A cool coin with a cool story - 1795 FH Dollar
BryceM
Posts: 11,858 ✭✭✭✭✭
I've been meaning to type up this story for a while. The weather here is ugly today, so here goes. After finishing my Peace Dollar set I somehow became interested in early type coins. Looking around at coin shows, the size and incredible character of early dollars really grabbed my attention. It became pretty obvious that I "needed" a 1700s dollar, preferably one with a small eagle reverse. I found a 1795 Flowing Hair dollar I liked at Long Beach, but I had Mark Feld take a look and he thought I should hold out for a better one.
A month or so later he e-mails me a photo of one in PCGS F12 and wants to know if I like it. I hummed and hawed a bit and finally decided to have it sent to him to take a look. He approved and after a few e-mails back and forth I finally decided to have him ship it so I could see it. It was pretty clear once I had it in hand that I wouldn't be able to send it back, even if it did make me scramble a bit to come up with the funds.
I found the surfaces and clashing to be especially interesting. Except for the reverse rims, overall device detail seems significantly above average for the assigned grade.
I took the coin home and while photographing it, I immediately recognized small markings (what some have called grafitti) on the obverse rim at 4 o'clock. I did a search here and found the exact coin in this thread. Interestingly enough, I had commented on the thread back then.
Apparently this coin was purchased by board member Dave Hall (SmallTownCoins). One day an old-timer shows up in his shop with the coin jingling around with loose change in his pants pocket. Dave questioned the authenticity of the coin and the guy pulled out an old ANACS photocert. Apparently Dave bought it, sent it in to our hosts, evidently sold it to another dealer who sold it to Mark, who then sold it to me.
The coin got beat up a little in the court of forum opinion in the original thread above. There were many who didn't think it should/would holder at all. Several people thought Dave was lucky to get a straight F12 grade. As a biased observer, I can say the coin is better than it looks in those first photos in the other thread. Yes there is wear. Yes there are hairlines. Yes there is a small mark on the rim at 4 o'clock. In-hand, the "problems" are much less evident than in Dave's original photos of the coin. The hairlines are not terribly deep and they certainly aren't distracting. There are no adjustment marks or gouges that are so common on these. Actually, it's about what I'd expect from a 200 year-old, heavily worn coin.
Someone else (maybe Lance?) already posted a superimposed image of the clash, but I got busy with my Photoshop skills and came up with this:
I contacted Dave and let him know how the coin came to be in my posession. I was immensely surprised and grateful when he offered to send me the ANACS photocert the old guy had produced. He generously forwarded it to me and it now has it's own little spot next to the coin in the SDB. From the photos, it doesn't seem to have changed much since 1981.
It's a B-9, BB-13, Die State 2 example of what is to me a fascinating bit of early America. I now have a partial history of the coin's travels over the last 31 years. If it were possible to trace it back even further what stories could it tell?
A month or so later he e-mails me a photo of one in PCGS F12 and wants to know if I like it. I hummed and hawed a bit and finally decided to have it sent to him to take a look. He approved and after a few e-mails back and forth I finally decided to have him ship it so I could see it. It was pretty clear once I had it in hand that I wouldn't be able to send it back, even if it did make me scramble a bit to come up with the funds.
I found the surfaces and clashing to be especially interesting. Except for the reverse rims, overall device detail seems significantly above average for the assigned grade.
I took the coin home and while photographing it, I immediately recognized small markings (what some have called grafitti) on the obverse rim at 4 o'clock. I did a search here and found the exact coin in this thread. Interestingly enough, I had commented on the thread back then.
Apparently this coin was purchased by board member Dave Hall (SmallTownCoins). One day an old-timer shows up in his shop with the coin jingling around with loose change in his pants pocket. Dave questioned the authenticity of the coin and the guy pulled out an old ANACS photocert. Apparently Dave bought it, sent it in to our hosts, evidently sold it to another dealer who sold it to Mark, who then sold it to me.
The coin got beat up a little in the court of forum opinion in the original thread above. There were many who didn't think it should/would holder at all. Several people thought Dave was lucky to get a straight F12 grade. As a biased observer, I can say the coin is better than it looks in those first photos in the other thread. Yes there is wear. Yes there are hairlines. Yes there is a small mark on the rim at 4 o'clock. In-hand, the "problems" are much less evident than in Dave's original photos of the coin. The hairlines are not terribly deep and they certainly aren't distracting. There are no adjustment marks or gouges that are so common on these. Actually, it's about what I'd expect from a 200 year-old, heavily worn coin.
Someone else (maybe Lance?) already posted a superimposed image of the clash, but I got busy with my Photoshop skills and came up with this:
I contacted Dave and let him know how the coin came to be in my posession. I was immensely surprised and grateful when he offered to send me the ANACS photocert the old guy had produced. He generously forwarded it to me and it now has it's own little spot next to the coin in the SDB. From the photos, it doesn't seem to have changed much since 1981.
It's a B-9, BB-13, Die State 2 example of what is to me a fascinating bit of early America. I now have a partial history of the coin's travels over the last 31 years. If it were possible to trace it back even further what stories could it tell?
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I guess it does Pay to wait
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CoinsAreFun Toned Silver Eagle Proof Album
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Gallery Mint Museum, Ron Landis& Joe Rust, The beginnings of the Golden Dollar
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More CoinsAreFun Pictorials NGC
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Those marks at 4 o'clock my be file marks done at the mint to keep the planchet weights as consistent as possible!
It ended up in terrific hands, It's a Beauty :-)
Dave
LM-ANA3242-CSNS308-MSNS226-ICTA
Small eagles are some of my favs. Having a story and some provenance makes it that much more appealing IMO.
Makes you wonder how the "older gentleman" came to acquire it and so on and so on. To think who could of carried this beauty and who passed it on prior is like playing six degrees of numismatic separation. I wonder if we can connect it to Kevin Bacon? jk
Wonderful looking early dollar with lots of character. Congrats on your acquistion!
My best guess at this late date is that the lines on the rim are adjustment marks that were not worth mentioning.
TD
<< <i>... and again will someone please point out the supposed graffitti >>
Adjustment lines? PMD? Unusual, but "honest" wear? Grafitti? I dunno! They don't bother me too much whatever they are. Thanks for all the nice comments so far.
I do cringe at thinking about that coin jostling in the old man's pocket.
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
<< <i>
<< <i>... and again will someone please point out the supposed graffitti >>
Adjustment lines? PMD? Unusual, but "honest" wear? Grafitti? I dunno! They don't bother me too much whatever they are. Thanks for all the nice comments so far. >>
From that picture DEFINITELY adjustment marks!
TD
Thanks for sharing
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242