1776
1776 Portrait of Omai by Joshua Reynolds
2001 SOLD 10.3 M£ including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2020
Omai is native from Raiateia island. He was in Tahiti during Wallis' visit in 1767 and Cook's first visit in 1769. He then had to find refuge on another island, Huahine. In 1773 one of the boats of the second Cook voyage, the HMS Adventure, docked in Huahine. The young man aged around 22 embarked on the Adventure, certainly with an intense curiosity concerning the life in Europe.
His arrival in London in October 1774 was a social event. Omai is handsome. He has a quick wit and good looks which remain exotic. Celebrated like a prince by the aristocracy, this son of a Polynesian peasant is in England the first living symbol of the myth of the "noble savage" which echoes Rousseau's "bon sauvage".
Joshua Reynolds, the founding president of the Royal Academy, is a painter of worldly portraits. In 1776 at the exhibition of the Academy, he displays among other paintings a portrait of Omai, oil on canvas 230 x 140 cm. The young man is standing in a proud attitude. The clothes are luxurious.
This portrait somehow inaugurates the orientalist painting and its idealism. Reynolds achieves a spectacular effect, without seeking realism. The flowing robe is inspired by the Roman toga and the oriental turban is nothing Polynesian. The landscape behind him is Greek, with a few palm trees.
This artwork is unique in the art of Reynolds, who probably created it especially without commission for the exhibition of 1776 and kept it in his studio until his death. It was sold for £ 10.3M including premium by Sotheby's on November 29, 2001. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Omai returned to Polynesia with Cook's third voyage.
His arrival in London in October 1774 was a social event. Omai is handsome. He has a quick wit and good looks which remain exotic. Celebrated like a prince by the aristocracy, this son of a Polynesian peasant is in England the first living symbol of the myth of the "noble savage" which echoes Rousseau's "bon sauvage".
Joshua Reynolds, the founding president of the Royal Academy, is a painter of worldly portraits. In 1776 at the exhibition of the Academy, he displays among other paintings a portrait of Omai, oil on canvas 230 x 140 cm. The young man is standing in a proud attitude. The clothes are luxurious.
This portrait somehow inaugurates the orientalist painting and its idealism. Reynolds achieves a spectacular effect, without seeking realism. The flowing robe is inspired by the Roman toga and the oriental turban is nothing Polynesian. The landscape behind him is Greek, with a few palm trees.
This artwork is unique in the art of Reynolds, who probably created it especially without commission for the exhibition of 1776 and kept it in his studio until his death. It was sold for £ 10.3M including premium by Sotheby's on November 29, 2001. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Omai returned to Polynesia with Cook's third voyage.
1776 Exotic Tygers
2014 SOLD 7.7 M£ including premium
Famous for his paintings of horses with or without riders, George Stubbs was primarily an anatomist in the great period of curiosity of the mid-eighteenth century. He published in 1766 The Anatomy of the Horse, illustrated with drawings.
Images of horses were welcomed by the English aristocracy. Stubbs was a gifted painter. He was the only artist capable of applying the theme of the animal as a specialty of major art.
In London, menageries are in the trend. Visitors dream of the distant lands from where the wild beasts have come. As early as 1762 Stubbs painted a lion attacking a horse. Lions and those other big cats designated at that time under the generic term of tygers soon occupy the top place in his art.
On July 9 in London, Sotheby's sells Tygers at play, oil on canvas 102 x 127 cm estimated £ 4M.
Two leopard kittens play with great vivacity in an imaginary exotic landscape certainly inspired by the passion of the contemporaries for Cook's discoveries. These friendly animals respond positively to the postulate of Rousseau on natural goodness at birth.
This undated painting was exhibited for the first time in 1776. Carefully preserved with discretion for almost two centuries by a British aristocratic family, it remains in a very exciting condition.
POST SALE COMMENT
This great example of animal orientalism was sold for £ 7.7M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's:
Images of horses were welcomed by the English aristocracy. Stubbs was a gifted painter. He was the only artist capable of applying the theme of the animal as a specialty of major art.
In London, menageries are in the trend. Visitors dream of the distant lands from where the wild beasts have come. As early as 1762 Stubbs painted a lion attacking a horse. Lions and those other big cats designated at that time under the generic term of tygers soon occupy the top place in his art.
On July 9 in London, Sotheby's sells Tygers at play, oil on canvas 102 x 127 cm estimated £ 4M.
Two leopard kittens play with great vivacity in an imaginary exotic landscape certainly inspired by the passion of the contemporaries for Cook's discoveries. These friendly animals respond positively to the postulate of Rousseau on natural goodness at birth.
This undated painting was exhibited for the first time in 1776. Carefully preserved with discretion for almost two centuries by a British aristocratic family, it remains in a very exciting condition.
POST SALE COMMENT
This great example of animal orientalism was sold for £ 7.7M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's:
1776 Marie-Antoinette's Diamond Bracelets
2021 SOLD for CHF 7.5M by Christie's
A pair of bracelets with a documented historical provenance was sold for CHF 7.5M from a lower estimate of CHF 2M by Christie's on November 9, 2021, lot 12. Each piece in three rows of diamonds had been designed to flow like a fabric on the wrist. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Marie-Antoinette of Austria ascended the throne of France in 1774 with her husband King Louis XVI. Aged 19, the new queen wished to enjoy the utmost luxury and glamour. She adored wearing diamonds.
She purchased in 1776 a pair of earrings and a pair of bracelets to the jeweler Boehmer, far beyond her own financial capability. The Austrian diplomat Mercy-Argenteau kept informed the empress Maria Theresia about that excessive extravagance of her daughter. King Louis will have to find in the following years how to pay Boehmer.
Marie-Antoinette took a great personal care to her jewels. In 1791, threatened in the on going French Révolution, she packed up her jewelry in a wooden chest which was sent for safe keeping to Mercy-Argenteau exiled in Brussels.
In February 1794, four months after the beheading of the queen, Mercy-Argenteau managed an inventory on request from the new emperor Francis II. The jewels went to the court of Austria where their ownership and use were transferred to Madame Royale, the only surviving child of the late queen.
After the death of Madame Royale, the pair of Boehmer bracelets went to the lineage of the dukes of Parma. These composite jewels are still in their exact original condition as described in the 1794 Brussels inventory, excepted an additional diamond on the clasps.
The collection of pearl jewels of Marie-Antoinette also went to the dukes of Parma through Madame Royale. The pendant was sold for CHF 36.4M by Sotheby's in 2018.
Marie-Antoinette of Austria ascended the throne of France in 1774 with her husband King Louis XVI. Aged 19, the new queen wished to enjoy the utmost luxury and glamour. She adored wearing diamonds.
She purchased in 1776 a pair of earrings and a pair of bracelets to the jeweler Boehmer, far beyond her own financial capability. The Austrian diplomat Mercy-Argenteau kept informed the empress Maria Theresia about that excessive extravagance of her daughter. King Louis will have to find in the following years how to pay Boehmer.
Marie-Antoinette took a great personal care to her jewels. In 1791, threatened in the on going French Révolution, she packed up her jewelry in a wooden chest which was sent for safe keeping to Mercy-Argenteau exiled in Brussels.
In February 1794, four months after the beheading of the queen, Mercy-Argenteau managed an inventory on request from the new emperor Francis II. The jewels went to the court of Austria where their ownership and use were transferred to Madame Royale, the only surviving child of the late queen.
After the death of Madame Royale, the pair of Boehmer bracelets went to the lineage of the dukes of Parma. These composite jewels are still in their exact original condition as described in the 1794 Brussels inventory, excepted an additional diamond on the clasps.
The collection of pearl jewels of Marie-Antoinette also went to the dukes of Parma through Madame Royale. The pendant was sold for CHF 36.4M by Sotheby's in 2018.
#QueenMarieAntoinette's marvellously beautiful diamond bracelets will highlight the Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale on 9 November. The remarkable unbroken lineage of these bracelets represents one of the most undisputed provenances of any royal jewels □: https://t.co/2HeshzVQcy pic.twitter.com/DgW1uiqZMu
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) October 30, 2021
1776 An English Commission for Vernet
2011 SOLD 7 M$ including premium
Joseph Vernet had spent his youth in Rome, like many French artists of his time. He was distinguished by his skill for maritime scenes.
When he returned to France, King Louis XV commissioned him a series of monumental paintings showing life in the ports of France. He worked to it during ten years, from 1753 to 1762, and realized fourteen large size paintings, 263 x 165 cm.
The compositions are similar to those of his contemporary of Venice, Francesco Guardi. The ports are realistic and recognizable. In the foreground, on the waterfront, a crowd of small figures brings the atmosphere of the time.
The English aristocrats were lovers of art and tourism. In 1774, one of them ordered to the artist a pair of paintings of a similar size as those of the royal commission. One of them is estimated $ 1.5 million, for sale at Sotheby's in New York on January 27.
Dated 1776, it shows a quiet sea shore at sunset. Small characters are unloading some merchandise from a tall ship that can be seen offshore. Buildings on the left are certainly part of a port facility. It is not located and is probably a work of imagination, as many of the unofficial paintings by Vernet.
Vernet's art is a realistic witnessing of his time, much interesting and also unexpected as it comes between the mythological imagination of le Lorrain (Claude Gellée) and the sentimental excesses of the Romantics.
POST SALE COMMENT
It is a very good day for the lovers of marine views by Vernet.
As I understood it, the painting described in my article could be compared to the most famous masterpieces of Vernet. It was sold $ 7M including premium.
A marine of smaller dimensions, 57 x 74 cm, was sold for $ 2.4 million including premium.
When he returned to France, King Louis XV commissioned him a series of monumental paintings showing life in the ports of France. He worked to it during ten years, from 1753 to 1762, and realized fourteen large size paintings, 263 x 165 cm.
The compositions are similar to those of his contemporary of Venice, Francesco Guardi. The ports are realistic and recognizable. In the foreground, on the waterfront, a crowd of small figures brings the atmosphere of the time.
The English aristocrats were lovers of art and tourism. In 1774, one of them ordered to the artist a pair of paintings of a similar size as those of the royal commission. One of them is estimated $ 1.5 million, for sale at Sotheby's in New York on January 27.
Dated 1776, it shows a quiet sea shore at sunset. Small characters are unloading some merchandise from a tall ship that can be seen offshore. Buildings on the left are certainly part of a port facility. It is not located and is probably a work of imagination, as many of the unofficial paintings by Vernet.
Vernet's art is a realistic witnessing of his time, much interesting and also unexpected as it comes between the mythological imagination of le Lorrain (Claude Gellée) and the sentimental excesses of the Romantics.
POST SALE COMMENT
It is a very good day for the lovers of marine views by Vernet.
As I understood it, the painting described in my article could be compared to the most famous masterpieces of Vernet. It was sold $ 7M including premium.
A marine of smaller dimensions, 57 x 74 cm, was sold for $ 2.4 million including premium.
1776 The Emeralds of Catherine the Great
2010 SOLD 1.65 M$ including premium
Catherine II did much for the reputation of luxury of the Imperial court of Russia, and she particularly enjoyed the jewelry.
In November 2008, Christie's presented in Geneva a necklace assembled for an English aristocrat with Colombian emeralds which had once belonged to the Empress, for a total weight of one hundred carats. This lot estimated 1.8 MCHF had not been sold.
On April 22, the same auction house presents in New York a jewel more prestigious, more beautiful, from certain provenance ... and less expensive: it is estimated $ 1 million. It is a brooch centered by an hexagonal Colombian emerald weighing over 60 carats, in a sumptuous surrounding of old cut diamonds. Here is its image in the press release shared by Diamonds.net.
At the wedding of his son and future successor Paul in 1776, Catherine gave the brooch to the bride, Sophie Dorothea. I already had the opportunity to observe the fundamental role of gifts exchanged by the Russian Imperial family for the make and circulation of art objects. Thank you Catherine!
POST SALE COMMENT
The brooch of Catherine of Russia was sold $ 1.65 million including premium. It was shown before the sale in the lower section of the page shared by The Epoch Time.
Another historic jewel of the sale, visible at the top of the same page, was a white diamond weighing nearly 40 carats which belonged to the short-lived Emperor of Mexico Maximilian I. It was sold $ 1.76 million including premium.
In November 2008, Christie's presented in Geneva a necklace assembled for an English aristocrat with Colombian emeralds which had once belonged to the Empress, for a total weight of one hundred carats. This lot estimated 1.8 MCHF had not been sold.
On April 22, the same auction house presents in New York a jewel more prestigious, more beautiful, from certain provenance ... and less expensive: it is estimated $ 1 million. It is a brooch centered by an hexagonal Colombian emerald weighing over 60 carats, in a sumptuous surrounding of old cut diamonds. Here is its image in the press release shared by Diamonds.net.
At the wedding of his son and future successor Paul in 1776, Catherine gave the brooch to the bride, Sophie Dorothea. I already had the opportunity to observe the fundamental role of gifts exchanged by the Russian Imperial family for the make and circulation of art objects. Thank you Catherine!
POST SALE COMMENT
The brooch of Catherine of Russia was sold $ 1.65 million including premium. It was shown before the sale in the lower section of the page shared by The Epoch Time.
Another historic jewel of the sale, visible at the top of the same page, was a white diamond weighing nearly 40 carats which belonged to the short-lived Emperor of Mexico Maximilian I. It was sold $ 1.76 million including premium.
1776 The Dunlap Broadside
2000 SOLD for $ 8.1M including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2020
The Dunlap broadside is the earliest surviving example of the final text of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.
On July 4, 1776 the original manuscript of the Declaration was signed by John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress and especially of this memorable session, and by Charles Thomson, secretary of the Congress. From then they had to act in a hurry to propagate the information in the thirteen colonies and to the army. They had no time left for preparing a clean copy of that draft amended during the debates or a fortiori to have it signed by the delegates who have just approved its text.
The manuscript is forwarded to John Dunlap, a printer operating in Philadelphia who is the usual contractor for official Congress documents. The broadside is printed during the night of July 4 to 5. The manuscript no longer matters : it is lost in this operation. Hancock organizes the distribution of the document while urging each recipient to disclose the text by any appropriate means.
The quantity of copies of the Dunlap broadside is not known although the figure of 200 seems fair. 25 copies survive. Almost all are in US institutions or museums.
One of them was found in 1989 by a bargain hunter in the backside of the frame of a torn painting that he had just bought. It was sold for $ 8.1M including premium by Sotheby's on June 29, 2000, a record at the time for an Internet auction.
The buyer was the television producer Norman Lear supported by Internet entrepreneur David Hayden. Lear is not a collector. He immediately organized the Declaration of Independence Road Trip, a non-profit organization committed for displaying this historic document to as many people as possible through tours from city to city.
On July 4, 1776 the original manuscript of the Declaration was signed by John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress and especially of this memorable session, and by Charles Thomson, secretary of the Congress. From then they had to act in a hurry to propagate the information in the thirteen colonies and to the army. They had no time left for preparing a clean copy of that draft amended during the debates or a fortiori to have it signed by the delegates who have just approved its text.
The manuscript is forwarded to John Dunlap, a printer operating in Philadelphia who is the usual contractor for official Congress documents. The broadside is printed during the night of July 4 to 5. The manuscript no longer matters : it is lost in this operation. Hancock organizes the distribution of the document while urging each recipient to disclose the text by any appropriate means.
The quantity of copies of the Dunlap broadside is not known although the figure of 200 seems fair. 25 copies survive. Almost all are in US institutions or museums.
One of them was found in 1989 by a bargain hunter in the backside of the frame of a torn painting that he had just bought. It was sold for $ 8.1M including premium by Sotheby's on June 29, 2000, a record at the time for an Internet auction.
The buyer was the television producer Norman Lear supported by Internet entrepreneur David Hayden. Lear is not a collector. He immediately organized the Declaration of Independence Road Trip, a non-profit organization committed for displaying this historic document to as many people as possible through tours from city to city.
1776 Hancock Letter to Georgia
2022 SOLD for $ 1.9M by Freeman's
John Hancock, a very wealthy New England merchant, was particularly penalized by the new tax laws of the colonial power. His involvement in the bloody events of the resistance in Boston made him popular with the patriots. He became president of the second Continental Congress, opened in May 1775, after a health breakdown of the initially appointed president.
The Congress debates the strategy concerning England : equitable reconciliation or separation. The supporters of independence form a committee in charge of preparing a declaration which is written by Jefferson.
Hancock chairs the session of July 4, 1776 during which the delegates accept the text of the committee of the independence. Now time is running out. John Adams will say later : "We were all in haste". The document prepared by Jefferson is signed by Hancock and attested by the Congress secretary, Charles Thomson. It is immediately supplied to John Dunlap, the official printer of the documents of the Congress.
During the night of July 4 to 5, Dunlap prints a broadcast in approximately 200 copies. To accompany the broadcast, Hancock prepares a letter encouraging its public proclamation. The letter is written by a clerk in thirteen copies on July 5 and 6, and mailed to either a personality or a committee in each of the thirteen colonies. A similar shipment was made to two war leaders including Washington.
Each letter is signed by Hancock. His powerful signature, very legible and underlined with a small monogram, is still proverbial in the United States.
On January 27, 2020, Sotheby's sold for $ 1.04M from a lower estimate of $ 600K one of the letters signed by Hancock, lot 2271 estimated $ 600K.
The name of the recipient state has been erased. It is not one of the nine letters to states whose addressee has been identified. By elimination, Sotheby's considered that it is the announcement of the Declaration by Hancock for use in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina or Virginia. Five letters from the nine for which the recipient is documented are currently lost.
The letter went to Freeman's on May 4, 2022. It is now established that the cancelled state was Georgia. It is known in local history that the mail arrived on August 8 in Savannah, the seat of Georgia's revolutionary government. It was sold for $ 1.9M, lot 11.
Delegates were not invited to sign beside Hancock and Thomson during the July 4 session. The original manuscript is lost, possibly destroyed by Dunlap after use. On July 19, the Congress decides to prepare a new manuscript copy on parchment to receive all the signatures.
The Congress debates the strategy concerning England : equitable reconciliation or separation. The supporters of independence form a committee in charge of preparing a declaration which is written by Jefferson.
Hancock chairs the session of July 4, 1776 during which the delegates accept the text of the committee of the independence. Now time is running out. John Adams will say later : "We were all in haste". The document prepared by Jefferson is signed by Hancock and attested by the Congress secretary, Charles Thomson. It is immediately supplied to John Dunlap, the official printer of the documents of the Congress.
During the night of July 4 to 5, Dunlap prints a broadcast in approximately 200 copies. To accompany the broadcast, Hancock prepares a letter encouraging its public proclamation. The letter is written by a clerk in thirteen copies on July 5 and 6, and mailed to either a personality or a committee in each of the thirteen colonies. A similar shipment was made to two war leaders including Washington.
Each letter is signed by Hancock. His powerful signature, very legible and underlined with a small monogram, is still proverbial in the United States.
On January 27, 2020, Sotheby's sold for $ 1.04M from a lower estimate of $ 600K one of the letters signed by Hancock, lot 2271 estimated $ 600K.
The name of the recipient state has been erased. It is not one of the nine letters to states whose addressee has been identified. By elimination, Sotheby's considered that it is the announcement of the Declaration by Hancock for use in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina or Virginia. Five letters from the nine for which the recipient is documented are currently lost.
The letter went to Freeman's on May 4, 2022. It is now established that the cancelled state was Georgia. It is known in local history that the mail arrived on August 8 in Savannah, the seat of Georgia's revolutionary government. It was sold for $ 1.9M, lot 11.
Delegates were not invited to sign beside Hancock and Thomson during the July 4 session. The original manuscript is lost, possibly destroyed by Dunlap after use. On July 19, the Congress decides to prepare a new manuscript copy on parchment to receive all the signatures.
Join our US sister saleroom, Freeman's today, 04 May at 3pm BST (10am EST) for their Books and Manuscripts auction led by an extraordinary letter signed by John Hancock! Learn more: https://t.co/2ZxCmCP6bK pic.twitter.com/UAD8BBAvmg
— Lyon & Turnbull (@LyonandTurnbull) May 4, 2022
#AuctionUpdate: A manuscript letter signed by John Hancock announcing the adoption of the Declaration of Independence achieves $1 million, surpassing its $800,000 high estimate. #SothebysBooks pic.twitter.com/GD6asRluGg
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) January 27, 2020
1776 Salem Broadside
2022 SOLD for $ 2.1M by Christie's
The printed disclosure of the Declaration of Independence of the United States takes the forms of official or private posters and of spontaneous newspaper inserts. The posters have the format of broadsides, intended to be visible on walls for a few days. They are also read to the troops and to the public.
The official broadside of the Congress is printed by Dunlap in Philadelphia in the early morning of July 5, 1776 and passed on to the delegates for disclosure in the thirteen colonies without waiting for the ratification. This document is directly or indirectly the source of all early publications of the Declaration, as broadsides and in the columns of magazines, beginning in Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York.
The Declaration reaches Boston on July 13 and Watertown three days later. The executive Council of Massachusetts meeting in Watertown decides on July 17 a new edition of the broadside for use by religion ministers. It adds in post scriptum a requirement to read the text aloud after the Divine service of the very first Lord's Day following the receipt of the document.
This edition by order of the Massachusetts Council is commissioned to the official printer of the colony, Ezekiel Russell, working in Salem. Very similar to the Dunlap edition, it is typed in a single broad column.
Russell was also the printer of Salem's only newspaper, The American Gazette. The Council was unaware that the Declaration had already been published in the No. 5 of this new weekly paper on 16 July in four narrow columns spreading over two pages. During the composition of this issue the same four columns had been printed as a 43 x 36 cm broadside, perhaps by the Gazette's publisher for his personal trade.
A copy was sold for $ 2.1M from a lower estimate of $ 1M by Christie's on May 25, 2022, lot 50. Five other copies are known.
On July 23 the No. 6 of The American Gazette is devoted to the Declaration as authorized by the Council, with a few words apologizing to readers for that exclusive content. The authorized broadside 50 x 40 cm was certainly printed simultaneously. A poor copy was sold for $ 510K by Heritage on April 5, 2016. A very fresh copy was sold for $ 1.2M by Sotheby's on January 17, 2018, lot 176.
On August 5 the Council approves its official broadside. Both examples discussed above identify on their back the recipient Reverend and his parish. The American Gazette had permanently ceased its publication after its No. 7, probably due to a break of partnership between publisher and printer.
The official broadside of the Congress is printed by Dunlap in Philadelphia in the early morning of July 5, 1776 and passed on to the delegates for disclosure in the thirteen colonies without waiting for the ratification. This document is directly or indirectly the source of all early publications of the Declaration, as broadsides and in the columns of magazines, beginning in Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York.
The Declaration reaches Boston on July 13 and Watertown three days later. The executive Council of Massachusetts meeting in Watertown decides on July 17 a new edition of the broadside for use by religion ministers. It adds in post scriptum a requirement to read the text aloud after the Divine service of the very first Lord's Day following the receipt of the document.
This edition by order of the Massachusetts Council is commissioned to the official printer of the colony, Ezekiel Russell, working in Salem. Very similar to the Dunlap edition, it is typed in a single broad column.
Russell was also the printer of Salem's only newspaper, The American Gazette. The Council was unaware that the Declaration had already been published in the No. 5 of this new weekly paper on 16 July in four narrow columns spreading over two pages. During the composition of this issue the same four columns had been printed as a 43 x 36 cm broadside, perhaps by the Gazette's publisher for his personal trade.
A copy was sold for $ 2.1M from a lower estimate of $ 1M by Christie's on May 25, 2022, lot 50. Five other copies are known.
On July 23 the No. 6 of The American Gazette is devoted to the Declaration as authorized by the Council, with a few words apologizing to readers for that exclusive content. The authorized broadside 50 x 40 cm was certainly printed simultaneously. A poor copy was sold for $ 510K by Heritage on April 5, 2016. A very fresh copy was sold for $ 1.2M by Sotheby's on January 17, 2018, lot 176.
On August 5 the Council approves its official broadside. Both examples discussed above identify on their back the recipient Reverend and his parish. The American Gazette had permanently ceased its publication after its No. 7, probably due to a break of partnership between publisher and printer.
On the offchance you need a 1776 broadside Declaration or Melville’s annotated Dante & have some change in your pocket, because who doesn’t??
— Jennifer Schuessler (@jennyschuessler) January 13, 2022
My story on @ChristiesBKS upcoming sale of the private collection of legendary bookseller William Reese https://t.co/dNACfOZ0wL
1776 Silver Continental Dollar
Intro
In 1776 the Continental Congress had the heavy task of considering whether the colonies of North America can and must declare their independence. The funding for the effort of organization and war is supported by the release of paper currency. The selected unit is the dollar, which has the advantage of being readily understood as a variant of thaler without being linked to a foreign currency.
The $ 1 bill is an immediate failure, probably because it would require to print huge quantities to meet the need. Metal coins are minted in pewter, brass and silver.
These $ 1 Continental Currency coins are extremely rare and were not documented in their time. Some dies are signed. For such a small amount of money, it cannot be a private mint but indeed the pattern experiments to develop the coinage of the future independent state.
This early US metal coinage remained confidential and was limited to the year 1776, but a significant quantity has been achieved, probably to test the capability of mass production. Heritage estimate that about 1,000 of them survive.
Some variations exist, because the dies were made by craft and wore out quickly, but also because a few engravers were involved. The operators also had to correct misspellings. Three metals were used: silver, brass and pewter. The majority of them are in pewter, abundant in North America at that time. This surprising diversity is certainly due to the still experimental nature of the project.
The earliest variant, described under code 1-A by Newman, was soon abandoned because its dotted rings were too difficult to perform repeatedly.
Note on the reverse the circular chain of the thirteen colonies. Each one is identified in a ring. In 1793, when this symbol was reused without naming the states, the chain cent will be booed by the patriots as a symbol of slavery and almost immediately withdrawn.
The $ 1 bill is an immediate failure, probably because it would require to print huge quantities to meet the need. Metal coins are minted in pewter, brass and silver.
These $ 1 Continental Currency coins are extremely rare and were not documented in their time. Some dies are signed. For such a small amount of money, it cannot be a private mint but indeed the pattern experiments to develop the coinage of the future independent state.
This early US metal coinage remained confidential and was limited to the year 1776, but a significant quantity has been achieved, probably to test the capability of mass production. Heritage estimate that about 1,000 of them survive.
Some variations exist, because the dies were made by craft and wore out quickly, but also because a few engravers were involved. The operators also had to correct misspellings. Three metals were used: silver, brass and pewter. The majority of them are in pewter, abundant in North America at that time. This surprising diversity is certainly due to the still experimental nature of the project.
The earliest variant, described under code 1-A by Newman, was soon abandoned because its dotted rings were too difficult to perform repeatedly.
Note on the reverse the circular chain of the thirteen colonies. Each one is identified in a ring. In 1793, when this symbol was reused without naming the states, the chain cent will be booed by the patriots as a symbol of slavery and almost immediately withdrawn.
1
Newman 1-C XF 40
2015 SOLD for $ 1.53M by Heritage
The sale by Heritage on January 7 and 8, 2015 included no less than fifteen of these Continental Dollars. Two are in silver, three in brass and the other ten in pewter.
The Newman 1-A brass dollar is graded MS63 by NGC. It was sold for $ 376K, lot 5834. It is the best from three 1-A known in that alloy. The Newman 1-A in pewter is the only known specimen of the original sub-variant in this material, identified by Heritage during the preparation of the auction. It was sold for $ 118K, lot 4004.
The two silver coins were sold for $ 1.53M each on January 8. The Newman 1-C, graded XF40 by NGC, is the best from two known silver 1-C, lot 5838.
The Newman 1-A brass dollar is graded MS63 by NGC. It was sold for $ 376K, lot 5834. It is the best from three 1-A known in that alloy. The Newman 1-A in pewter is the only known specimen of the original sub-variant in this material, identified by Heritage during the preparation of the auction. It was sold for $ 118K, lot 4004.
The two silver coins were sold for $ 1.53M each on January 8. The Newman 1-C, graded XF40 by NGC, is the best from two known silver 1-C, lot 5838.
2
Newman 3-D MS 62
2015 SOLD for $ 1.53M by Heritage
In the same sale as the Newman 1-C narrated above, a Newman 3-D graded MS63 by NGC.was sold at the same price, $ 1.53M, by Heritage on January 8, 2015, lot 5842.
The only other known silver 3-D, graded MS 63 by NGC. was sold for $ 1.4M by Heritage on May 16, 2014, lot 30423. This coin had been owned since 1956 by Eric P. Newman.
It is the most correct variant, after and before misspellings in the word 'currency' and signed by the engraver (EG).
The only other known silver 3-D, graded MS 63 by NGC. was sold for $ 1.4M by Heritage on May 16, 2014, lot 30423. This coin had been owned since 1956 by Eric P. Newman.
It is the most correct variant, after and before misspellings in the word 'currency' and signed by the engraver (EG).
