Coins 1870-99
1873 Carson City Dime
2012 SOLD for $ 1.84M by Stack's Bowers
Carson City was founded in 1858 under good auspices. In the following year, deposits of gold and silver were discovered in its vicinity. When Nevada was separated from Utah, Carson City became its capital. It is still in this position.
A mint operated there from 1870 to 1893. The coins are identified by the letters CC.
An industrial activity in such an inaccessible region of the Wild West may seem surprising, especially as the population of this tiny capital did not exceed 4,000 inhabitants during this period. However, separating the years, 111 CC coin variants were created, covering seven values from the dime (10 cents) to the double eagle (20 dollars).
The 1870 double eagle was a low mintage of 3,789 pieces of which about 40 are surviving. Most of the strike was soft. The finest example, graded AU58 by NGC, was stolen soon after its recent discovery and is not currently located. A coin graded AU53 by PCGS was sold for $ 1.62M by Heritage on November 11, 2021, lot 3099.
Two variants are known of the 1873-CC dime: with and without two small arrows, one on the left and one on the right of the date. These arrows are a somehow confidential code which attests for a change of normalization concerning the weight of the coin.
The 1873-CC dime without arrows is known as a unique example. As it is in mint condition (MS65), it is viewed as highly prestigious by the collectors of regular American coins.
It is not possible to build a full collection of the Carson City variants unless you own this specific coin. Its last owner has accomplished this feat, and sold his collection in separate lots at Stack's Bowers on August 9, 2012. Over the years, the price of this unique dime has always increased: $ 550K in 1996, 630K in 1999, 890K in 2004, $ 1.84M in 2012. In the same 2012 sale, the 1876-CC 20 cent was sold for $ 460K.
Please watch the videos shared by Stack's Bowers to introduce the 1873-CC dime (below) and the 1876-CC 20 cents (linked).
A mint operated there from 1870 to 1893. The coins are identified by the letters CC.
An industrial activity in such an inaccessible region of the Wild West may seem surprising, especially as the population of this tiny capital did not exceed 4,000 inhabitants during this period. However, separating the years, 111 CC coin variants were created, covering seven values from the dime (10 cents) to the double eagle (20 dollars).
The 1870 double eagle was a low mintage of 3,789 pieces of which about 40 are surviving. Most of the strike was soft. The finest example, graded AU58 by NGC, was stolen soon after its recent discovery and is not currently located. A coin graded AU53 by PCGS was sold for $ 1.62M by Heritage on November 11, 2021, lot 3099.
Two variants are known of the 1873-CC dime: with and without two small arrows, one on the left and one on the right of the date. These arrows are a somehow confidential code which attests for a change of normalization concerning the weight of the coin.
The 1873-CC dime without arrows is known as a unique example. As it is in mint condition (MS65), it is viewed as highly prestigious by the collectors of regular American coins.
It is not possible to build a full collection of the Carson City variants unless you own this specific coin. Its last owner has accomplished this feat, and sold his collection in separate lots at Stack's Bowers on August 9, 2012. Over the years, the price of this unique dime has always increased: $ 550K in 1996, 630K in 1999, 890K in 2004, $ 1.84M in 2012. In the same 2012 sale, the 1876-CC 20 cent was sold for $ 460K.
Please watch the videos shared by Stack's Bowers to introduce the 1873-CC dime (below) and the 1876-CC 20 cents (linked).
1874 Bickford Ubique
2022 SOLD for $ 1.98M by Heritage
Dana Bickford was the inventor of the automatic knitting machine. Based in New York City, he made a trip in Europe in 1873 for exporting his machines. At that time the European currencies were standardized since a few years by the Latin Monetary Union.
Back to home, Bickford proposed a system of international currency based on the US dollar to the Director of the Mint, Henry Linderman. The reverse of a gold coin would be inscribed in its center with the weight of 16.72 grams and the .900 fineness corresponding to an eagle coin. A crown of six cartouches would display its value of exactly 10 dollars plus its trade value in Sterling, Marken, Kronen, Gulden and Francs. The word 'Ubique' (everywhere) referred to its international purpose.
Linderman was enthusiast for this project which was referred in an article by The Philadelphia Inquirer on January 1, 1874. Dies were prepared at the date of 1874 with the new head of a pretty youthful Liberty on the obverse. Some patterns were struck in copper, aluminum and nickel, with reeded and plain edges.
The trials in gold were not referred anywhere until two specimens were revealed in 1913 by the arch-collector William Woodin in the wake of the scandal of the marketing of the half union $ 50 pattern coins. It will appear much later that the most important pattern coins from 1874 to 1877 had escaped the collection of the Mint through the industry of its Chief Coiner A. Louden Snowden with the excuse of saving them from melting..
The two gold coins have the reeded edge. These eagles have the diameter of a double eagle with a half thinner planchet.
Both were sold by Heritage. One of them, graded PR65+ Cameo by PCGS, was sold for $ 1.98M on January 13, 2022, lot 3834. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The other specimen, graded PR65 Deep Cameo by PCGS, was sold for $ 1.27M on January 7, 2010, lot 2373.
Back to home, Bickford proposed a system of international currency based on the US dollar to the Director of the Mint, Henry Linderman. The reverse of a gold coin would be inscribed in its center with the weight of 16.72 grams and the .900 fineness corresponding to an eagle coin. A crown of six cartouches would display its value of exactly 10 dollars plus its trade value in Sterling, Marken, Kronen, Gulden and Francs. The word 'Ubique' (everywhere) referred to its international purpose.
Linderman was enthusiast for this project which was referred in an article by The Philadelphia Inquirer on January 1, 1874. Dies were prepared at the date of 1874 with the new head of a pretty youthful Liberty on the obverse. Some patterns were struck in copper, aluminum and nickel, with reeded and plain edges.
The trials in gold were not referred anywhere until two specimens were revealed in 1913 by the arch-collector William Woodin in the wake of the scandal of the marketing of the half union $ 50 pattern coins. It will appear much later that the most important pattern coins from 1874 to 1877 had escaped the collection of the Mint through the industry of its Chief Coiner A. Louden Snowden with the excuse of saving them from melting..
The two gold coins have the reeded edge. These eagles have the diameter of a double eagle with a half thinner planchet.
Both were sold by Heritage. One of them, graded PR65+ Cameo by PCGS, was sold for $ 1.98M on January 13, 2022, lot 3834. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The other specimen, graded PR65 Deep Cameo by PCGS, was sold for $ 1.27M on January 7, 2010, lot 2373.
#HERITAGELIVE 1874 Bickford Ten Dollar, Judd-1373, PR65+ Cameo - Extremely Rare Gold Pattern sold tonight for $1,980,000!
— Heritage Auctions (@HeritageAuction) January 14, 2022
With only two examples known, the 1874 Bickford ten-dollar gold patterns are among the rarest issues in U.S. numismatics. https://t.co/e3TRCZ59uQ pic.twitter.com/hf4RKUumnV
Stella
Intro
The balance of a bimetallic system is weakened in the long term because it depends on the relative abundance of the two metals. The coinage act of 1873 is the attempt of a reaction by the US congress forced by low silver price to consider the adoption of the gold standard. The consequences of the repeal of silver had not been anticipated and the monetary crisis goes to a crash.
The Latin Monetary Union, created in 1865 by France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland, had succeeded in standardizing the currencies. Several countries had joined in, creating a true monetary Europe. In 1879 some economists worry about the risk of marginalization of the United States in international trade.
The 20 francs Napoléon is worth about 4 dollars. A new currency of that value could replace the three dollar and the half-eagle coins. It will be named the stella. A quintuple stella will exactly match the double eagle.
The US minister to Austria suggested to calibrate the weight of the currency with the metric system extensively used in Europe. The stella of US $ 4 shall correspond to 8 florins. In a great momentum of globalization, a five-pointed star replaces the eagle on the reverse while on the obverse the figure of liberty was selected in a competition between two engravers.
The choice fell on the Liberty with flowing hair designed by Charles Barber, the son of the recently deceased chief engraver. A few hundred coins were struck on the date of 1879 and presented to congressmen for promoting the proposed standard.
The project was immediately rejected by Congress : to be easily exchanged with LMU coins, the stella should have been worth $ 3.88 ! They could have thought about it before.
Stellas were produced in three variants in addition to the flowing hair selected in 1879 : with flowing hair dated 1880, and according to George Morgan's rejected design with coiled hair in 1879 and 1880. These three releases have not been documented. They were perhaps only intended to please a few collectors.
The termination of the stella in 1880 responds to common sense. Multiplication by 4 is not natural in the circulation of currencies and the dollar and the florin have no reason to maintain a parity in the long term. In total, less than 500 stellas had been struck.
A patent had been granted in May 1877 to William Wheeler Hubbell for a gold, silver and copper alloy named goloid to replace the 90% silver alloy of the 1 dollar coin. The officials were convinced and the first dollars in goloid had been struck in 1878. The mass of the piece is carved in the metric system (14.25 grams) beside the proportions : 1 G, 16.1 S, 1.9 C.
The stellas were prepared in 6 G, .3 S, .7 C (7 grams). At the top of the monetary range the $ 20 quintuple stella is weighing 35 grams with 86 % gold, 4 % silver and 10 % copper (inscribed 30 G 1.5 S 3.5 C) . It should be noted that the alloy of the stellas and quintuple stellas is too heavy in gold to be designated as a goloid.
The goloid patent stated an increased difficulty of counterfeiting. It was naïve : it was enough to remove the gold and increase the copper to obtain a cheaper piece impossible to distinguish from a real dollar coin. The government understands it in 1880 and stops altogether the goloid, the metric dollar and its multiples. The goloid will never more be used in a coinage.
The Latin Monetary Union, created in 1865 by France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland, had succeeded in standardizing the currencies. Several countries had joined in, creating a true monetary Europe. In 1879 some economists worry about the risk of marginalization of the United States in international trade.
The 20 francs Napoléon is worth about 4 dollars. A new currency of that value could replace the three dollar and the half-eagle coins. It will be named the stella. A quintuple stella will exactly match the double eagle.
The US minister to Austria suggested to calibrate the weight of the currency with the metric system extensively used in Europe. The stella of US $ 4 shall correspond to 8 florins. In a great momentum of globalization, a five-pointed star replaces the eagle on the reverse while on the obverse the figure of liberty was selected in a competition between two engravers.
The choice fell on the Liberty with flowing hair designed by Charles Barber, the son of the recently deceased chief engraver. A few hundred coins were struck on the date of 1879 and presented to congressmen for promoting the proposed standard.
The project was immediately rejected by Congress : to be easily exchanged with LMU coins, the stella should have been worth $ 3.88 ! They could have thought about it before.
Stellas were produced in three variants in addition to the flowing hair selected in 1879 : with flowing hair dated 1880, and according to George Morgan's rejected design with coiled hair in 1879 and 1880. These three releases have not been documented. They were perhaps only intended to please a few collectors.
The termination of the stella in 1880 responds to common sense. Multiplication by 4 is not natural in the circulation of currencies and the dollar and the florin have no reason to maintain a parity in the long term. In total, less than 500 stellas had been struck.
A patent had been granted in May 1877 to William Wheeler Hubbell for a gold, silver and copper alloy named goloid to replace the 90% silver alloy of the 1 dollar coin. The officials were convinced and the first dollars in goloid had been struck in 1878. The mass of the piece is carved in the metric system (14.25 grams) beside the proportions : 1 G, 16.1 S, 1.9 C.
The stellas were prepared in 6 G, .3 S, .7 C (7 grams). At the top of the monetary range the $ 20 quintuple stella is weighing 35 grams with 86 % gold, 4 % silver and 10 % copper (inscribed 30 G 1.5 S 3.5 C) . It should be noted that the alloy of the stellas and quintuple stellas is too heavy in gold to be designated as a goloid.
The goloid patent stated an increased difficulty of counterfeiting. It was naïve : it was enough to remove the gold and increase the copper to obtain a cheaper piece impossible to distinguish from a real dollar coin. The government understands it in 1880 and stops altogether the goloid, the metric dollar and its multiples. The goloid will never more be used in a coinage.
1
1879 Quintuple
2016 SOLD for $ 1.88M by Legend
The double eagle is the common multiplier between the dollar and the stella since 5 stellas are worth 20 dollars. Tests were made also in 1879 by changing the wording without changing the picture.
The immediate failure of the stella makes it one of the rarest types in US numismatics with a population of only five pattern units.
The five specimens of quintuple stellas remain in mint condition, graded between PR 62 and PR 64+.
Bob Simpson owned the two Deep Cameo specimens. He kept the best, graded PR 64+ by PCGS. The other, graded PR 64 Deep Cameo by PCGS also, was sold for $ 1.88M by Legend Rare Coin Auctions on May 19, 2016, lot 377.
A quintuple stella graded PR 62 by PCGS was sold for $ 860K by Heritage in January 2007, lot 1594. Now upgraded PR 63 Cameo also by PCGS, it passed at Stack's Bowers on March 22, 2018, lot 2272 and at Heritage in Dallas on January 14, 2022, lot 4793.
The immediate failure of the stella makes it one of the rarest types in US numismatics with a population of only five pattern units.
The five specimens of quintuple stellas remain in mint condition, graded between PR 62 and PR 64+.
Bob Simpson owned the two Deep Cameo specimens. He kept the best, graded PR 64+ by PCGS. The other, graded PR 64 Deep Cameo by PCGS also, was sold for $ 1.88M by Legend Rare Coin Auctions on May 19, 2016, lot 377.
A quintuple stella graded PR 62 by PCGS was sold for $ 860K by Heritage in January 2007, lot 1594. Now upgraded PR 63 Cameo also by PCGS, it passed at Stack's Bowers on March 22, 2018, lot 2272 and at Heritage in Dallas on January 14, 2022, lot 4793.
2
1880 Coiled Hair
2013 SOLD for $ 2.6M by Bonhams
The coiled hair stellas prepared by George Morgan are limited to the unaccepted strikes of 1879 and very few additional samples made in the following year, tentatively because the designer did not accept his defeat. With a known population of nine, the 1880 coiled hair stella is among the rarest pieces in US numismatics.
It is logical that the happy owners of a 1880 coiled hair stella gather around it the other three variants. On September 23, 2013, Bonhams dispersed the four One Stellas, each one graded PR67 by NGC.
The 1880 coiled hair in that sale is probably the best surviving specimen of all Stellas with its pleasant warm color and cameo surface, this term designating a genuine mirror-like effect without polishing. It was sold for $ 2.6M and is illustrated in the press release. It had been sold for $ 980K by Heritage on January 12, 2005.
The three other results were $ 1.04M for the 1879 coiled hair, $ 960K for the 1880 flowing hair and $ 280K for the less rare 1879 flowing hair.
It is logical that the happy owners of a 1880 coiled hair stella gather around it the other three variants. On September 23, 2013, Bonhams dispersed the four One Stellas, each one graded PR67 by NGC.
The 1880 coiled hair in that sale is probably the best surviving specimen of all Stellas with its pleasant warm color and cameo surface, this term designating a genuine mirror-like effect without polishing. It was sold for $ 2.6M and is illustrated in the press release. It had been sold for $ 980K by Heritage on January 12, 2005.
The three other results were $ 1.04M for the 1879 coiled hair, $ 960K for the 1880 flowing hair and $ 280K for the less rare 1879 flowing hair.
3
1880 Coiled Hair
2021 SOLD for $ 1.86M by Heritage
The rarest variant is the 1880 coiled hair, with nine known pieces. The three finest are graded PR67 Cameo by NGC. A coin with a perfect color was sold for $ 2.6M by Bonhams on September 23, 2013. Another was sold for $ 1.82M by Heritage on April 23, 2015.
One of the three, which had belonged to Eliasberg, was sold for $ 1.86M by Heritage on February 24, 2021, lot 3754.
One of the three, which had belonged to Eliasberg, was sold for $ 1.86M by Heritage on February 24, 2021, lot 3754.
4
1880 Coiled Hair
2015 SOLD for $ 1.82M by Heritage
A collection of the four stellas was dispersed by Heritage on April 23, 2015.
The 1880 non-cameo coiled hair graded PR67 by NGC was at lot 5301, the 1879 coiled hair graded PR65 by PCGS at lot 5299, the 1880 flowing hair graded PR66 by PCGS at lot 5300 and the best of the 1879 flowing hair in that sale, graded PR67 cameo by NGC, is lot 5297.
The results were :
1880 coiled hair : sold for $ 1.82M
1879 coiled hair : sold for $ 880K
1880 flowing hair : sold for $ 520K
1879 flowing hair : sold $ 305K
The 1880 non-cameo coiled hair graded PR67 by NGC was at lot 5301, the 1879 coiled hair graded PR65 by PCGS at lot 5299, the 1880 flowing hair graded PR66 by PCGS at lot 5300 and the best of the 1879 flowing hair in that sale, graded PR67 cameo by NGC, is lot 5297.
The results were :
1880 coiled hair : sold for $ 1.82M
1879 coiled hair : sold for $ 880K
1880 flowing hair : sold for $ 520K
1879 flowing hair : sold $ 305K
BREAKING NEWS: $4 #coin sold for $1.8M at #auction. Story via @abc7chicago >> http://t.co/3H8VNorbQ1 pic.twitter.com/TENDKp4YL2
— Heritage Auctions (@HeritageAuction) April 24, 20151885 Trade Dollar
Intro
In 1873 the government ceases the production of the silver dollar. A new silver coin is created in the same year to facilitate the trade with China and Far East. It bears a Trade Dollar inscription as well as its weight in grains and its purity.
In 1878 the drop in price of silver bullion generates speculation and the commercial applications of the Trade dollar are halted. Until 1883 a limited activity is maintained at the Philadelphia Mint for the use of collectors. The Trade dollar is abolished in 1887.
The production of 264 units in January 1884 is recorded in the archives of the Mint. In February the government forbids these pieces to be offered to the public and they are melted. The 1884 dies, however, were not destroyed until January 1885, as if the factory had been waiting for a government counter-order. There was a precedent, the 1878 muddle, when the production of circulation trade dollars was restarted on bad arguments after being banned.
Five 1885 trade dollars have survived. Physically, this coin is identical to the 1884 trade dollar except for the date. It was made in Philadelphia using factory production methods and cannot be a novodel.
Unknown to the factory cashier, they were probably test pieces for a production that was never authorized, which would explain the omission of internal records. Meanwhile the Democrat Grover Cleveland had become president, and the position of the Superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint, the Republican A. Louden Snowden, was becoming untenable. He resigned, or was forced to resign, in June 1885.
In 1908 the dealer John Haseltine announced at the ANA Convention the existence of the 1884 trade dollar, which some numismatists close to the factory had supposed. The 1885 trade dollar was still unsuspected at that time.
Snowden used to keep samples from plant operations during his superintendence. In 1909 he needed money and sold to the collector William Woodin through Haseltine the jewel of his treasure, the only two $ 50 gold coins made in 1877 for a project of union ($ 100) and half union ($ 50) in the context of the development of the gold standard. The project had been abandoned for reasons of technical feasibility.
The fact that the two half unions were still in private hands caused an uproar, and the sale was canceled after a legal action. Snowden took back the two pieces which were immediately returned to the Mint by donation or confiscation. After an amicable settlement, Snowden, unable to pay Woodin in cash, gave him his hoard in 1910.
This transaction was not the subject of an inventory but there is no doubt that the four 1884 trade dollars which had not belonged to Haseltine and the five 1885 trade dollars were part of the lot. All of these pieces were brought to the market by associates of Woodin between 1911 and 1915.
In 1878 the drop in price of silver bullion generates speculation and the commercial applications of the Trade dollar are halted. Until 1883 a limited activity is maintained at the Philadelphia Mint for the use of collectors. The Trade dollar is abolished in 1887.
The production of 264 units in January 1884 is recorded in the archives of the Mint. In February the government forbids these pieces to be offered to the public and they are melted. The 1884 dies, however, were not destroyed until January 1885, as if the factory had been waiting for a government counter-order. There was a precedent, the 1878 muddle, when the production of circulation trade dollars was restarted on bad arguments after being banned.
Five 1885 trade dollars have survived. Physically, this coin is identical to the 1884 trade dollar except for the date. It was made in Philadelphia using factory production methods and cannot be a novodel.
Unknown to the factory cashier, they were probably test pieces for a production that was never authorized, which would explain the omission of internal records. Meanwhile the Democrat Grover Cleveland had become president, and the position of the Superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint, the Republican A. Louden Snowden, was becoming untenable. He resigned, or was forced to resign, in June 1885.
In 1908 the dealer John Haseltine announced at the ANA Convention the existence of the 1884 trade dollar, which some numismatists close to the factory had supposed. The 1885 trade dollar was still unsuspected at that time.
Snowden used to keep samples from plant operations during his superintendence. In 1909 he needed money and sold to the collector William Woodin through Haseltine the jewel of his treasure, the only two $ 50 gold coins made in 1877 for a project of union ($ 100) and half union ($ 50) in the context of the development of the gold standard. The project had been abandoned for reasons of technical feasibility.
The fact that the two half unions were still in private hands caused an uproar, and the sale was canceled after a legal action. Snowden took back the two pieces which were immediately returned to the Mint by donation or confiscation. After an amicable settlement, Snowden, unable to pay Woodin in cash, gave him his hoard in 1910.
This transaction was not the subject of an inventory but there is no doubt that the four 1884 trade dollars which had not belonged to Haseltine and the five 1885 trade dollars were part of the lot. All of these pieces were brought to the market by associates of Woodin between 1911 and 1915.
1
2019 SOLD for $ 3.96M by Heritage
The finest 1885 Trade dollar was sold for $ 910K in the sale of the Eliasberg collection by Bowers and Merena in April 1997. At that time only the 1804 dollar and the 1913 nickel both from the same collection had exceeded $ 1M. Graded PR66 by NGC, it was sold for $ 3.96M by Heritage on January 10, 2019, lot 4553.
In the same grade the second best 1884 Trade dollar, which had also belonged to Eliasberg, was sold for $ 1.14M in the same 2019 sale, lot 4552.
Please watch the videos shared by the auction house for the 1885 (below) and for the 1884 (linked).
In the same grade the second best 1884 Trade dollar, which had also belonged to Eliasberg, was sold for $ 1.14M in the same 2019 sale, lot 4552.
Please watch the videos shared by the auction house for the 1885 (below) and for the 1884 (linked).
2
2021 SOLD for $ 2.1M by Heritage
An 1885 Trade dollar graded PR64 by PCGS, was sold for $ 1.32M by Srack's Bowers ion March 19, 2020, lot 3216. A coin graded PR63+ Cameo by PCGS was sold for $ 2.1M by Heritage on January 20, 2021, lot 3030.
#HeritageLive: The 1885 T$1 Trade PR63+ Cameo PCGS. CAC, one of the greatest and most coveted rarities in United States coinage, soars to $2,100,000 at our FUN #US Coins Signature Auction. https://t.co/we3GkoJhCy#auctionupdate #Numismatics #HACoins pic.twitter.com/ChHd9rqkVt
— Heritage Auctions (@HeritageAuction) January 20, 2021
1886 Ruble Pattern
2014 SOLD for CHF 1.5M by Sincona
Imperial rubles are traditionally in silver. The use of gold is late and exceptional. The most prestigious are the pattern coins, often prepared at the beginning of a new reign. The earliest of these unreleased pieces had no face value and are not very different from a medal.
On 9 October 2012, Sincona sold for CHF 3.6M before fees a pattern coin made in 1740 with the figure of the baby Tsar Ivan VI. A coin dated 1766 for Catherine II was sold for $ 800K before fees by Baldwin's on January 5, 2012.
Catherine's successor, Paul I, interrupted the tradition of offering the portrait of the Tsar on the coinage.
However, during the confusion that followed the death of Alexander I in 1825, a test piece was struck with the effigy of the apparent heir, Grand Duke Constantine, who had not yet confirmed his refusal to reign. This Constantine ruble is the most prestigious currency in the Russian numismatics. One of them was sold for $ 525K before fees by Baldwin's and M & M on January 15, 2004, a very high price for that time.
In the second specialized Sincona auction from 14 to 16 October 2013, the highest results were achieved for pattern rubles with the two-headed eagle: CHF 1M before fees for the 1808 coin and CHF 2.05M before fees for the 1827 coin.
In 1886, the portrait of Tsar Alexander III will come back onto the silver rubles and two medalists are in competition. A pattern coin from one of the non accepted models was sold for CHF 1.5M by Sincona on 13 and 14 October, 2014. Both sides of this beautiful piece are shown in the article posted by Numismatic News.
On 9 October 2012, Sincona sold for CHF 3.6M before fees a pattern coin made in 1740 with the figure of the baby Tsar Ivan VI. A coin dated 1766 for Catherine II was sold for $ 800K before fees by Baldwin's on January 5, 2012.
Catherine's successor, Paul I, interrupted the tradition of offering the portrait of the Tsar on the coinage.
However, during the confusion that followed the death of Alexander I in 1825, a test piece was struck with the effigy of the apparent heir, Grand Duke Constantine, who had not yet confirmed his refusal to reign. This Constantine ruble is the most prestigious currency in the Russian numismatics. One of them was sold for $ 525K before fees by Baldwin's and M & M on January 15, 2004, a very high price for that time.
In the second specialized Sincona auction from 14 to 16 October 2013, the highest results were achieved for pattern rubles with the two-headed eagle: CHF 1M before fees for the 1808 coin and CHF 2.05M before fees for the 1827 coin.
In 1886, the portrait of Tsar Alexander III will come back onto the silver rubles and two medalists are in competition. A pattern coin from one of the non accepted models was sold for CHF 1.5M by Sincona on 13 and 14 October, 2014. Both sides of this beautiful piece are shown in the article posted by Numismatic News.
1894 Barber Dime
2016 SOLD for $ 2M by Heritage
The craze for coin collection created a legend. The book published in 1893 by Augustus Heaton, A Treatise on Coinage of the United States Branch Mints, generates an immediate excitement. Collectors now take consideration of the production plant to gather consistent sets including previously unsuspected rarities.
No less than fifty collectors contact the San Francisco branch in 1894 for acquiring specimens of all denominations in mint state. Regarding the silver dime worth ten cents, only one response is made: San Francisco does not produce that value in 1894.
However, the plant's records indicate that a minuscule amount of 24 dimes was delivered on June 9, 1894. This information goes unnoticed at first glance. The 1894-S dies with a Barber-type figure had been prepared but the decision for a mass production has not been taken.
On the next year, an official says that he had to close the fiscal accounts of the silver stock and that the very small remaining volume could only be used for dimes.
The 24 units manufactured with the new tools have not benefited from the perfect setting usually applied when beginning an actual series but they may nevertheless be considered as proofs. 5 coins have undergone destructive assays. The other 19 were probably mixed in a bag with dimes of previous years for their release into circulation.
The hunt for this scarcity is launched in 1900 when Heaton reveals the existence of the 24 coins in a specialized magazine. It later became legendary when collectors told fancies on the fate of these coins of which only eight or nine units have surfaced.
One of the two 1894-S dimes that had belonged to Eliasberg is the finest example, graded PR66 by PCGS. It was sold for $ 2M by Heritage on January 7, 2016, lot 5317. The image is shared from PCGS on Wikimedia. Another coin graded PR64+ by PCGS was sold for $ 1.55M by Stack's in October 2007. The price of each of these two units was later considerably increased in private sales.
No less than fifty collectors contact the San Francisco branch in 1894 for acquiring specimens of all denominations in mint state. Regarding the silver dime worth ten cents, only one response is made: San Francisco does not produce that value in 1894.
However, the plant's records indicate that a minuscule amount of 24 dimes was delivered on June 9, 1894. This information goes unnoticed at first glance. The 1894-S dies with a Barber-type figure had been prepared but the decision for a mass production has not been taken.
On the next year, an official says that he had to close the fiscal accounts of the silver stock and that the very small remaining volume could only be used for dimes.
The 24 units manufactured with the new tools have not benefited from the perfect setting usually applied when beginning an actual series but they may nevertheless be considered as proofs. 5 coins have undergone destructive assays. The other 19 were probably mixed in a bag with dimes of previous years for their release into circulation.
The hunt for this scarcity is launched in 1900 when Heaton reveals the existence of the 24 coins in a specialized magazine. It later became legendary when collectors told fancies on the fate of these coins of which only eight or nine units have surfaced.
One of the two 1894-S dimes that had belonged to Eliasberg is the finest example, graded PR66 by PCGS. It was sold for $ 2M by Heritage on January 7, 2016, lot 5317. The image is shared from PCGS on Wikimedia. Another coin graded PR64+ by PCGS was sold for $ 1.55M by Stack's in October 2007. The price of each of these two units was later considerably increased in private sales.
