painter E.A. Gibelin, who was the first to sketch Franklin's conception. Of course, it was Franklin's friendship with the top French sculptor of the period, Augustin Dupre, that made the Libertas Americana medal an exceptionally beautiful monument to the American Liberty they both held in great esteem. Guided by Franklin's influence, it was Dupre who conceived the beautiful face of Liberty with flowing tresses that came to be the instantly identifiable face of the new nation.

Franklin was very pleased with his creation. He found that Sir William Jones' suggestion for a reverse legend, translated as "The courageous child was aided by the Gods," was perfectly applicable. It was probably Franklin's idea to show the lion, representing Great Britain, with its tail between its legs. When he wrote to Robert Livingston, who served with Franklin on the committee to create the Declaration of Independence, on April 15, 1783, he reported general satisfaction with the design: "it is mightily well received, and gives general pleasure." He also included a specimen in silver for "the President of Congress" and mentioned that he presented "one in silver to each of the French ministers, as a monumental acknowledgement, which may go down in future ages, of the obligations we are under to this nation." When this letter was written, the President of Congress and the recipient of a silver medal precisely like the one offered here was none other than Elias Boudinot of New Jersey, the man who would become Director of the Mint in 1795. As noted above, Washington also received a silver specimen, Jefferson displayed a specimen at his home (composition unknown), and undoubtedly many men of similar stature in both Europe and America likewise were given specimens in silver. Washington's was included in a set of Comitia Americana medals, and Jefferson may have intended to include Libertas Americana medals in the sets that Congress "directed me to present ... to the different powers of Europe, to the universities of Europe, to certain officers there ..." Indeed, many remain in institutional collections, and silver specimens enter the market only occasionally. Specimens this fine change hands very rarely. It is fitting that the Cardinal Collection should not only include a specimen of the medal whose designs inspired the earliest American images of Liberty on coins, but a specimen this spectacular.

Diameter: 47.8 mm. Weight: 783.7 grains. Thickness at edge: 3.6 mm.

This medal is accompanied by a box of late 18th century or early 19th century production, but most likely more or less contemporary with its original issue. The box is green shagreen, made from skate or stingray skin, laid over a wooden construction. A similar green shagreen box accompanied the ca. 1781 Carib War medal in the LaRiviere Collection. The inside of the double clasped box is lined with red velvet and shows traces of original gilding at the edges. The clasps are both still functional, though the box is no longer perfectly flush. The best known worker in shagreen was Louis XV's court leatherworker, and this material was popular for small fashionable objects in the era of the Libertas Americana medal's issuance. This box is, to our knowledge, the only such box that accompanies a Libertas medal, though plenty of boxes of the era were issued for medals just like this one. Whether or not this box originally went with this medal or another of identical diameter cannot be stated with certainty, but we can say that if a Libertas Americana medal was issued with a box it could well have looked just like this. Jefferson is known to have ordered wooden boxes from a Parisian cabinetmaker to accompany the Comitia Americana medals, though we know of no survivors.

From New Netherlands Coin Company's 63rd sale, April 1972, Lot 615; Bowers and Merena's sale of the Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection, Part I, May 1999, Lot 2084.

Pistareen

Same catalogue as above.




http://www.stacks.com/lotdetail.aspx?lrid=AN00023042


1794 Bowers Borckardt-1, Bolender-1. Rarity-4. MS-64 (NGC).

Frosty silver gray surfaces show superb, thorough, and unbroken cartwheel lustre. The surfaces are smooth and appealing, and both obverse and reverse show a significant absence of post-striking marks of any magnitude. The most notable identifiers were on this piece of silver before it ever became an example of this historic first silver dollar issue, and each is an artifact of a divide between the technology the Mint had at its disposal in 1794 and the ambition to create a silver unit of regular fineness and aesthetic appeal. In the lightest struck part of the coin, the left side of the obverse, some faint flecks are seen, the result of flaws in the silver ingot being rolled into tiny fissures. Two larger planchet flaws are present at star three and, less significantly, at the top of star six. Any other flaws were effaced by adequate striking pressure elsewhere on the coin. The strike, in general, is excellent for the issue, with each star (including the usually weak first six) showing at least a full proper outline. The central detail is incredible—hairs stand out as individual strands under even the lowest magnification, the feathers and branch on the reverse show intricate detail, and each dentil is complete. Due to the same axial (i.e. out of parallel) misalignment that causes weakness in the lower stars on the left, the tops of UNITED STATES are a bit weak and still show some faint planchet preparation marks in that area. The adjustment marks on this example appear far more subtle than those on several of the other high-grade 1794 dollars, including the PCGS MS-63 St. Oswald-Norweb coin. Over the course of more than two centuries this piece has picked up a few light hairlines here and there and a faint short scratch on Liberty's neck, but the lustre and frost remain unaffected. The eye appeal is lovely, more than sufficient for the assigned grade.

This piece was struck from dies that had already clashed and been lapped, or polished, equivalent to Bowers state II (and our consignor's die state III). An inverted impression of the eagle's wings may be easily discerned on either side of the main obverse portrait, and Liberty's inverted profile can be seen beneath the dexter wing on the reverse. It is unknown when the dies clashed, but most specimens known are from this die state. This may mean the dies clashed very early in the cycle of striking the 1794 dollars; it may also mean that more later die state dollars survived because a goodly number of those struck early in the process were melted at the Mint as unacceptable strikings. Scholars have long presumed that many of the initial 1794 dollars struck were melted by the Mint—the learning curve for satisfactorily striking such a large coin is steep the first time, and David Rittenhouse asked that coining of the dollars stop until a better press could be purchased or constructed. At least one unsatisfactorily struck 1794 dollar became a planchet for a 1795 dollar when coining recommenced, though others may have been submitted to melting before recoining. In the unsentimental environment of a factory-type operation, it is even possible that the first 1794 dollar ever struck may have been submitted to such a fate, though the Amon Carter 1794 dollar is clearly the finest piece known from the elusive first unclashed die state.

If there is a hallmark coin in the Cardinal Collection, this is it, and if there is a single coin of the 1794-1803 series that transcends the world of coin collecting, it is the 1794 dollar. Showing it to a history buff or a sentimental financier elicits a smile, a nod, and an appreciative knowledge that there is something special about holding a specimen of America's first silver dollar that looks like it's still brand new. The positive aspects of some coins are difficult to communicate to even savvy collectors, while some (as cliched as it may be) simply speak for themselves. This coin speaks volumes, with little or no help from us. Scholar Jack Collins, in his unpublished work on 1794 dollars, spoke passionately about a coin that must have ranked among this favorites: "The owner of a 1794 dollar in any grade, no matter how low, possesses a precious historic relic: one of the first federal silver coins, made on the initial day of silver coinage [October 15, 1794], of the first federal design for circulation with eagle or stars; a coin made from David Rittenhouse's own bullion, and personally owned and given or traded by David Rittenhouse himself." We cannot imagine a more succinct vote of approval, or a finer reason to pursue owning this coin with abandon.

NGC Census: 1; 1 finer (MS-66). A separate listing for a "silver plugged" 1794 in MS-66 is the Amon Carter piece, now called Specimen-66 by PCGS. The other MS-66 (NGC) is the Hayes coin, also now in a PCGS MS-66 holder, leaving the Cardinal Collection specimen as the single finest graded by NGC.

Both our consignor and Collins agree that the Green-Boyd-Lelan Rogers coin is second finest known behind the Carter coin. It is presently certified as PCGS MS-66. (It is amazing to think about the presently offered coin as the Boyd duplicate!) The coin our consignor lists as third finest was once owned by Jimmy Hayes (also PCGS MS-66), earlier from the 1964 St. Oswald sale. This coin is placed as Condition Census four in our consignor's well-researched listing. The other 1794 dollars certified as Mint State are the Norweb coin (PCGS MS-63), the Bass coin (NGC MS-62), the Major Cole-French Family coin (PCGS MS-62); the Bass coin (NGC MS-61), and the "Austrian" specimen (NGC MS-60). These eight coins seem to account for all of the Mint State certifications by the major services. With perhaps 125-150 total specimens surviving, the fact that as many as eight are in Mint State may be accounted for by those who specially saved examples of what they knew to be an historical issue—the first U.S. dollar coin struck under federal auspices.

From B. Max Mehl to F.C.C. Boyd in the 1930s; sold privately by Abe Kosoff and Abner Kreisberg about 1945; Stack's Fixed Price List # 47, 1950, to B.M. Eubanks for $1,595; Abner Kreisberg and Jerry Cohen (Quality Sales Corp.)'s sale of September 1973, Lot 464 (at $51,000); Ed Hammelstein; Quality Sales Corp.'s sale of October 1978, Lot 633, not sold; sold privately to Keith Kelmen at the 1980 FUN Convention; Bowers and Ruddy's Rare Coin Review 41; Steve Ivy's sale of the Charmont Collection, August 1983, Lot 3769 (at $121,000); Dan Drykerman to Laura Sommer; Bowers and Merena's sale of the Somerset Collection, May 1992, Lot 1300; Jeff Isaac to the Cardinal Collection.

Pistareen

The Best of the First, a World-Record Setter.




http://www.stacks.com/lotdetail.aspx?lrid=AN00024163


1796 Breen-1. Rarity-5. No Stars. MS-65 (PCGS).

Bright yellow gold with a slight greenish tint and abundant frosty lustre, more than we have ever seen on a specimen of this type. The obverse shows resplendent cartwheel, satiny and neatly swirling over the fields, and some light reflectivity. The reverse shows both deep reflectivity and bold cartwheel lustre. In 1964, this coin was described by Stack's in the Ward Collection sale as "a gem coin ...full frosty mint lustre ... as sharp a specimen as we have ever handled or seen ... This coin is the highlight of the U.S. section of this fine collection." Some very light inherent roughness at the right obverse rim was present at the moment of striking, and an area of adjustment marks is present at the right reverse rim at the tops of AMER, affecting nothing but those letters and the nearby wingtip. The reverse fields are nearly pristine, apparently described as "equal to a brilliant proof" by B. Max Mehl in 1950 (see note below). The obverse shows some light scattered marks and evidence of handling, none individually severe, with a natural circular planchet depression off Liberty's forecurl serving as the best identifier and a speck below R of LIBERTY noted for accuracy. A fine die crack may be seen from the obverse rim at 9:00 northeast into the middle of the left obverse field, and another die crack joins the bases of BER of LIBERTY. The lowest curls are nearly intact, indicating a middle stage of the lapping that progressively removes most of the lowest curl (as with the Bass II coin). These die state aspects show better on this coin than any we have seen.

The 1796 No Stars quarter eagle stands alone as a one year type and the earliest issue of this long-lived denomination. It is a classic in any grade, with tooled Fine or VF coins seeing competitive bidding from legions of type collectors. In grades above EF, the coin stands as a significant rarity—just 963 were struck, and perhaps 80 to 100 pieces exist in all grades. PCGS has offered a Mint State grade only five times: two as MS-61, two as MS-62, and this one all alone at a higher grade. NGC has graded precisely one coin higher than MS-63, a MS-65 specimen like this one and perhaps even the identical coin. It is easy to say this is the finest we have ever offered for auction, better than the marvelous MS-62 Oliver Jung coin that sold for $345,000 one year ago. It is probably also the finest we have seen, better even than the two nice coins retained by the Harry Bass Foundation. Indeed, it seems more than likely that this is the single finest example to have survived, as it is three points better than anything else PCGS has seen in over 20 years and one of only eight Uncirculated coins recorded by Akers (a number that almost certainly includes duplication). In discussing this precise coin on page 84 of The 100 Greatest U.S. Coins, Ron Guth and Jeff Garrett noted:

"In 1995, the finest known 1796 'No Stars' Quarter Eagle was sold in a New York auction. After fierce bidding, the coin was hammered down for $605,000. A good argument could be made proclaiming that coin as the most desirable eighteenth-century gold coin. Not only is it rare but also it is the only year this design was produced."

Connoisseurs of early American coins compete to own the very finest pieces, adjudged on the basis of grade, eye appeal, strike, and originality. This coin stands tall on all four aspects, perhaps most importantly the last one. With such a significant percentage of important early gold coins having undergone "improvements" in recent years, coins such as this—coins that look the same now as they did 40 years ago, whose surfaces have not been altered in the attempt to raise the grade a point and the price an increment—take on more substantial importance. It occupies a special place of primacy as the very best extant of the very first quarter eagle. Held privately for a decade, this coin has been cherished by its most recent owner and will undoubtedly become a centerpiece in the hands of its next steward as well.

PCGS Population: 1; none finer. This is the only example of the issue certified finer than MS-62 by PCGS.


Perhaps from New York Coin and Stamp Co.'s sale of the Lorin Parmelee Collection, June 1890, Lot 719; Brock Collection; University of Pennsylvania; Stack's sale of the Philip H. Ward, Jr. Collection, May 1964, Lot 1660; Lelan Rogers; Stack's Numisma '95 sale, November 1995, Lot 1498 (at $605,000).

Pistareen

http://www.stacks.com/lotdetail.aspx?lrid=AN00027421&fs=true

A new discovery, a coin that made my dad's local paper. This description was written in several hours on either side of dawn after an all-nighter. The sunrise on the lake was lovely that morning.






1854-S EF-45 (NGC).

There are some rare instances in the field of numismatics when something truly special comes along: an opportunity, a coin, a group of people, a discovery, or in the rarest of all cases, a moment in numismatic history that combines all of these things. At the recent ANA convention in San Francisco, the moment we saw this coin and met C.L. Lee we knew that we had become a part of something unforgettable and historic, a story that resonates with the fantasy of found treasure and the romance of the American dream. A quarter eagle is a small object, less than 1/8th of an ounce of gold, but the quarter eagle we are proud to offer in this lot represents a much larger narrative in which we are proud to play some small part.

In 1854, when the riches of the Gold Rush induced the government to establish a Federal mint in the city of San Francisco, just 246 quarter eagles were struck. About the same year, the great grandfather of our consignor came east—not west—to the new El Dorado of California. Leaving his native China, where he was a learned scholar, author, and Tai Chi master, the ancestor of our consignor came to California to seek his fortune. He found a great city on the rise, full of opportunity for many, but in many ways stacked against those who immigrated to California from anywhere but the eastern United States. The 1850 Foreign Miner's Tax, passed by the California Legislature in an effort to limit competition from the thousands of Chinese who found their way to the gold fields, assessed an onerous tax against any who would try to strike it rich. Soon after, Chinese immigrants were denied the right to testify in court, and many found themselves victimized by exclusion and violence. Faced with this, after working in mining and on the railroad, our consignor's ancestor returned to China, only to come back to California between 1856 and 1858. It was probably about this time that the quarter eagle was acquired, for a now unknown reason—perhaps a first wage, perhaps a souvenir of the return, or something else entirely. Whatever the coin's original attraction, it was saved, passed down, cared for as an artifact from the days of the hardest struggles, and descended to the current generation in an old burlap-covered chest from China. Filled with clothes and other heirlooms, the chest contained but one coin, a coin that happened to be the rarest of all U.S. quarter eagles, with an estimated population of fewer than a dozen pieces.

During the time the coin was in their care, the first temple devoted to Taoism in northern California burned in 1873, and members of the family were among the community that built a new temple in mid-1873. Known as the Joss House, it has been a California State Park since 1956 when our consignor's father gave the building and land to the state. The consignor's father, successful and no longer excluded from the fabric of California society, wished to see that this sacred place rich with history would be preserved for generations to come. He preserved the rare quarter eagle with a similar dedication to his own history and the interest of future generations.

Today, the coin is considered the second finest known specimen and is in marvelous condition. It is an even shade of pale yellow gold, with some subtle traces of lustre adhering to design elements. Signs of circulation and light handling are present but none are serious. We single out a short scratch off the tip of the coronet and some light deposits around star 1 as identifiers. A clash mark from Liberty's neck is visible beneath the eagle's beak, also seen on the Bass coin. The wear is even, the strike is bold, and the eye appeal is superb. It far outpaces the vast majority of known specimens, all of which are worn and some of which are in grades as low as VG and Fine. Only the Bass coin, which appears on the population reports as both an AU-50 (PCGS) and an AU-53 (NGC), is finer than this new discovery.

Compiling a definitive listing of all known 1854-S quarter eagles is a challenge, due to poor photography in past decades, changing appearances of certain specimens, and more misinformation published than we care to think about. Estimates in recent times of the total population have ranged from 8 coins to as high as 13. The most recent auction appearance of a specimen, in February 2005, included a census that included both omissions and duplications. Published material by Walter Breen is ripe with errors and mis-rememberances. Perhaps the finest census yet built is a little known one authored by the late Carl Carlson and published in a 1983 Herbert Melnick sale. At that time, Carlson estimated that just 8 examples were known, fewer than Breen's guess of 9 in 1988 and equal to his more informed census counting 8 specimens in 1962. Carlson wrote "though there may be a couple of other specimens out there, it is highly unlikely that the total would reach as high as a dozen pieces in all grades, and there is still no indication of the existence of anything better than a borderline EF."

We have compiled the following census, based on actual comparison of plates and with a total lack of guesswork. Information which is not clearly proveable is indicated as such, and the listing is not put forth in any particular order as we have not personally examined every piece noted.

A. The Bass coin. Ex.Boyd WGC:242; Memorable:222; NN51:837; Rio Rancho: 89; Bass II:472. Graded AU-50 (PCGS) and AU-53 (NGC). The finest known example, now in a well known private collection and unlikely to see the light of day for years. This coin appears to be the Bell coin, Ex Stack's 1944, but Abe Kosoff, in the 1946 Boyd catalogue, suggests that they are different coins. If so, the relatively high-grade Bell coin may be a duplicate of the Menjou coin (J) or the AtH2O coin (D).

B. Newcomer-Green-Farouk:278, same as C or F?

C. Gilhousen (Superior,1973):184, Rio Rancho (Superior, 1974):90; Dr. Franklin Altany (Paramount, 1977):589; Windsor (Paramount, 1981):307; Heritage February 2005:7584, now certified as VF-25 (PCGS).

D. AtH2O (Mehl, 1946):2072, Grant Pierce (Stack's 1965):1154, R.L. Miles (Stack's 1968):166, fire-scale at rims cleaned off, Jess Peters 1973 ANA: 826, Kagin's 304th sale (1974 MANA):1547, Fairfield (Bowers and Ruddy, 1977):1544, Scott-Kinnear (Sotheby's, 1982):13, Heritage October 1995:5527 (EF-40, cleaned, planchet flaws, "a dry creek bed appearance").

E. NERCA 1979 ANA:82, Paramount Auction '81:1405, Stack's 5-00:1194 ("Very Good").

F. Kreisberg-Schulman 2-60:2592 (NOT the 1979 NERCA specimen as previously asserted). Called Very Fine/Fine, quite possibly the Farouk coin though the photo quality does not allow us to positively link it to another pedigree chain.

G. Norweb II: 2025, Richmond:1149 (VF-35 PCGS)

H. Roach (Mehl, 1944):1001; Wolfson (Stack's 1962):165; S. Hallock DuPont (Sotheby's 1982):83, Grand Central (Melnick 1983):2762; Stack's 400 sale (1988):366. "Fine."

I. The Eliasberg coin. Mehl to Granberg to Sears to Clapp to Eliasberg:170, Stetson (Bowers and Merena 1993):587 ("VG-8/G-4").

J. Menjou (Kosoff, 1950):1326. The Bass coin was said to be from Boyd WGC ("World's Greatest Collection") and Menjou, but the Kosoff description pointedly says "this is a very fine specimen and as such is equal to the W.G.C. coin which sold at $1000," which sounds to us like it was two different coins. Sadly, the same stock photograph was used, leading to confusion for everyone from Walter Breen down. The Menjou coin perhaps went to Davis Graves (Stack's, 1954):825, described as "horizontal abrasion above eagle" by Breen—the only piece that fits the description of 1) nearly as nice as the Boyd WGC-Bass coin, 2) horizontal scrape above eagle and 3) could have been sold in this period and stayed off the market for years is: the Norweb coin, #7 above.

K. Ezra Cole (Bowers and Merena, 1986):2546; Heifetz (Superior, 1989):4037; Boys' Town (Superior, 1990):5431. This could be the 1960 Schulman coin (F) or the Gilhousen-Heritage 2005 coin (C). NGC Fine-12.

L. Auction '86 (Paramount):1867; ; Rarcoa's Chicago 1991 sale:937

M. The coin offered here, never before offered.

We have shown precisely 13 pedigree strings. Of those, B almost has to duplicate another listing but has no photographic evidence to prove which one. F is a lone appearance with a bad photo and is also likely a duplicate. The J listing for Menjou is probably the same as the Norweb coin, again without a photo to prove it. This leaves a probable population of exactly 10 specimens; not a foolproof accounting but the best estimate we are able to discern.

There is no greater rarity in the entire U.S. quarter eagle series than the 1854-S. Only two regular issue gold coins have lower mintages, the 1875 $5 and 1875 $10, but both have high-survivorship Proofs to help fill collector demand. With a probable population of just 10 pieces, the 1854-S quarter eagle outpaces some of the most famous and expensive rarities in American numismatics. Add to this the fact that, as we have shown, most of the known specimens are in very low grades, and this coin takes on a whole new magic.

When we met C.L. Lee in San Francisco, she knew the coin that she owned was very special, not just for its rarity and price, but for what it represented. The coin is a golden manifestation of the legacy of the generation that first came to California, a distinctive provenance that means as much as an Eliasberg or Norweb or Newcomer pedigree though in a decidedly different way. Perhaps most remarkable is the fact that this important 1854-S quarter eagle rarity was "born" in San Francisco, where it recently resurfaced, and has spent its entire 151 year history—except for a short vacation in Wolfeboro, NH this summer—in northern California, and that its destiny has brought it back to California for its auction debut.

The purchaser of this coin will gain not only the remarkable laurel of being the first collector to ever include it in a cabinet of rarities, but also the responsibility to care for a unique piece of American history. We are delighted to have learned the C.L. Lee specimen's story, and we are equally thrilled to be able to introduce this important coin to a numismatic audience for the very first time.

NGC Census: 1; 2 finer (AU-53 finest). NGC has certified a specimen on 7 different occasions. PCGS has certified just 2 specimens, the Bass coin as AU-50 and another in VG-VF.

Saved as an heirloom in the Lee family since the late 1850s, handed down in an old Chinese chest, authenticated in July 2005 in Santa Clara, California. This marks the coin's first ever auction appearance.

Pistareen

This piece was offered in order with a 1792 Silver Center cent, 1792 copper cent, and a document about the early Mint. That four-lot group allowed me to summarize my thoughts about, and my love for, the issues of 1792.




http://www.stacks.com/lotdetail.aspx?lrid=AN00037318

1792 pattern Washington "cent" by Peter Getz. Baker-25, Breen-1352. MS-62 BN (NGC). Copper. Plain edge. A lovely specimen of an issue of underrated rarity and historical importance, a fine addition to our once-in-a-blue-moon offering of pattern issues of 1792. Exemplary chocolate brown surfaces, pale blue highlights with traces of gold in the lightly reflective fields. Some tempting vestiges of mint color persist in tiny splashes such as that at the corner of Washington's eye and around the first A of AMERICA. The surfaces are smooth and appealing, and the overall aesthetic appeal is superb. Some scattered marks are seen, including a few nicks in the middle of the left obverse field and a scrape from beneath D of PRESIDENT to the back of Washington's head. The reverse shows only the sort of very light marks that appear to have preceded striking. The detail is exceptional, with only light handling on the high points of the obverse—perhaps bespeaking distribution to a non-numismatist in 1792 but no actual circulation wear. The detail on the eagle is especially crisp and enjoyable to examine under magnification.

Struck from the earliest die state, which in part explains the light reflectivity, with no trace of die spalling or rust at the lower reverse. According to Michael Hodder's study of the die states of this issue, this places the present specimen among the very first batch made from these dies, before the silver examples and a significant proportion of the copper pieces. The eye appeal and technical quality of this piece should be enough to highly recommend a strong bid to anyone with a passing familiarity of this piece as a pattern, or an American token, or a "colonial" coin.

The actual story of this piece, laid out in detail with strong historical evidence in the Ford catalogue, is even more fascinating—would that more people took the time to understand the history of Congress' debates on coinage in 1791-92 or at least read the documents provided in the 2004 Ford sale!

NGC Census: 1; none finer.

The first form of what became the Mint Act of 1792 to be proposed in the Senate was a product of a committee appointed on October 31, 1791, among day-to-day business such as the seating of the new senator from Vermont and hearing a proposal for a sculpture from the tricky Italian sculptor Ceracchi. On that day, "Mrrs. [Robert] Morris, [Rufus] King, [Ralph] Izard, [George] Cabot, and [John] Henry" were ordered to "be a committee to take into consideration the subject of a mint, and to report a bill thereon, if they think proper." Led by the Pennsylvania financier Morris, a bill "establishing a mint, and regulating the coins of the United States" was drawn up and presented to the Senate on December 21 for its first reading. It was read again on January 3, 1792 and again tabled. Two more days passed, the bill was read again and tabled again.

Finally on January 9, 1792, the bill was brought up and amendments were made; one requesting that on copper coins "there shall be a representation of America, in the usual female figure of Justice holding balanced scales, with this inscription, 'To all their due.' And around the margin this legend, expressive of the denomination of the piece, 'Cent of the United States of America,' or half cent, as the case may be." It failed, and further action would wait until later in the same week. On January 12, 1792, at long last, the Senate completed their emendation to include the following vital paragraph:

"Upon one side of each of the said coins there shall be all impression or representation of the head of the President of the United States for the time being, with an inscription which shall express the initial or first letter of his Christian or first name, and his surname at length, the succession of the presidency numerically, and the year of the coinage; and upon the reverse of each of the gold and silver coins there shall be the figure or representation of an eagle, with this inscription—'United States of America,' and upon the reverse of each of the copper coins, there shall be an inscription which shall express the denomination of the piece, namely, cent or half cent, as case may require."

And thus, the Senate version of the bill lay complete and dormant, until the House version appeared in the upper house on March 27, 1792. The House version was significantly different, and in it was the principal verbiage that became the Act of April 2, 1792, establishing the Mint and the rules that guided the design of our nation's coinage.

While Breen posits that the Getz patterns were coined in December 1791 in anticipation of passage, this does not seem to pass our common sense test. Rather, a silversmith like Peter Getz would likely not invest the time and energy in completing a die until the bill seemed ripe for passage. Thus, we suspect the Getz pieces—which of course depict precisely the designs demanded by the Senate version of the bill, down to the numeral I to identify Washington as the first president—were coined between late January and late March 1792. Notably, Getz did not place a denomination "cent" or "half cent" on his reverse die, adding weight to Breen and Ford's contention that the Getz pieces were in fact multi-denominational patterns, suitable to represent the half dollar denomination when struck in silver or the cent denomination when coined in copper, as here.

Getz, a young but talented silversmith from Lancaster, 65 miles west of Philadelphia, was apparently in Philadelphia in 1792; by summer, he was reported by William Barton to be applying for a job at the newly established U.S. Mint. Before pursuing this back-up plan, inspired by the imported 1791 Washington Small Eagle cents, he apparently pursued the Mint contract on his own, showing that an upstart American minter could compete with the English coiners who vied for the valuable government commission. His design was taken from Hanc-ck's issues of 1791, but the inscriptions were clearly patterned on Morris' bill that first appeared on December 21 and passed the full Senate a month later. He was the only American competitor for a private minting contract and as such his home-grown patterns—not medals, or Washington tokens, but patterns—stand alone among both the Washington series and the patterns of 1792. Perhaps a silver piece was given to each senator and a copper specimen was presented to each congressman.

Perhaps Getz struck a substantial number and gave one to everyone important he met. We may never know. What is known, empirically, are that silver specimens are today rare and copper examples are extremely scarce; Ford estimated in the 1970s that 40 to 50 copper examples survive in all grades. Most saw circulation or at least significant wear, and very few remain in such impressive condition as seen here. While not as expensive or as rare as the other patterns of 1792 (the half disme excepted, as it was coined for circulation), the story of the patterns of 1792 is incomplete without the telling of Getz's role in it. By the same token, a collection of 1792 patterns is incomplete without a Getz piece, and we rarely see one as desirable as the present specimen.

From Stack's sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part II, May 2004, Lot 31.

Pistareen

Another record-setter, a joy to study.




http://www.stacks.com/lotdetail.aspx?lrid=AN00037937&fs=true

1852 Moffat & Co. $10 gold. K-9. Rarity-6. Wide Date. SP-67 (PCGS).

Over the years, we have been fortunate enough to handle coins of majestic beauty, coins with superb and historic provenances, and coins whose very existence is surprising. Indeed, coins such as those are our stock in trade, and we often count ourselves lucky to simply handle them. Amidst such an environment, only a coin that is truly special can render us grasping for words, for superlatives, for terminology to indicate how beautiful, how historic, and how surprising that specimen is. In this sale full of magnificent numismatic rarities, the present piece stands out as so special that the best way to communicate how incredible it is would be to simply drop it in a numismatist's hand and stand back. When viewed, it tells a better story than any we could attempt to wrap words around.

The coins of Moffat and Co. struck between 1849 and 1852 were renowned at the time for their high quality and strict adherence to an acceptable weight and fineness, but no one at that time or now would have sung the praises of their aesthetic quality. Their consistency earned them the government contract as the U.S. Assay Office of Gold in early 1852. The renderings of the design were competent but not beautiful, and today most coins bearing the imprint of Moffat and Co. show circulation and the usual imperfections associated with commercial use. The conventional wisdom states that no numismatist would have saved these pieces at the time, and any high-grade specimens would have survived only through a series of chance occurrences to the present day.

In the case of this spectacular coin, the conventional wisdom would be wrong. A single numismatist saved specimens of territorial gold issues, and he even went so far as to have special Proof examples produced for his collection, unique examples that represented the very finest product a frontier minter could manufacture. The numismatist in question was a frontier minter himself; his name was Augustus Humbert, and this coin was his.

Most of Humbert's collection eventually found its way to the Garrett Collection, after Captain Andrew Zabriskie's en block purchase following Humbert's death. Humbert's specially made Proof or specimen strikes were a sensation at the time of the 1980 Garrett auction, each being unique or nearly so and in a remarkable state of preservation. Included in the sale were Humbert's personal Proof 1852/1 U.S. Assay Office of Gold $20 (graded Proof-65 by PCGS, it sold for $374,000 in 1992), Humbert's personal 1851 Proof $50 slug (graded Proof-64 by PCGS, it sold for $500,000 in 1980), Humbert's personal Proof 1854 Kellogg $20 (graded SP-69 by PCGS, it sold for $230,000 in 1980), and Humbert's personal Proof 1855 Kellogg $50, all 12 of which were struck as Proofs, almost certainly at Humbert's behest. The present coin, however, descended through a more circuitous route, leaving the Humbert family when his brother Pierre died in 1901. It first appeared in a 1902 Chapman brothers' auction as part of "the Collection of the Late Augustus Humbert, One of the Pioneer California Coiners, a collection that apparently was held back by Pierre Humbert rather than being sold to Zabriskie. That collection included but two Proofs, another 1855 Kellogg $50 (a further indication that the Proof-collector Humbert caused them to be struck, as we know he owned no less than 1/6th of the original mintage), and the present coin. Henry Chapman called this piece a "superb brilliant proof. We have never seen its equal." To Mrrs. Henry and Samuel Hudson Chapman, all we can say is: nor have we.

This specially made coin glows with bright light yellow gold lustre, highly reflective in the fields yet retaining remarkable radiating cartwheel lustre. The fields are smooth and frosty, and though they do not precisely resemble the fields on a U.S. Mint-struck Proof coin of this era, they are dramatically, radically different from any other Moffat in existence. The detail is bold from the sharp denticles and raised rim to the boldly delineated central designs. The coin has obviously received white-glove treatment since its striking, and very few flaws are present—a few hairlines that are visible only under magnification, a short thin scratch towards the chin inside star 2, and little else. Short lint marks outside stars 11 and 13 make the intent of the minter clear. A fragile die crack runs from 9:00 on the reverse rim through G of GRS, and another runs from 3:00 at the rim through G of GOLD to the ribbon below. The aesthetic appeal is, obviously, dramatic and impressive.

Aside from the two 1853 Assay Office $20 Proofs that were coined at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia before the dies were shipped west—the Smithsonian piece and another coin pedigreed to before 1873 that once graced the collections of Newcomer, Green, Farouk, and Bass—it appears that every Proof or specimen California gold coin in existence can trace its lineage to Augustus Humbert. Although he may not have personally owned every 1855 Kellogg $50 struck, they were produced while he was associated with the firm and he is known to have owned at least two of them. A number of 1853-dated U.S. Assay Office pieces called Proofs show a different collar and reed count from the SI and Bass specimens; they emerged in the 1950s and remain shrouded in controversy.

A complete census of Proof or specimen territorial gold coins in private hands would include the known 1855 Kellogg $50s (combined NGC/PCGS population is 12 of the 11 or 12 struck), the four pieces from Humbert's collection in the Garrett sale noted above, this coin, and a Clark Gruber Mountain $20 that was only very recently certified by NGC as Specimen-64. Sold as MS-64 (NGC) in January 2006, the piece brought $690,000. The Kellogg $50s, hardly unique since the entire mintage of the design type was produced as Proofs, turn up regularly; a nice example brought over $300,000 in a Stack's sale in 2003. The Humbert-Zabriskie-Garrett coins all brought strong six-figure prices more than 25 years ago. The present coin has not changed hands at auction since 1982, at which time it had been off the market nearly 20 years.

This piece is unique in so many ways: the only specimen Moffat coin of any date or denomination, the only Proof or specimen coin traceable to Augustus Humbert's personal collection that was not in the Garrett sale, the only territorial $10 in specimen or Proof finish, the only Proof made specially for Humbert that his brother Pierre chose to retain until his death. It is so amazing (which is not a word we often use to describe coins, as it takes a lot to amaze us) that having it in hand renders an experienced numismatist speechless and an amateur collector befuddled—it simply looks like no other territorial gold coin on earth. Researching it has been a joy, but owning it would be sweeter yet. When Abner Kriesberg described this coin in 1964, he noted that "the quality conscious collector who wants the finest now has a once in a lifetime opportunity. A record price is anticipated." We echo his sentiments as strongly as we do those of the Chapman Brothers that were noted above. This is one of the most magnificent coins ANR has ever been privileged to handle.

PCGS Population: 1; none finer. Holder incorrectly states Close Date. This is the only specimen Moffat certified and one of only two territorials ever accorded "specimen" status, the other being Humbert's personal specimen of the 1854 Kellogg $20, recently offered for over $1,000,000.

As additional historical background, when this coin was struck by Moffat and Co. in January 1852, it also held the government contract to strike the coins of the U.S. Assay Office. The $10 and $20 coins of the USAOG dated 1852 were struck by the company in February of that year. Augustus Humbert, of course, was intimately involved and was under contract as the U.S. assayer at the time. Indeed, Humbert's role in the Moffat firm was such that he could have stuck this piece for himself personally, likely within weeks of the striking of the Proof 1852/1 $20 from the Zabriskie and Garrett collections. Moffat and Co. was officially dissolved—and became the U.S. Assay Office of Gold—on Valentine's Day, 1852.

From the Franklinton Collection. From the personal collection of Augustus Humbert until his death in Paris in 1873; Pierre Humbert, his brother, by descent until his death in 1901; S.H. and Henry Chapman's sale of the "Collections of United States Coins of William R. Weeks, Esq. and the late Augustus Humbert," May 1902, Lot 707; Virgil Brand Collection; Numismatic Gallery's sale of the "Memorable" (i.e. Shapiro) Collection, March 1948, Lot 970 (apparently consigned and bought back, though the main consignor was J.F. Shapiro a.k.a J.F. Bell); Virgil Brand Collection; Abner Kreisberg and Hans Schulman's sale of the Virgil Brand and Gustav Lichtenfels Collections, March 1964, Lot 2204; RARCOA's session of Auction '82, August 1982, Lot 981; Bowers and Merena's sale of the Great Lakes Collection, November 1998, Lot 4049.

Pistareen

This one is not as pretty as the last, but it was a discovery I made with a friend on a $30 brown couch. It was a very memorable Eureka! moment.




http://www.stacks.com/lotdetail.aspx?lrid=AN00007289&fs=true


1795 C-6a, B-6a. No Pole. Rarity-2 as a variety, Rarity-8 overstruck on a cut-down 1794 half dollar die trial, Judd-17, Overton-105. VG-10.

Sharpness of F-15, minor rim nicks. 81.8 grains. An important new discovery in the half cent series. Attractive light brown with generally nice surface quality. Some scattered tiny pits, several irregularly spaced nicks or cuts on the obverse rim, a few minor abrasions and scratches from time spent in circulation. Of course, such minor defects matter little considering the rarity and interest in a coin such as this, showing abundant detail from the extremely rare 1794 half dollar die trial it was struck over! The obverse is struck over the half dollar's reverse with essentially upside-down rotation. When seen upside down, the half cent obverse reveals amazing details of the half dollar reverse, including a crisply defined eagle's head at 17 of the date and the dexter wing in the left obverse field. A substantial portion of the wreath is visible, with NT of UNITED clear. On the half dollar's obverse (the half cent reverse), much of LIBERTY is visible on either side of the fraction, with LI in the vicinity of CA of AMERICA and RT between the left ribbon end and the dentils. The unique formation of the wreath and berries on the reverse are enough to absolutely determine that this undertype was from the Overton-105 dies.

This specimen represents only the second half cent known to be struck over a cut-down copper striking of 1794 Overton-105; the other piece struck over a 1794 Overton-105 was discovered by Walter Breen in 1957 but its whereabouts are currently unknown. The present specimen was discovered unidentified at an Ohio coin show and purchased by Christopher Young. The identification of the undertype was made by Young and the present cataloguer in February 2004. Other 1795 C-6a half cents are known to be struck over copper half dollar die trials, namely: the piece in the September 2003 Superior sale (over 1794 Overton-101), the Ruby piece (Superior, 2-1974:196, over 1795 Overton-117), and a specimen over a cut down 1794 Overton-104 die trial reported by Breen. Only one intact 1794 half dollar die trial in copper exists, struck from the Overton-108 dies and permanently impounded in the National Numismatic Collection. The discovery of this piece brings the total population in collector's hands to only five known pieces, with two of those never selling publicly.

This piece is a coin with multiple important aspects. Of course, grade isn't one of them; despite the fact that this coin is a relatively attractive coin with good remaining details, it is perhaps typical among pieces of this variety. Only a handful of half cents in total have ever been found over half dollar trials, all from the 1795 C-6a dies. Such items are still extremely rare despite the very plain undertype on this coin and those others seen, in addition to the fact that half cent collectors have been looking at undertypes (usually TAL cents and spoiled large cents) on the 1795 No Pole varieties for years. To a pattern collector, its importance is perhaps greater as this is the only means a pattern collector has to acquire a specimen of the extremely rare Judd-17 variety. While other undertypes may pop up as time goes on, we can hardly imagine a complete copper 1794 half dollar turning up! Of course, we would love to eat our words in that regard.

This half cent tells us a great deal about the early Mint, about the attempts to perfect the striking of the large half dollars, and about the planchet sources for half cents. Breen identifies the Overton-105 die marriage as one of the first 1794 half dollars struck, delivered in October 1794 (on the same day, incidentally, as the first 1794 dollars). Thus, that piece the resides underneath this half cent was likely one of the very earliest attempts from the half dollar dies, much like the intact Overton-108 in the NNC. The copper 1794 Judd-19 dollar trial in copper is a similar creature; it too remains in the Mint cabinet. After the purchase of hundreds of pounds of Talbot, Allum, and Lee tokens, it became clear that the Mint sought the cheapest source of copper to be used on the modest half cents; even misstruck large cents (or cast-off die trials!) would be sufficient. To have so much historical interest bound up in a single coin is unusual, and the fact that the market evaluates this as worth less than a brightly toned 20th-century commemorative half dollar is puzzling. That puzzle is an opportunity for savvy collectors, and we hope that those connoisseurs will be drawn to this fascinating lot.

Pistareen

Andy --

Thanks for the idea and the trip down memory lane. I've been lucky to see some really extraordinary stuff and try to wrap words around it. It's been a privilege and an honor.

TwoSides2aCoin

I think a job like that would cause me to start studdering

mrearlygold

Excellent!

zenny

ditto the thanks to Andy for the thread of the year topic, and for JK's wonderful follow up.


ps. looking forward to Volume II........

JustBustDimes

I have so much to learn!

Longacre

Amazing coins and write-ups! Thanks for sharing your favorites so far.

IGWT

I remember reading those lot descriptions, except for the Judd-1469. I like the emphasis: The coin "is unique, one-of-a-kind, without duplicate anywhere." You wrote that, John, as though you thought the readers would be doubting you.

ColonialCoinUnion

While these write-ups are great, my favorites were always the ones where you could tell that John either didn't agree with the assigned grade, or really didn't like the coin based on his subtle clues.

Longacre

Too bad these descriptions were written on a computer (I assume). It would be interesting to see how the coin descriptions developed over time, how they were edited, what was added or taken out of the descriptions, etc. I think it would give a good insight into how opinions developed about the coins, and if there were struggles among the different editors of the descriptions. However, I assume that things like this are lost in cyberspace somewhere.

Coinosaurus

Most cataloguers probably have some combination of written and electronic notes that they are going by. Dick Johnson recently wrote somewhere that a researcher's greatest asset is their own personal files.

Pistareen

CCU: Could you find one of those euphemistic catalogue descriptions where I tried to pull a numismatic Roberta Flack and kill the coin softly? I usually push those coins out of my mind the instant I've catalogued them, and you can't search our database for "overbright" or "unusual color."

Of course, if I could search by consignor, I could find a lot of those kind of coins -- it's the same folks, all the time Luckily, some other people, both dealers and collectors, have consistently good taste!

Coinosaurus

Pistareen-

I'm not sure if it was you or not, but I remember seeing not too long ago a modern toner described as "artful". I got the feeling the cataloguer wasn't completely convinced it was a "natural" occurance

MrEureka

ttt again!

lloydmincy

Wow... have to print some of these... Sorry you are leaving...

kranky

I well remember this thread from the first go-round. What I enjoy about JK's descriptions, obvious in the examples shown here, is his unabashed excitement for great coins, his respect for numismatic history and his exactitude in researching and describing the items. I was going to add that it's also nice he's a good writer, but I don't want to gush.

And he's a fellow Keystone State native, so that's a bonus.

Fletcher

We need more threads like this one ...

speety

...and more of these guys actively posting again

RWB

That would be nice, but posting to a message site takes time and contributes nothing toward paying the bills.

mrearlygold

Excellent thread

pmac

Reviving a thread about John Kraljevich on St. Patrick's Day, why not? He writes some great descriptions.

Sonorandesertrat

Sigh.....
More, pretty please, John

Coinosaurus

<< <i>Sigh.....
More, pretty please, John >>



JK is still cataloguing away on his website here.

Justacommeman

John needs less words and more cowbell

Love his musings.............MJ

Sonorandesertrat

<< <i>

<< <i>Sigh.....
More, pretty please, John >>



JK is still cataloguing away on his website here. >>



I know---I am one of his customers.

Staircoins

It pains me to see that the images from these catalog listings are gone.

Thankfully, Pistareen's elegant prose remains, at least.

Hopefully S-B will resurrect their archives soon.

tradedollarnut

ttt

ColonelJessup

One of my favorites is a coin he vaguely conceded might be viewed by the market less critically than by EAC standards. A 1793 1/2c he describes in the catalog as "AU" which was subsequently "brutally" graded MS63BN by our hosts (maybe 5 years ago). I'm wondering if he catalogued the "AU" AMERI 1c that was, to the surprise of none seeing it in hand, called new ( MS62 or better) by anyone with a clue (closer to 10 years ago). Both coins were purchased by the same very knowledgeable and sophisicated collector, one with over 50 years experience. Clearly someone with the collecting "gene".

Seems "under-promise and over-deliver", in an overall sales climate seemingly most often strongly skewed towards bombast and hyperbole, may yet have some small residual value.

And the history, personalities, micro and macro socio-economic issues and details.... Ah, I'm just gilding the lily.

The apotheosis of geekdoom leavened with humanity and a sense of humor. I write this knowing that if he reads it he will squirm......

Coinosaurus

ttt

erickso1

I've only made it through two, but this is a great thread. Love the story behind the 1854-s.

Definitely a thread I'm subscribing too until I get through them all. Then to his website.

MrEureka

ttt once again, just because I have cataloging on my mind...

GeorgeKellogg

Maybe we could coax JK to fix the photo pastes...