At the time of the independence of the United States in 1776, the Congress attempted to get the financial independence by circulating paper money in a new unit, the dollar. This system was difficult to use for small amounts, and first tests were made for a one dollar coin.
This early US metal coinage remained confidential and was limited to the year 1776, but a significant quantity has been achieved, probably to test the capability of mass production. Heritage estimate that about 1,000 of them survive.
Some variations exist, because the dies were made by craft and wore out quickly, but also because a few engravers were involved. The operators also had to correct misspellings. Three metals were used: silver, brass and pewter. The majority of them are in pewter, abundant in North America at that time. This surprising diversity is certainly due to the still experimental nature of the project.
The earliest variant, described under code 1-A by Newman, was soon abandoned because its dotted rings were too difficult to perform repeatedly.
The sale by Heritage in Orlando on January 7 and 8 includes no less than fifteen of these Continental Dollars. Two are in silver, three in brass and the other ten in pewter.
The Newman 1-A brass coin is graded MS63 by NGC (lot 5834, January 8). It is the best from three 1-A known in brass. The Newman 1-A in pewter is the only known specimen of the original sub-variant in this material, identified by Heritage during the preparation of the auction (lot 4004, January 7).
The two silver coins are a Newman 1-C graded XF40 by NGC, the best from two known silver 1-C (lot 5838, January 8) and a Newman 3-D graded MS62 by NGC (lot 5842, January 8). Only one other silver 3-D is known. Graded MS63 by NGC, it was sold for $ 1.4 million including premium by Heritage on May 16, 2014.
This early US metal coinage remained confidential and was limited to the year 1776, but a significant quantity has been achieved, probably to test the capability of mass production. Heritage estimate that about 1,000 of them survive.
Some variations exist, because the dies were made by craft and wore out quickly, but also because a few engravers were involved. The operators also had to correct misspellings. Three metals were used: silver, brass and pewter. The majority of them are in pewter, abundant in North America at that time. This surprising diversity is certainly due to the still experimental nature of the project.
The earliest variant, described under code 1-A by Newman, was soon abandoned because its dotted rings were too difficult to perform repeatedly.
The sale by Heritage in Orlando on January 7 and 8 includes no less than fifteen of these Continental Dollars. Two are in silver, three in brass and the other ten in pewter.
The Newman 1-A brass coin is graded MS63 by NGC (lot 5834, January 8). It is the best from three 1-A known in brass. The Newman 1-A in pewter is the only known specimen of the original sub-variant in this material, identified by Heritage during the preparation of the auction (lot 4004, January 7).
The two silver coins are a Newman 1-C graded XF40 by NGC, the best from two known silver 1-C (lot 5838, January 8) and a Newman 3-D graded MS62 by NGC (lot 5842, January 8). Only one other silver 3-D is known. Graded MS63 by NGC, it was sold for $ 1.4 million including premium by Heritage on May 16, 2014.
Results including premium :
Both silver dollars : $ 1.53M each
Brass dollar : $ 376K
Pewter dollar : $ 118K
Brass dollar : $ 376K
Pewter dollar : $ 118K
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