HK-527 Gilt - 1959 Alaska Flag Day Dollar

Zoins

HK-527 is only listed in H&K as nickel-silver but NGC has slabbed gilt versions.

• Has anyone seen this before and how many are there?
• Should the Gilt version have it's own HK number like other gilt SCDs?

Here's a photo of a NGC slabbed version that sold recently:

Elmhurst

Lots of similar items were issued for the Seattle World Fair in 1961 or 62. I suspect from the same producer, if you want to do some research.

Zoins

According to H&K, this and HK-547, the Hawaii Flag Day Dollar, are made by G & G Distributors, Los Angeles, CA. A few quick Google searches didn't turn up information on G & G but it would be interesting to find out more about the company.

keets

what is typically done when something like this is encapsulated/authenticated is that a letter suffix is added, why NGC deviated from that is peculiar.

ricko

I like the gilt version... I remember this well... they made a big deal out of it in school at the time. Cheers, RickO

Zoins

@keets said:
what is typically done when something like this is encapsulated/authenticated is that a letter suffix is added, why NGC deviated from that is peculiar.

It seems like numbers were assigned for gilt pieces when they were known during the initial numbering, e.g. HK-401. Letters were assigned when variations are discovered after the initial numbering, e.g. HK-409b.

My speculation on why a number or letter was not assigned here is that NGC does not own the copyright for HK and is not an HK editor so we would need an HK editor to assign a number.

References for errors, patterns, and VAMs are living references, so it would be nice to have a way to extend HK numbers for deserving issues. Part of the reason for posting this here is to create a reference for this piece for future HK numbering/lettering exercises.

Zoins

@ricko said:
I like the gilt version... I remember this well... they made a big deal out of it in school at the time. Cheers, RickO

Great that you remember these pieces Rick! How were these pieces announced, discussed, and distributed?

ricko

@Zoins..... Sorry for the confusion... I remember when Alaska was admitted to the Union...not the so-called dollar... I should have phrased that better.... Cheers, RickO

Zoins

No worries @ricko ! I'm a big fan of Alaska. Things are huge up there.

I also collect Alaska tokens and what I consider modern Alaska SCDs. These include official Nome Gold Rush Centennial medallions in gold and silver, an event that was celebrated with a calendar of events for many months in Nome, Alaska. From my research, I'm a firm believer these 1998 medals should have HK numbers