Post a rare coin where the opportunity to purchase was rarer than the coin itself
Broadstruck
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In another thread member dealer FredWeinberg posted a statement made by dealer Lester Merkin
"Sometimes the opportunity to buy a rare coin is rarer than the coin itself"
Which got me thinking might make for a great thread.
"Sometimes the opportunity to buy a rare coin is rarer than the coin itself"
Which got me thinking might make for a great thread.
To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
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IIRC; some of the John J. Ford colonials have been for sale precisely once in the last hundred years. I'm not sure if I have the name right but I just remember the sale a few years ago and the volume of rare colonials from it.
-D
-Aristotle
Dum loquimur fugerit invida aetas. Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.
-Horace
-D
-Aristotle
Dum loquimur fugerit invida aetas. Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.
-Horace
As the story goes Dickeson obtained a pair of dies created by early mint employee Adam Eckfeldt. Those dies were never used for coinage or pattern purposes, and were assuredly sold as scrap metal by the Mint. Dickeson apparently believed the die was connected with the 1792 Getz or Birch cents. Dickeson thereby had a reverse die made which read "TRIAL PIECE/DESIGNED FOR/UNITED STATES/CENT./1792." and struck his tokens. The dies where actually not for the 1792 Cent as Dickeson believed but embossing dies for stamping revenue paper in 1816.
These are also listed in the Judd US Pattern book, along with a bit of info on www.USPatterns.com
It's NGC MS63BN lots of red present with a nice overcast of blue patina. The obverse has a few die cracks and is a bit hard as it was struck from rusted dies, whereas the reverse is somewhat proof-like. It's 1 of 6 known which where struck by Dickeson and just another final frontiers of numismatics esoteric item that fits my collection well
A bit more info on Montroville Dickeson from a Stack's blog-
Among our favorite “characters” in 19th century numismatics is Montroville W. Dickeson, M.D. We have mentioned him a number of times over the years in various studies, including in the book, American Numismatics before the Civil War. However, he remains generally unknown to most numismatists today, and is absent from the ANA Hall of Fame.
As were many other important figures early in our hobby, Dickeson was a man of many interests—multi-tasking we would say today, but with regard to different pursuits. While he was a numismatist, Dickeson was also a medical doctor, an archaeologist, an expert in Indian culture, and a Philadelphia landlord (one of his tenants was E.B. Mason, Jr., the coin collector). Today, Dickeson is probably better remembered for his excavation of Indian mounds in the prairie states, than he is for his numismatic contributions.
In the realm of coin collecting, his American Numismatical Manual, published by Lippincott in 1859, was large in size, comprehensive in scope, and illustrated in color (with tinted, embossed plates). At this time there was very little for Dickeson to draw upon in the way of earlier published information. An Historical Account of American Coinage, by John Hickox had been published in 1858, but only in an edition of 205 copies, mainly to historical societies, and of a very small size. Other than that, nothing, except for some scattered auction catalogues, treatises on medals, and Joseph B. Felt’s 1839 book on coin and paper money of Massachusetts.
Dickeson made some assumptions, some of which are humorous today. For example, he suggested that the letter C on the reverse of a gold coin meant that it was made in California. Today, we all know that the letter signifies the Charlotte Mint. Some coins that we know are rare today were listed without comment, and others he called rare are now thought to be, if not common, at least only scarce. Still, in the main, the reading of the American Numismatical Manualis very educational and informative. Some related discussion of this appears in our current “Spotlight” feature on our Website. The book went through subsequent editions in 1860 and 1865, at which time the title appeared slightly differently as American Numismatic Manual. As the coin hobby had started in a large way in 1857 and 1858, terminology was still in a state of flux. What we now call numismatics in 2007 was often called numismatology in the late 1850s. We use the adjective numismatic to describe something, such as a numismatic book, but numismatical was certainly not out of keeping with practice in 1859. Dickeson died on April 14, 1882, at the age of 69.
Today, it is easy enough to become acquainted with Dickeson and his book by submitting a “want list” to any leading dealer in out of print numismatic publications or, for that matter, searching on the Internet. The original press runs for the three editions must have comprised many thousands of copies. The typical example encountered is apt to have clean contents, but with the brown cloth cover sometimes scuffed or a bit loose. Such a book is an excellent addition to a numismatic library.
One member here recently purchased the second finest known extremely rare die marriage for his collection. And while others exist they may have been in collections not to be sold for a LONG time.
<< <i>Two known; one in a museum.
and where is the other?
I don't know if the first two could even be considered rare, but they are rare in offerings. I have heard of only 2 or 3 each.
To my knowledge, the 1971 D and 1972 D have never been offered for sale.
I guess if a coin is unique, and you never had a chance to buy it in your collecting lifetime, the opportunity would be rarer than the coin itself.
But if you DID acquire one...........that's where it gets confusing.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
www.brunkauctions.com
<< <i>
<< <i>Two known; one in a museum.
and where is the other? >>
id like to know where the other one is to ( if known )