Coin

See also : Antique coins  Coins 1776-92  Coins 1793-99  Dollars and eagles  Gold coins  Silver coins  Coins 1800-49  Coins 1850-69  20th century coins  Development of USA
Chronology : 1780-1789  1790-1799  1820-1829  1830-1839  1860-1869  1933
List of most expensive coins in Wikipedia.
​Link to PCGS database.

724 The Dinar from Arabia
2019 SOLD for £ 3.7M including premium

The Umayyad dynasty was reigning in Damascus. The fifth caliph, Abd al-Malik, creates the Islamic coinage, replacing the images with kufi scriptures in praise of God. The coins also cease to identify the reigning caliph. The first gold dinar in this new style is dated 77 AH.

Taking advantage of the conquests, the caliphs exploit distant mines including Ifriqiya in Tunisia from 100 to 122 AH and al-Andalus. Around 100 AH the caliph Umar buys a mine in Hijaz, between Medina and Mecca, on a land bequeathed to the father of the previous owners by the Prophet himself.

The dies are made in Damascus. Some very rare prestige editions make a reference to the origin of the gold. Most of the coins were nevertheless striken in Damascus but the practice of traveling mints is not excluded because the necessary tools were not bulky.

The use of the Gold of the Commander of the Believers is indicated on a series of dinars in 91 and 92 AH. The dinar of 105 AH adds to this inscription a Hijaz origin. It is impossible to know if the gold of these two series comes from the same mine.

In 105 AH corresponding to 724 CE, the caliph Yazid dies after a long illness. The presence in Arabia of his brother and successor Hisham is attested in that year. Although it is impossible to conclude which of the two caliphs commissioned the gold dinar, a prestigious operation of the new caliph co-ordinated with a pilgrimage to Mecca is likely.

By its inscription, this beautiful dinar from Hijaz weighing 4.27 g is the most valuable of the Islamic Umayyad coins. One of them in Extremely Fine condition was sold for £ 3.7M including premium by Morton and Eden on April 4, 2011 over a lower estimate of £ 300K.

Another uncirculated example of this dinar was sold for £ 793K including premium by Baldwin's on December 6, 2012, lot 120. It had previously passed at the same auction house on April 25, 2012, lot 17 with a lower estimate of £ 1.5M. I discussed it in this column before these sales. It is now estimated £ 1.4M for sale by Morton and Eden in London on October 24, lot 11 here linked on the NumisBids bidding platform.

724 The Gold of the Commander of the Faithful
2011 SOLD 3.7 M£ including premium

One hundred years after the Hegira, the Muslim world is led by the Caliph of the Umayyad dynasty, whose capital is in Damascus. The sale in London on April 4 of two superb gold dinars from that time is an exceptional event in its category. The auction is organized by Morton and Eden in the premises of Sotheby's.

These coins are illustrated on both sides by an Arabic text, indicating in particular that they come from the mine of the Commander of the Faithful. They are dated 92 and 105 AH (711 and 724 of our calendar).

The latest coin certifies that it was made from a mine in Hejaz. Such a mine had been purchased a few years previously by one of the first Caliphs. The absence of coins of this origin between 92 and 105 could correlate such issues with pilgrimages to Mecca led by the Caliph himself.

Both are in very fine condition. They are estimated respectively at £ 250K and 300K.

POST SALE COMMENT

I had announced an event exceptional in its category. It was true.

The most prestigious of the two coins, dated 105AH (724AD), was sold £ 3.1 million before fees, 3.7 million including premium.

The photo of this exceptional dinar is shared by CoinWeek.

The other coin (92AH, 711AD) also far exceeded its estimate. It was sold £ 540K before fees, 648K including premium.

1787 First Flights of the Eagle
2021 SOLD for $ 9.4M including premium

The independence of the United States creates the need for a national emblem which will be affixed from an official seal. The project was accepted by Congress after six years, in 1782. It was double-sided, so that it could be printed at the end of a ribbon, but in practice only the face with the heraldic eagle would be used.

The popular iconography seized on this patriotic symbol in 1786, with the engravings prepared by James Trenchard for the first two issues of Columbian Magazine. The eagle with its outstretched wings, the thirteen stripes on the breast shield, the olive branch and the arrows appeared in 1787 on the reverse side of the Cent and Half Cent from Massachusetts.

The first gold coin illustrated with these symbols is the New York-style Brasher doubloon, also in 1787. The finest of the seven known examples, graded MS65 by NGC, will be sold by Heritage in Dallas on January 21, lot 3934.

Brasher was a metallurgist and definitely not an artist, which is amply demonstrated by his Lima-style doubloon prepared in 1786. In the meantime he partnered with the designer John Bailey. His new doubloon is superbly engraved on both sides. The centering is very good, with full readability all around.

Both sides are inspired by the national emblem. The eagle has all of its attributes, including the constellation of thirteen stars around its head. On the other side, the Eye of Providence shines its radiant light from above a pyramidal mountain. The inscription conforms to the federal motto E Pluribus Unum but the production is located in Nova Eboraca (New York).

Brasher's Lima-type and New York-type doubloons were not documented in period, which confirms how limited their use was. The gold alloy had undoubtedly been recovered by the melting of some jewelry. Brasher assayer's punch EB gave these coins an authorization for circulation and they are considered regular by numismatists.

A half doubloon is kept at the Smithsonian. It was made with the same dies and a thinner planchet. Unlike the doubloons of the same year but in accordance with the two known Lima style doubloons, some trimming was required to adjust the weight. This half doubloon was perhaps an intermediate version for testing the dies.

1794 Dollar

​1
​First Specimen
2013 SOLD for $ 10M by Stack's Bowers

Within two years after the Coinage Act of April 2, 1792, the preparation of the silver dollar has not yet started. Hurry up. A pair of dies is created on a design by Robert Scot and a first trial is made in copper. One prototype has survived. It was sold for $ 92K by Goldberg on February 16, 2001.

A further pair of dies is created to insert the fifteen stars in the circumference around the head of Liberty. A copper trial piece is kept at the Smithsonian.

Regarding silver, a unique coin has the characteristics of a specimen as defined by PCGS : superior minting quality and shiny appearance. It has been compared with the Smithsonian prototype : the state of the dies is exactly the same, with no added wear, and the sharpness of the line is perfect.

This coin is certainly the first federal silver dollar. It was struck in October 1794 at the Philadelphia Mint before the very last limited rework of the dies and the launch of the first production batch.

Graded SP66 by PCGS, it was sold for $ 7.85M in private sale in May 2010 and then for $ 10M at auction by Stack's Bowers on January 24, 2013, lot 13094. It passed on October 8, 2020 at Legend Rare Coin Auctions, lot 11.

1,758 units were supplied to the cashier on October 15, 1794. Technically, this lot was premature. The available press was not suitable for the required diameter, larger than the previous silver dime. The alignment of the dies did not resist, weakening the strike and limiting the output.

In the opposite the preparation of the specimen had been extremely careful. The silver planchet had been fitted with a plug and the weight of the specimen is almost perfect, only 0.24 grains (15 mg) above the 416 grains prescribed by the Coinage Act. Its splendid reflectivity has no equivalent among the 135 surviving units. It may be the sample presented to President Washington by Secretary of State Edmund Randolph. It surfaced in 1942 in the deceased estate of Colonel Green with an earlier provenance from the Virgil Brand collection.

2
​ex Strickland and Lord St. Oswald
​2021 SOLD for $ 6.6M by Heritage

In 1794 the Philadelphia plant must prepare the first public release of the silver dollar. The technical difficulties concerned the officials to the point that the development is confidential and not documented. The issue is to achieve a perfect strike with the exact weight and purity required by the Congress.

Ingots are bought to cover $ 2,000 in the new coinage. The production is done in one day, 15 October 1794. 1,758 pieces are released.

This yield below the target is due to a drift of the strike during the operation, in part because that coin was too large to enable a repetitive adjustment of the weight. Manufacturing is suspended. There will be no further 1794 $ 1 coin.

On September 30, 2015, Stack's Bowers in association with Sotheby's sold for $ 5M from a lower estimate of $ 3M the best silver dollar of the 1794 production batch, lot 2041. graded MS66+ by PCGS. It was sold for $ 6.6M by Heritage on August 18, 2021, lot 3021.

It had been the winner 35 years ago of a friendly confrontation by direct inspection with the only other example in the same grade.Its provenance explains its exemplary preservation.

The war with the former colonial power has been over since November 1783. English visitors are welcomed. A gentleman farmer named William Strickland later 6th Baron of Boynton arrived on September 20, 1794. This economist who comes to study prices and wages in the American agriculture is introduced in the best circles.

Strickland left back for England in July 1795 with a small collection including 35 federal coins that were most likely obtained by him directly at the US Mint.

Fallen in oblivion inside a Chippendale cabinet since the early 19th century, the Strickland collection remained in its original state without any addition. His two 1794 flowing hair dollars were among the best preserved of that type. The group surfaced in 1964 in an inventory by Christie, Manson and Woods in the property of the 4th Baron St. Oswald, descendant of Strickland's son-in-law. The dates of the coins stored in the box match the time spent by Strickland in the USA.

1822 The Big Dream of the Half Eagles
2021 SOLD for $ 8.4M including premium

The greatest collectors of US coins want to own an example of all the regular varieties. The older ones were not yet concerned with discriminating between the production sites.

Half eagles of the capped head type caught their attention early on. Around 1820 their gold value had exceeded the face value. Their production was limited, the government was reluctant to put them into circulation, and a large proportion of the coins were redeemed and melted.

1816 and 1817 are out of the scope : no half eagle was released on these years. 1822 was known from a severely worn coin found by an executive of the Philadelphia mint who was already looking to fill in the gaps. The first craze applied to the 1815.

In 1864 the Seavey collection of gold coins was reputed complete. Parmelee acquired it en bloc, including an 1822 half eagle.

In 1890 Parmelee put his collection up for auction at the New York Coin and Stamp Company. His 1822 half eagle was to be the star of the event, symbolizing the sensational quality of his collection. Catastrophe : this highly desirable coin is a counterfeit.

A subterfuge is found. By chance, one of the managers of the auction house owns an 1822 half eagle, which is then somehow the only one in private hands. He substitutes it for the Seavey-Parmelee unit and auctions it to himself for $ 900. It is the most expensive lot of the sale, far ahead of the 1815 half eagle, already less rare at that time, sold for $ 235. The authentic 1822 will enter the Smithsonian collection in 1968.

Only one other 1822 half eagle has surfaced. It appeared in 1899, bought by Virgil Brand from a dealer. Louis E. Eliasberg acquired it in 1945 from a broker. It made the big dream come true : his collection is complete and unrivaled, since this authentic piece is the only one of its variety in private hands.

Coming now from the D. Brent Pogue collection and graded AU-50 by PCGS, it passed at Stack's Bowers on May 24, 2016, lot 4026. It will be sold by the same auction house in Las Vegas on March 25, 2021, lot 4149. Please watch the short video shared by Stack's Bowers.

1834 - 1804 Dollars and Eagles
Intro

The diplomat Edmund Roberts had convinced the Sultan of Muscat and Oman in 1833 of the interest of signing a treaty of friendship and commerce with the United States. In 1834 President Jackson asks Roberts to prepare for this mission, to which he adds a visit to the King of Siam.

Among the diplomatic gifts, the Americans define a box that will contain an example of each of the coin denominations in circulation. The cumulative face value of the ten samples is derisory : $ 19.415. The double eagle did not yet exist.

The target is indeed to demonstrate the quality of proof coins produced in the United States. This prestige finish had been used sparingly since 1801 for silver, 1817 for copper and 1820 for gold. A 1821 quarter eagle graded PR64 Cameo by PCGS was sold for $ 240K by Heritage in January 2007.

For the largest silver and gold coins, $ 1 and $ 10 respectively, President Jefferson suspended production in 1804 to curb speculation, while maintaining their circulation. For these two denominations, the Philadelphia Mint decides to supply coins inscribed 1804 rather than 1834 which would be illegal. These coins will necessarily be a new build, to display the proof finish in mint condition.

Two dollars and two eagles were thus minted at the end of 1834. Both sets were delivered by Roberts in 1835 at their scheduled destination. The monarchs did not handle their gifts, of course. Their dollars are graded by PCGS PR 68 for the Muscat and PR 67 for the Siam which is still in its presentation box.

Meanwhile the Secretary of State had decided that Roberts must extend his mission up to Cochin China and Japan. Two additional sets are assembled in April 1835 just in time before his departure. Of course two new 1804 eagles and two new 1804 dollars are minted. A tiny defect in the eagle die has been repaired in the mean time. It is not known what happened to these two sets after the death of Roberts in Macau in June 1836. It is probable that a member of the crew caught them discreetly.

Another strike of 1804 dollars is made in an unidentified year. They are made with the same pair of dies. Four of these coins survive. There will be no further 1804 eagles, which is supporting a recent hypothesis that the four supernumerary 1804 dollars are patterns unrelated to the Roberts mission and not a mere additional strike for the archives of the Mint.

These eight silver dollars are together designated as the 1804 Class I dollars. They are a flagship of American numismatics by the quality of the execution of the Roberts specimens. The wear of the reference image of Liberty, designed in 1795, is not a numismatic defect.

The reason for the Class II and Class III restrikes of the 1804 dollar in the late 1850s is not clear.

1
The Muscat Dollar
​2021 SOLD for $ 7.7M by Stack's Bowers

The first specimen identified as Sultan of Muscat-Watters-Brand-Childs-Pogue 1804 dollar class I was sold for $ 4.1M by Bowers and Merena in August 1999, the highest recorded price for any coin at that time. It passed at Stack's Bowers, successor to Bowers and Merena, on May 24, 2016, lot 4020, and was sold for $ 7.7M by the same auction house on August 19, 2021, lot 4114.
​
The Sultan of Oman is an important Arabian monarch who controls the trade in the Horn of Africa which is a major passage to the Orient. His capital is Muscat.
​
The silver dollar is the symbol of the American currency and should be the focus of the gift. New dies are created from the punches that began to rust after three decades of storage. The date 1804 is selected because it is the latest that is legal.

The first class I 1804 dollar is struck in November or December 1834 with great care so that this brand new piece of silver shall dazzle the Sultan of Muscat when he opens the box. The government is enthusiastic about the project of ​​Roberts and a similar gift is simultaneously prepared for the King of Siam.
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Roberts presented the box to the Sultan on October 1, 1835, the day following the signing of the treaty of friendship between both states. This exceptional coin has been kept in mint condition. It is graded Proof 68 by PCGS. The image below has been downloaded a few years ago from Wikimedia.

The prestige of this piece with coin collectors is further increased by the fact that it is the very first silver dollar on the date of 1804. At the time of the Jefferson's 1804 suspension the dollars produced earlier in that year were still using the dies dated from the previous year.

Please watch the videos shared by Stack's Bowers in 2018 and 2021.

2
​The Muscat Eagle
2021 SOLD for $ 5.3M by Heritage

The Plain 4 variety of the 1804 eagle is twice as scarce as the Class I dollar inscribed with the same year. Their stories are inseparable.

The 1804 eagles used for the obverse a spare die from the 1800s decade on which the engraving of the last digit of the year still had to be done. This 4 designed in the style of the 1830s makes it possible to distinguish between the Crosslet 4 variety produced in period and the Plain 4 variety produced for the Roberts mission.

​The eagles prepared for Muscat and Siam are the two pieces from the first batch. No test eagle having been identified, they are the first two eagles to have been processed as proofs.

The Muscat specimens are the best in both varieties. The dollar is graded PR68 by PCGS. The eagle, graded PR 65+ Deep Cameo by PCGS, was sold for $ 5.3M by Heritage on January 20, 2021, lot 3049.

​1861 Paquet Double Eagle
​2021 SOLD for $ 7.2M by Heritage

There are two varieties in existence of the double eagle dated 1861 with a reverse design modified by Anthony Paquet.

The San Francisco Paquet is a well documented regular issue of 19,250 coins. The current survivors have been circulated and no mint state specimen is known. On the opposite the Philadelphia Paquet is one of the rarest numismatic varieties with only two examples known, both in mint state, respectively graded MS67 and MS61 by PCGS.

The story begins in 1859 with a concern about an excessive cracking of reverse dies during striking. In Philadelphia the assistant engraver Anthony Paquet manages to propose some modifications which are accepted for the 1861 strike, although the impact on the original die problem is questionable. Concerned about readability, he improved the letters and reduced the edges, thus increasing the effective area of ​​the engraved figure.

Sets of dies including that reverse are shipped to the subsidiary mints in San Francisco and New Orleans in November and December 1860. They are accompanied by an instruction stating that the new reverse die "is presenting a larger face for the device without changing the diameter of the piece. They will require a slight change in the milling to suit the border".

When it comes to start the new millesime in Philadelphia, it appears that the striking difficulty is bigger than expected.  On January 5 the Mint Director stops the use of the Paquet reverse and sends instructions to do the same at the subsidiaries. The mail forwarded to San Francisco by the Pony Express arrived too late, when the first releases had been made. Another issue was that the new coins did not stack properly. No coin had been released from Philadelphia where the production with the Paquet reverse was totally melted with no survivor known.

The two Philadelphia coins have a rearrangement of the reverse design clearly intended to deal with the technical issue. Indeed their strike is perfect, but it was certainly obtained with the higher pressure from a medal press. This operation is not documented at the Mint. It is now believed that they were pattern coins prepared for saving the design for the next year.

The coin graded MS67 was sold for $ 7.2M by Heritage on August 18, 2021, lot 3471. On August 7, 2014, Heritage sold for $ 1.65M the other Paquet coin from Philadelphia, graded MS61 by PCGS with a perfect reverse, lot 5702.

Interestingly the difference between the basic and Paquet designs did not disturb the users. The San Francisco Paquet coins were not differentiated until the 1930s while the two Philadelphia coins were first sold at auction in 1865 and 1875 respectively.

1933 Double Eagle
2021 SOLD for $ 19M by Sotheby's

The hoarding of gold jeopardized the US economy. One of the very first decisions made by President F.D. Roosevelt, expressed by the Presidential Order of April 5, 1933, was the confiscation of gold.

The crisis had lasted since 1924 and the production of eagles and double eagles was considerably slowed down. The production of the 312,500 eagles of 1933 was finished before April 5 and this denomination was legal at that time. The production of the double eagles, which was in progress, was not interrupted : this batch was the last US gold coin struck for circulation.

On September 13, 1934, all gold coins in federal stocks were declared obsolete (uncurrent). In the following month two 1933 double eagles were sent to the Smithsonian for the National Collection as non-monetized samples. 445,469 pieces were in the vaults. This stock was melted in 1937.

Ten pieces escaped that melting, certainly stolen by the cashier of the Mint who will be jailed in 1940 for another scam. All of them were recovered and destroyed by the government except one that King Farouk had managed to acquire in 1944. The King had obtained for this piece an export license issued by the Secretary of the Treasury, either simply by mistake or to please that powerful sovereign. This license being federal, the Farouk specimen became the only 1933 double eagle with some legal US status. Any other example is illegal to own.

Removed at the request of the US government from the auction of the Farouk collections in 1954, the double eagle resurfaced in 1996, brought to New York by an English dealer. He was caught in the act by the FBI during his negotiations with his American customer.

The coin of the English dealer was with no doubt the ex Farouk specimen. A judicial compromise was found in 2001. The double eagle was listed for auction on July 20, 2002 by Sotheby's and Stack's. In order to declare for the first time the official release of this specific coin, the buyer was required to pay to the federal government its face value of $ 20 in addition to the auction final price : it was sold for $ 7,590,020. Here is the link to the catalog in the website of Stack's Bowers, successor to Stack's.

​This coin was sold for $ 19M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by Sotheby's on June 8, 2021, lot 1. Its highly essential 2002 Certificate of Monetization is joined to the lot. It had been re-inspected in March 2021 by PCGS and graded Gem brilliant uncirculated MS 65.