Not my fault....this 1796 quarter called out my name!

WOW. This coin brings back some memories for me. I started collecting coins in 1953. My aunt gave me a Lincoln penny board for my 8th birthday in March of that year. That started my hobby. A couple of years later ( 1955 or so), the local First National Bank opened a new branch at 320 Ashmun Street in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. We also had a 100 year Centennial of the ‘Soo Locks’ that year. Anyway, for their Grand Opening, there was a coin collection put on display for a week or so. I was around 10 years old at that time, so my memory is not too good regarding whose collection it was. About the only thing I strongly remember was a 1796 quarter dollar that had numbers punched into the obverse like the numbers on a clock. This has to be the VERY coin that I saw in that display. After all, how many coins like it can there be? I remember asking the owner of the collection how he knew it was dated 1796 since there was no date visible. That was when I first learned that that year was a 1-year type for the small eagle reverse. The owner was available to give appraisals and answer questions from the public while the collection was on display. The display was mounted on about 4 double sided easels or so. It was most interesting. I have often wondered what ever happened to that quarter in the last 60+ years. I remember looking in Brunk’s book on counterstamped coins and the two new books on Early Quarters and seeing no mention of it. I am pretty sure it was not the Richard Burdick Collection mentioned in the auction write-up. Probably the only way to find out whose collection it was would be to research the local newspaper (or bank records) for information on the grand opening of the bank.
A couple other memories this coin brings up, is that LIFE magazine had an article on Louis Eliasberg in April, 1953 – one month after I started collecting. The cover story was about Queen Elizabeth’s coronation but my main interest was the collection that Mr. Eliasberg had just completed. I now have 2 copies of that magazine in my library. Also, for Christmas of 1953, my aunt from New York City gave me an 1881 $5 gold piece that I still have. It probably cost her all of $10-$12 or so from one of the many coin stores in NYC.