Coins 1850-69
1852 The Assayers of the Gold Rush
2013 SOLD 1.06 M$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The responsibility of the assayer is to guarantee the weight and composition of ingots and coins in precious metals. In the early stage of the Californian gold rush in 1849, the private company of Moffat & Co. acquires a very good reputation.
The U.S. government has the permanent desire to control the wealth. At the end of 1850 Augustus Humbert, a manufacturer of watch cases in New York, is promoted to the official position of U.S. Assayer. In 1851 the newly created U.S. Assay Office in San Francisco is headed by Moffat with Humbert as the assayer.
Humbert is the central figure of this operation, which will be dissolved in 1853 to create the San Francisco Mint. Gold coins of $ 50, 20 and 10 are issued.
On September 13, 2008, Bowers & Merena sold for $ 460K including premium a spectacular octagonal $ 50 coin madein 1851. It is the best known regular coin of Humbert type, graded MS65 by NGC.
Test pieces not intended for circulation (pattern coins) were also produced. Made in 1852, an almost perfect specimen graded MS68 by NGC is for sale by Heritage in Schaumburg (Chicago) on April 25. This $ 10 coin is attributed to Humbert by a large inscription on the reverse. Here is the link to the catalog.
After this period in government service, Augustus Humbert continued until 1860 as a partner of Kellogg. In 1857, the sinking of the SS Central America will immerse a Kellogg & Humbert ingot weighing 80 pounds which will be sold for $8M in a private sale in 2001.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sold $ 1.06 million including premium, the pattern coin is probably the highest graded of Humbert dollars, all variants considered.
The responsibility of the assayer is to guarantee the weight and composition of ingots and coins in precious metals. In the early stage of the Californian gold rush in 1849, the private company of Moffat & Co. acquires a very good reputation.
The U.S. government has the permanent desire to control the wealth. At the end of 1850 Augustus Humbert, a manufacturer of watch cases in New York, is promoted to the official position of U.S. Assayer. In 1851 the newly created U.S. Assay Office in San Francisco is headed by Moffat with Humbert as the assayer.
Humbert is the central figure of this operation, which will be dissolved in 1853 to create the San Francisco Mint. Gold coins of $ 50, 20 and 10 are issued.
On September 13, 2008, Bowers & Merena sold for $ 460K including premium a spectacular octagonal $ 50 coin madein 1851. It is the best known regular coin of Humbert type, graded MS65 by NGC.
Test pieces not intended for circulation (pattern coins) were also produced. Made in 1852, an almost perfect specimen graded MS68 by NGC is for sale by Heritage in Schaumburg (Chicago) on April 25. This $ 10 coin is attributed to Humbert by a large inscription on the reverse. Here is the link to the catalog.
After this period in government service, Augustus Humbert continued until 1860 as a partner of Kellogg. In 1857, the sinking of the SS Central America will immerse a Kellogg & Humbert ingot weighing 80 pounds which will be sold for $8M in a private sale in 2001.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sold $ 1.06 million including premium, the pattern coin is probably the highest graded of Humbert dollars, all variants considered.
1854 Small Money in San Francisco
2018 SOLD for $ 2.16M including premium
The San Francisco Mint opens in April 1854. The political challenge is important : the government needs to take the initiative against private workshops that make more or less fairly their business from the gold rush. On April 18 and 19, the first gold production is made in the four largest denominations : 178 double eagles, 260 eagles, 268 half eagles and 246 quarter eagles are released.
The premises are tiny and the machines work badly. The setting difficulties accumulate, aggravated by the sinking of the boat which was bringing the nitric acid necessary for the control of the gold content. The continuation of the production is limited to the double eagle, the eagle and the dollar, more user friendly than the fractional denominations. There will be no other 1854-S half and quarter eagles.
About ten quarters have survived. This proportion seems normal. At that time the numismatists were not interested in the specificities of the mint branches. The other units were circulated, worn, melted.
The half is much rarer. Its population was increased from 3 to 4 in April 2018. This scarcity has no proven explanation. It is possible that almost all of its production was provided to a single client who melted it. In addition one of the first three specimens did not reappear after an armed robbery in 1967.
The sudden surfacing of such a rarity is an event. Having failed to convince the dealers, its owner has done a better job : requesting an analysis by one of the recognized organizations for certification, the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. The comparison with high definition photos of the remaining coins is flagrant : the new candidate is authentic.
This 1854-S half eagle was graded XF-45 by NGC which also verified that it is not the stolen coin. It will be sold as lot 5248 by Heritage in Philadelphia on August 16. Please watch the video shared in April by NGC to confirm this exciting discovery.
The premises are tiny and the machines work badly. The setting difficulties accumulate, aggravated by the sinking of the boat which was bringing the nitric acid necessary for the control of the gold content. The continuation of the production is limited to the double eagle, the eagle and the dollar, more user friendly than the fractional denominations. There will be no other 1854-S half and quarter eagles.
About ten quarters have survived. This proportion seems normal. At that time the numismatists were not interested in the specificities of the mint branches. The other units were circulated, worn, melted.
The half is much rarer. Its population was increased from 3 to 4 in April 2018. This scarcity has no proven explanation. It is possible that almost all of its production was provided to a single client who melted it. In addition one of the first three specimens did not reappear after an armed robbery in 1967.
The sudden surfacing of such a rarity is an event. Having failed to convince the dealers, its owner has done a better job : requesting an analysis by one of the recognized organizations for certification, the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. The comparison with high definition photos of the remaining coins is flagrant : the new candidate is authentic.
This 1854-S half eagle was graded XF-45 by NGC which also verified that it is not the stolen coin. It will be sold as lot 5248 by Heritage in Philadelphia on August 16. Please watch the video shared in April by NGC to confirm this exciting discovery.
1854 Gold Dust
2020 SOLD for $ 1.92M including premium
On March 20 in Baltimore, Stack's Bowers sells two gold coins made in 1854 in the San Francisco Branch Mint. The half eagle ($ 5), graded AU58+ by PCGS, is estimated $ 1.5M, lot 7335. The quarter eagle ($ 2.5), graded AU50 by PCGS, is estimated $ 300K, lot 7325. Each of them is the finest of its kind. They were produced in the same factory one day apart. Rarity makes the difference.
In 1850, when California joins the Union, the gold rush is in full swing. The creation of a Branch Mint in San Francisco is disputed by opponents of decentralization. President Fillmore addresses to Congress a social argument which will be decisive : miners are forced to accept large discounts when they sell gold dust to private buyers, this trade must be centralized to end this injustice.
The San Francisco factory opens on April 3, 1854 to receive gold. The first deposit is made by The Adams Express Company, consisting of 50 ounces of gold recorded for $ 1,311.92 on April 11.
You can't improvise yourself as a coin maker. Two weeks later, the workers finally manage to control the furnaces. From April 18 to 20, the first batches of $ 20, $ 10, $ 5 and $ 2.5 are produced with respective quantities of 178, 260, 268 and 246 which are sufficient to demonstrate the feasibility.
The factory is unlucky. The technical difficulties have not all been resolved, and are aggravated by the sinking in February 1854 of the ship which transported the nitric acid necessary to purify the gold. In 1854 the factory will not launch another batch of $ 5 or $ 2.5.
On April 29, the Mountain Democrat, an El Dorado County newspaper, narrated that an agent of Adams displayed several examples of half eagles recently made in San Francisco. The other denominations are not mentioned. We will not see any 1854-S half eagle again in a collection before the 1910s, with a first public sale in 1932.
A total of four units appeared, one of which was probably lost irretrievably in a burglary in 1967. Please watch the video shared by NGC comparing the four specimens to announce their guarantee of authenticity for the fourth that had just surfaced. This coin graded XF45 was sold for $ 2.16M including premium by Heritage on August 16, 2018.
The Adams Express Company was a conveyor company founded in Boston in 1840. Its San Francisco office, established in 1849, also traded in gold dust. The deposit of 50 ounces made on April 3 is very small for such a powerful company, competing with the American Express. Its price in raw gold, indicated above, is equivalent to the price of 262 half eagles, to be compared with the 268 coins of the first batch of this denomination.
The details of the financial transactions between Adams and the Branch Mint are not known but it was not unusual to pay the depositors with coins made with their own gold. If we assume that Adams bought the whole lot of half eagles, we see it as a clever promotional operation, including both a feedback to miners and a compliance with wishes addressed by former President Fillmore. After this operation, the coins were no longer useful to Adams. Most have probably been melted.
About eleven 1854-S quarter eagles survive. Compared to the production figure of 246 pieces, the proportion seems normal for an edition of coins delivered for circulation.
RESULTS including premium :
Half eagle : SOLD for $ 1.92M
Quarter eagle : SOLD for $ 384K
In 1850, when California joins the Union, the gold rush is in full swing. The creation of a Branch Mint in San Francisco is disputed by opponents of decentralization. President Fillmore addresses to Congress a social argument which will be decisive : miners are forced to accept large discounts when they sell gold dust to private buyers, this trade must be centralized to end this injustice.
The San Francisco factory opens on April 3, 1854 to receive gold. The first deposit is made by The Adams Express Company, consisting of 50 ounces of gold recorded for $ 1,311.92 on April 11.
You can't improvise yourself as a coin maker. Two weeks later, the workers finally manage to control the furnaces. From April 18 to 20, the first batches of $ 20, $ 10, $ 5 and $ 2.5 are produced with respective quantities of 178, 260, 268 and 246 which are sufficient to demonstrate the feasibility.
The factory is unlucky. The technical difficulties have not all been resolved, and are aggravated by the sinking in February 1854 of the ship which transported the nitric acid necessary to purify the gold. In 1854 the factory will not launch another batch of $ 5 or $ 2.5.
On April 29, the Mountain Democrat, an El Dorado County newspaper, narrated that an agent of Adams displayed several examples of half eagles recently made in San Francisco. The other denominations are not mentioned. We will not see any 1854-S half eagle again in a collection before the 1910s, with a first public sale in 1932.
A total of four units appeared, one of which was probably lost irretrievably in a burglary in 1967. Please watch the video shared by NGC comparing the four specimens to announce their guarantee of authenticity for the fourth that had just surfaced. This coin graded XF45 was sold for $ 2.16M including premium by Heritage on August 16, 2018.
The Adams Express Company was a conveyor company founded in Boston in 1840. Its San Francisco office, established in 1849, also traded in gold dust. The deposit of 50 ounces made on April 3 is very small for such a powerful company, competing with the American Express. Its price in raw gold, indicated above, is equivalent to the price of 262 half eagles, to be compared with the 268 coins of the first batch of this denomination.
The details of the financial transactions between Adams and the Branch Mint are not known but it was not unusual to pay the depositors with coins made with their own gold. If we assume that Adams bought the whole lot of half eagles, we see it as a clever promotional operation, including both a feedback to miners and a compliance with wishes addressed by former President Fillmore. After this operation, the coins were no longer useful to Adams. Most have probably been melted.
About eleven 1854-S quarter eagles survive. Compared to the production figure of 246 pieces, the proportion seems normal for an edition of coins delivered for circulation.
RESULTS including premium :
Half eagle : SOLD for $ 1.92M
Quarter eagle : SOLD for $ 384K
1855 The Indian Princess from San Francisco
2011 SOLD 1.3 M$ including premium
Some specimens of US gold coins have become famous for their rarity and condition.
Each issue is preceded by proof coins that have every quality to charm the numismatists: struck with new dies, they offer the same graphic quality as the master model. Many of them are uncirculated. The risk that a model becomes commonplace in the market by the discovery of a shipwreck treasure only applies to serial production. Specialists identify the proof coins by their slightly different texture.
The San Francisco mint was established in 1854 following the success of the Gold Rush in California. In the same year appears throughout the USA a new gold coin with the Indian Princess figure at a value of $ 3.
In its sale of 11 and 12 August in Chicago, Heritage Auctions offers the only recorded specimen of $ 3 1855-S proof coin, in excellent condition (PR64 NGC). The S struck on the reverse identifies the mint of San Francisco. The coin is shown in the press release of the auction house and in the very interesting article shared by CoinWeek.
In the same sale, two other 1855-S proof coins are presented, also highly rare and equally superb but smaller (and not in gold): 50 and 25 cents.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good prices for the three lots: $ 1.3 million for the $ 3 coin, and 276K for each of the other two. These prices include premium.
Each issue is preceded by proof coins that have every quality to charm the numismatists: struck with new dies, they offer the same graphic quality as the master model. Many of them are uncirculated. The risk that a model becomes commonplace in the market by the discovery of a shipwreck treasure only applies to serial production. Specialists identify the proof coins by their slightly different texture.
The San Francisco mint was established in 1854 following the success of the Gold Rush in California. In the same year appears throughout the USA a new gold coin with the Indian Princess figure at a value of $ 3.
In its sale of 11 and 12 August in Chicago, Heritage Auctions offers the only recorded specimen of $ 3 1855-S proof coin, in excellent condition (PR64 NGC). The S struck on the reverse identifies the mint of San Francisco. The coin is shown in the press release of the auction house and in the very interesting article shared by CoinWeek.
In the same sale, two other 1855-S proof coins are presented, also highly rare and equally superb but smaller (and not in gold): 50 and 25 cents.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good prices for the three lots: $ 1.3 million for the $ 3 coin, and 276K for each of the other two. These prices include premium.
1855 Acid Shortage in San Francisco
2014 SOLD 560 K$ including premium
In California, the gold rush began in 1848. The transformation from bullion to coins requires a control which is provided from 1851 by the creation of the U.S. Assay Office in San Francisco.
It is urgent to create a plant managed by the government for thwarting the initiatives of private companies tempted to have a light hand on the gold rate, and furthermore too poorly equipped to maintain a reliable production.
The opening of the San Francisco Mint in 1854 was necessary but not sufficient. The main issue of the first months is the procurement of the acids needed to adjust the gold titration to the legal values.
In March 1855, the situation is no longer acceptable. Bankers and merchants commissioned the private company Wass, Molitor & Co to issue gold coins. These assayers had a successful experience of coin minting in 1852 and had acquired a reputation for honesty uncommon among private operators.
The government accepted the circulation of the Wass Molitor coins but called them back for exchange against official units when the San Francisco Mint resumed its nominal operations. The surviving 1855 Wass Molitor coins are extremely rare.
It was recently discovered that a Wass Molitor $ 20 coin is unique with Large Head observe and a reverse previously only known on the Small Head variant.
It has little circulated, which is rare in this issue produced for immediate use, and is graded AU53 by NGC. It is interesting to note that the titration 900 for 1000 is inscribed on the reverse as if it were an ingot. It will be sold on April 24 in Chicago by Heritage, lot 14006 in the catalog.
This apparently successful operation has not ensured the fortunes of Wass and Molitor who left California immediately afterward, perhaps bankrupted at the restart of the official mint.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good result for this coin from the Californian gold rush : $ 560K including premium.
It is urgent to create a plant managed by the government for thwarting the initiatives of private companies tempted to have a light hand on the gold rate, and furthermore too poorly equipped to maintain a reliable production.
The opening of the San Francisco Mint in 1854 was necessary but not sufficient. The main issue of the first months is the procurement of the acids needed to adjust the gold titration to the legal values.
In March 1855, the situation is no longer acceptable. Bankers and merchants commissioned the private company Wass, Molitor & Co to issue gold coins. These assayers had a successful experience of coin minting in 1852 and had acquired a reputation for honesty uncommon among private operators.
The government accepted the circulation of the Wass Molitor coins but called them back for exchange against official units when the San Francisco Mint resumed its nominal operations. The surviving 1855 Wass Molitor coins are extremely rare.
It was recently discovered that a Wass Molitor $ 20 coin is unique with Large Head observe and a reverse previously only known on the Small Head variant.
It has little circulated, which is rare in this issue produced for immediate use, and is graded AU53 by NGC. It is interesting to note that the titration 900 for 1000 is inscribed on the reverse as if it were an ingot. It will be sold on April 24 in Chicago by Heritage, lot 14006 in the catalog.
This apparently successful operation has not ensured the fortunes of Wass and Molitor who left California immediately afterward, perhaps bankrupted at the restart of the official mint.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good result for this coin from the Californian gold rush : $ 560K including premium.
1857 The Gold Ingots of the SS Central America
2012 SOLD 900 K$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The gold cycle begins with the raw material, the nugget. Then comes the first melting shaped as an ingot. The main use is monetary, and very few nuggets and ingots remain from ancient times.
Fortunately gold, selected since antiquity for its chemical stability, is resistant to sea water. The sinking of the SS Central America in 1857 served as a time capsule of the ingot industry in the years that followed the gold rush of California.
The ship was carrying more than 13 metric tons of gold ingots and coins. This trip was so important that her disaster generated a gold shortage panic in New York. The wreck was located in 1987 off the coast of Virginia. The discovery team got in 1996 the right to operate 92% of the gold.
Back now to the ingots, which have been listed and studied by Q. David Bowers.
The ingots embedded in the Central America had been collected from five "assayers", the word used at the time for these manufacturers in charge of both the production and the guarantee of fineness.
Contrary to what one might imagine today, the ingot weight was not standardized. There are therefore pieces of any size. As early as 2001, a huge ingot was sold for $ 8M in private sale. Weighing just over 36 Kg, its marked value is $ 17,433.57.
Another piece was discussed in this group. Marked $ 995.73 and weighing 1.56 Kg, it was sold $ 172K including premium by Heritage on February 5, 2010.
The ingot for sale by Stack's Bowers in Philadelphia on August 9 is a large piece: 17.6 x 6.5 x 2.5 cm, 174.04 ounces (4.933 Kg), face value $ 3389.06.
Presented with a reserve price of $ 825K, it has two interesting features that may be related together (?). This is the only piece of the wreck which is attributed to the office of Marysville CA of Harris, Marchand & Co., their other office in Sacramento being largely represented. And its fineness, graded .942 at the time, is exceptional.
POST SALE COMMENT
This atypical lot could have been difficult to sell, but it has some unique features well explained in the catalog. It was sold $ 900K including premium.
The gold cycle begins with the raw material, the nugget. Then comes the first melting shaped as an ingot. The main use is monetary, and very few nuggets and ingots remain from ancient times.
Fortunately gold, selected since antiquity for its chemical stability, is resistant to sea water. The sinking of the SS Central America in 1857 served as a time capsule of the ingot industry in the years that followed the gold rush of California.
The ship was carrying more than 13 metric tons of gold ingots and coins. This trip was so important that her disaster generated a gold shortage panic in New York. The wreck was located in 1987 off the coast of Virginia. The discovery team got in 1996 the right to operate 92% of the gold.
Back now to the ingots, which have been listed and studied by Q. David Bowers.
The ingots embedded in the Central America had been collected from five "assayers", the word used at the time for these manufacturers in charge of both the production and the guarantee of fineness.
Contrary to what one might imagine today, the ingot weight was not standardized. There are therefore pieces of any size. As early as 2001, a huge ingot was sold for $ 8M in private sale. Weighing just over 36 Kg, its marked value is $ 17,433.57.
Another piece was discussed in this group. Marked $ 995.73 and weighing 1.56 Kg, it was sold $ 172K including premium by Heritage on February 5, 2010.
The ingot for sale by Stack's Bowers in Philadelphia on August 9 is a large piece: 17.6 x 6.5 x 2.5 cm, 174.04 ounces (4.933 Kg), face value $ 3389.06.
Presented with a reserve price of $ 825K, it has two interesting features that may be related together (?). This is the only piece of the wreck which is attributed to the office of Marysville CA of Harris, Marchand & Co., their other office in Sacramento being largely represented. And its fineness, graded .942 at the time, is exceptional.
POST SALE COMMENT
This atypical lot could have been difficult to sell, but it has some unique features well explained in the catalog. It was sold $ 900K including premium.
1858-1859 Class III Restrike of the 1804 Silver Dollar
2009 SOLD for $ 2.3M including premium by Heritage
1858-1859 The Class III Restrike
2014 SOLD for $ 1.88M including premium
2020 SOLD for $ 1.44M including premium
PRE 2020 SALE DISCUSSION
The Class III Restrike is the designation used in 1962 by Newman and Bressett to describe a 1804 one dollar novodel, produced secretly at the Philadelphia Mint, distinct from the Class II by its lettered edge. One Class II and six Class III pieces survive.
The 1804 dollar is the last model made before the suspension of production of the silver dollar which will last until 1836. The 19,570 coins declared in the annual report for 1804 have always remained untraceable, creating fabulous myths like the disappearance of the entire production in a shipwreck. The tools existed nevertheless at the factory and had been kept.
In 1834 the government requests two specimens of each of the denominations of American coinage in the current year or the last year of production as applicable, to constitute inexpensive diplomatic gifts for the king of Siam and the sultan of Muscat. The factory does not have a 1804 dollar in stock. It is easy to recreate a few copies : this is the Class I, of which eight units are known, probably representing the entire production.
One of these copies is used in 1842 to illustrate a manual published by two employees of the Mint, Eckfeldt and DuBois. Collectors are going crazy. The factory accepts an exchange with one of them in 1843, recovering the unique example from a bygone gold coin project of 1785 with the inscription Immune Columbia.
The Class II restrike is created at the factory in 1858. It was a poor quality unauthorized operation intended to make profit from the greed of collectors. The Mint requests to recover them. Three are destroyed and one is kept as a specimen at the factory. No other Class II is known. The only surviving piece was struck on a Swiss thaler from 1857, with a plain edge.
The idea of producing restrikes goes up to the highest level of the hierarchy. In 1859 the Mint director JR Snowden tries in vain to obtain an authorization from the Treasury for such operations.
The production of Class III at the Philadelphia factory is indisputable, probably from 1858 or 1859. The blundering lettering will be done late on the previously struck pieces, which could have been earlier Class II made on blank planchets and remaining at the factory. The first Class III surfaced in 1876, tending to prove that the illicit uses of this variant had been successfully blocked until that date.
Four Class III have been artificially worn by rubbing in a pocket to make it look like authentic coins made in 1804. The batch was however made with a proof finish which did not exist before 1817.
A Class III graded PR58 by PCGS was sold for $ 2.3M including premium by Heritage on April 30, 2009.
Another Class III, graded PR55 by PCGS, was sold for $ 1.88M including premium by Stack's Bowers on August 6, 2014, lot 13146. I narrated it in this column before that sale. Now coming from the Pogue collection, this coin is estimated $ 1.2M for sale by Stack's Bowers in Baltimore on March 20, lot 7304.
The production of silver dollars had already been low in 1803, allowing an extension of the use of the dies. The one dollar coins announced in 1804 in the annual report were certainly struck with dies from previous years, perhaps due to a too late availability of the dies on the date of 1804 which will remain unused until the Class I.
The Class III Restrike is the designation used in 1962 by Newman and Bressett to describe a 1804 one dollar novodel, produced secretly at the Philadelphia Mint, distinct from the Class II by its lettered edge. One Class II and six Class III pieces survive.
The 1804 dollar is the last model made before the suspension of production of the silver dollar which will last until 1836. The 19,570 coins declared in the annual report for 1804 have always remained untraceable, creating fabulous myths like the disappearance of the entire production in a shipwreck. The tools existed nevertheless at the factory and had been kept.
In 1834 the government requests two specimens of each of the denominations of American coinage in the current year or the last year of production as applicable, to constitute inexpensive diplomatic gifts for the king of Siam and the sultan of Muscat. The factory does not have a 1804 dollar in stock. It is easy to recreate a few copies : this is the Class I, of which eight units are known, probably representing the entire production.
One of these copies is used in 1842 to illustrate a manual published by two employees of the Mint, Eckfeldt and DuBois. Collectors are going crazy. The factory accepts an exchange with one of them in 1843, recovering the unique example from a bygone gold coin project of 1785 with the inscription Immune Columbia.
The Class II restrike is created at the factory in 1858. It was a poor quality unauthorized operation intended to make profit from the greed of collectors. The Mint requests to recover them. Three are destroyed and one is kept as a specimen at the factory. No other Class II is known. The only surviving piece was struck on a Swiss thaler from 1857, with a plain edge.
The idea of producing restrikes goes up to the highest level of the hierarchy. In 1859 the Mint director JR Snowden tries in vain to obtain an authorization from the Treasury for such operations.
The production of Class III at the Philadelphia factory is indisputable, probably from 1858 or 1859. The blundering lettering will be done late on the previously struck pieces, which could have been earlier Class II made on blank planchets and remaining at the factory. The first Class III surfaced in 1876, tending to prove that the illicit uses of this variant had been successfully blocked until that date.
Four Class III have been artificially worn by rubbing in a pocket to make it look like authentic coins made in 1804. The batch was however made with a proof finish which did not exist before 1817.
A Class III graded PR58 by PCGS was sold for $ 2.3M including premium by Heritage on April 30, 2009.
Another Class III, graded PR55 by PCGS, was sold for $ 1.88M including premium by Stack's Bowers on August 6, 2014, lot 13146. I narrated it in this column before that sale. Now coming from the Pogue collection, this coin is estimated $ 1.2M for sale by Stack's Bowers in Baltimore on March 20, lot 7304.
The production of silver dollars had already been low in 1803, allowing an extension of the use of the dies. The one dollar coins announced in 1804 in the annual report were certainly struck with dies from previous years, perhaps due to a too late availability of the dies on the date of 1804 which will remain unused until the Class I.
The Novodel Dollars
2012 SOLD 850 K$ including premium
A coin is identified as a novodel when its marked date is largely outdated by the time of its manufacture. This practice known for rubles is rarer for dollars. The silver $ 1 novodels retain this element of mystery that fascinates American collectors.
The story begins in 1834. The U.S. mint wishes to present coins of their past productions to reigning monarchs including the King of Siam and the Sultan of Muscat and Oman. They then realize that no $ 1 displays the 1804 date, because the 1803 dies continued to be used throughout the following year.
A handful of coins marked 1804 were then struck for achieving the 1834 gift. Eight are known, referred to as Class I.One of them was sold $ 3.7 million including premium by Heritage on 17 April 2008.
In 1876 a new act of the mystery begins. A dealer exhibits four proof coins respectively marked 1801, 1802, 1803 and 1804, in mint condition, similar but not fully correlated with the original coinage of those years. The 1804 specimen was from so-called Class III, a reprint made illegally by an employee between 1858 and 1860.
These Class III units are regarded as regular because they were made in an official mint. Six are known. One of them was sold $ 2.3 million including premium by Heritage on 30 April 2009.
The novodels dated 1801, 1802 and 1803 have not delivered their mystery. We do not know who created them, when or why, but they are not counterfeits. Were they made for presentation, and if so for whom? Are they simply some test coins performed during the development of new variants, or for testing some equipment?
Four specimens are known of the 1802 $ 1 silver novodel. One of them, graded PR65 Cameo PCGS, was sold $ 920K including premium by Heritage in the sale already mentioned above, on 17 April 2008.
Another specimen exactly of same grade will be sold by Heritage on August 3 in Philadelphia. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
This coin with a strange history was sold $ 850K including premium, slightly below the unit sold in 2008.
The story begins in 1834. The U.S. mint wishes to present coins of their past productions to reigning monarchs including the King of Siam and the Sultan of Muscat and Oman. They then realize that no $ 1 displays the 1804 date, because the 1803 dies continued to be used throughout the following year.
A handful of coins marked 1804 were then struck for achieving the 1834 gift. Eight are known, referred to as Class I.One of them was sold $ 3.7 million including premium by Heritage on 17 April 2008.
In 1876 a new act of the mystery begins. A dealer exhibits four proof coins respectively marked 1801, 1802, 1803 and 1804, in mint condition, similar but not fully correlated with the original coinage of those years. The 1804 specimen was from so-called Class III, a reprint made illegally by an employee between 1858 and 1860.
These Class III units are regarded as regular because they were made in an official mint. Six are known. One of them was sold $ 2.3 million including premium by Heritage on 30 April 2009.
The novodels dated 1801, 1802 and 1803 have not delivered their mystery. We do not know who created them, when or why, but they are not counterfeits. Were they made for presentation, and if so for whom? Are they simply some test coins performed during the development of new variants, or for testing some equipment?
Four specimens are known of the 1802 $ 1 silver novodel. One of them, graded PR65 Cameo PCGS, was sold $ 920K including premium by Heritage in the sale already mentioned above, on 17 April 2008.
Another specimen exactly of same grade will be sold by Heritage on August 3 in Philadelphia. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
This coin with a strange history was sold $ 850K including premium, slightly below the unit sold in 2008.
1861 The Scarcest Coin from Philadelphia
2014 SOLD 1.65 M$ including premium
The Paquet variety of 1861 $ 20 gold coin is known in only two examples from Philadelphia, the central plant of the Federal currency, and less rare from San Francisco.
The root cause of such a scarcity is known, but some details of the sequence of events still leave place for discussion. The Paquet of San Francisco is undoubtedly a regular coinage issued for circulation. The 1861 Paquet from Philadelphia could be patterns or, at the opposite, novodels. The current trend is to consider them also as regular coins.
In 1860 Anthony C. Paquet, assistant mint engraver in Philadelphia, prepares a new reverse for the $ 20 coin. Concerned about readability, he improves the letters and reduces the edges, thus increasing the effective area of the engraved figure. Dies are sent to the subsidiary factories of San Francisco and New Orleans.
In January 1861, Philadelphia prepares the mass production. It is a failure. A major change of the machine settings would have been necessary to adapt the pressure to the new figure. Philadelphia stops the Paquet coins and orders the other two plants to do the same.
The order arrives too late to San Francisco because of delays in delivery by the Pony Express. The California plant had been able to adapt the machines and nearly 20,000 acceptable coins had been produced. It is also assumed that Paquet had reworked his design after the shipping of dies to San Francisco, thereby increasing the difficulty of the settings in Philadelphia.
On August 7 in Chicago, Heritage sells one of the Paquet coins from Philadelphia, graded MS61 by PCGS with a perfect reverse. Two days before the live auction, it reached online $ 1.29 million including premium, lot 5702.
POST SALE COMMENT
This lovely specimen from one of the most interesting failures of the Philadelphia Mint was sold for $ 1.65M including premium.
The root cause of such a scarcity is known, but some details of the sequence of events still leave place for discussion. The Paquet of San Francisco is undoubtedly a regular coinage issued for circulation. The 1861 Paquet from Philadelphia could be patterns or, at the opposite, novodels. The current trend is to consider them also as regular coins.
In 1860 Anthony C. Paquet, assistant mint engraver in Philadelphia, prepares a new reverse for the $ 20 coin. Concerned about readability, he improves the letters and reduces the edges, thus increasing the effective area of the engraved figure. Dies are sent to the subsidiary factories of San Francisco and New Orleans.
In January 1861, Philadelphia prepares the mass production. It is a failure. A major change of the machine settings would have been necessary to adapt the pressure to the new figure. Philadelphia stops the Paquet coins and orders the other two plants to do the same.
The order arrives too late to San Francisco because of delays in delivery by the Pony Express. The California plant had been able to adapt the machines and nearly 20,000 acceptable coins had been produced. It is also assumed that Paquet had reworked his design after the shipping of dies to San Francisco, thereby increasing the difficulty of the settings in Philadelphia.
On August 7 in Chicago, Heritage sells one of the Paquet coins from Philadelphia, graded MS61 by PCGS with a perfect reverse. Two days before the live auction, it reached online $ 1.29 million including premium, lot 5702.
POST SALE COMMENT
This lovely specimen from one of the most interesting failures of the Philadelphia Mint was sold for $ 1.65M including premium.
1861 The Confederate Coinage
2015 SOLD for $ 650K including premium
As far as coins were concerned, 1861 was starting normally. The dies of the new year had been sent to the New Orleans mint and the production had begun. The secession of the southern states immediately raised the delicate issue of a production with equipment and metals owned by the federal state.
The Treasury Secretary of the new Confederate government, Christopher G. Memminger, feared the cost of production of an autonomous coinage and did not make it a priority. The project of a half dollar in April 1861 will be the only example of a trial for a Confederate silver coinage.
This half dollar is designed by the substitution of a new die on the front side, showing the coat of arms with the seven stars of the secessionist states. The rest of it is unchanged, including the stars on the reverse side reminding the thirteen original states of the Union.
On the following month, the Confederate government closed the factory in New Orleans, claiming a stock shortage that was a false argument, perhaps just to hide the fact that the remaining federal property could serve as a war treasure. The new die of the half dollar was in high relief, perhaps easier to create for the tooling but much more difficult for coin production. The project fell into oblivion, without regret for anyone.
A first coin surfaced in 1879. A former official of the New Orleans mint was consulted and said that only four units had been made. The other three reappeared later.
Two of the four are in private hands. One of them, graded PR30 by NGC, was sold for 880K including premium by Heritage on January 8, 2015. It was probably the specimen which had been presented to President Jefferson Davis. The other one, graded PR40 by NGC, is for sale on March 26 by Stack's Bowers in Baltimore, lot 2583.
The Treasury Secretary of the new Confederate government, Christopher G. Memminger, feared the cost of production of an autonomous coinage and did not make it a priority. The project of a half dollar in April 1861 will be the only example of a trial for a Confederate silver coinage.
This half dollar is designed by the substitution of a new die on the front side, showing the coat of arms with the seven stars of the secessionist states. The rest of it is unchanged, including the stars on the reverse side reminding the thirteen original states of the Union.
On the following month, the Confederate government closed the factory in New Orleans, claiming a stock shortage that was a false argument, perhaps just to hide the fact that the remaining federal property could serve as a war treasure. The new die of the half dollar was in high relief, perhaps easier to create for the tooling but much more difficult for coin production. The project fell into oblivion, without regret for anyone.
A first coin surfaced in 1879. A former official of the New Orleans mint was consulted and said that only four units had been made. The other three reappeared later.
Two of the four are in private hands. One of them, graded PR30 by NGC, was sold for 880K including premium by Heritage on January 8, 2015. It was probably the specimen which had been presented to President Jefferson Davis. The other one, graded PR40 by NGC, is for sale on March 26 by Stack's Bowers in Baltimore, lot 2583.
