1776 $1 Continental Dollar, CURENCY, Brass MS63 NGC. CAC. To be Offered by Heritage on July 31, 2009

Examples of Continental Dollars are known in brass, pewter, and silver. The pewter pieces are common, those in brass are rare, and examples in silver are extremely rare.

About 15 brass Continental Currency pieces are known in all grades, and they are only known from the original engraving or the first modification of Reverse A. Breen recorded an example of the EG FECIT variety in brass; however, that piece has never materialized. Current rarity information indicates that there are three known examples of Hodder 1-A.1, and about 12 known of Hodder 1-A.2, the variety being offered by Heritage at the Summer ANA Money Show.

Walter Breen recorded this piece as his Encyclopedia number 1087, and described it as a brass “prototype penny.” While it may have seemed logical to Breen that the brass pieces were trial pieces, additional study has shown that assumption to be incorrect. Hodder studied the die states of both brass and pewter examples, and determined that they were struck simultaneously.
This specimen is the only one of those known that has been described as Mint State or Uncirculated in auction offerings over the last 40 years.

In 1967 the Stack’s cataloger wrote: “This specimen is Uncirculated with but one small corrosion spot on the left stand of the ‘R’ in ‘ARE’. If not the finest specimen extant, then surely equal to it.” Unmentioned in any of its past offerings, the reverse is prominently doubled. (more…)

R.W. Julian’s article “Gobrecht’s Seated Liberty,” published in the July 2003 edition of the magazine Coins, offers an excellent overview of how the eponymous design made its way to the quarter dollar. The Liberty Seated obverse, which Julian credits to a collaboration between engraver Christian Gobrecht and artists Titian Peale and Thomas Sully, was created for the silver dollar, but its use spread quickly to other denominations:

“The designs were so well received that [Mint Director Robert] Patterson soon sought permission to improve the looks of the dimes and half dimes by putting the seated figure on the obverse… Once the dimes and half dimes had received the seated figure of Liberty, the quarter dollar came next. Gobrecht prepared the dies in the summer of 1838 and in September several trial pieces were sent to Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury and President Martin Van Buren for their inspection. Approval was soon forthcoming and coinage quickly began. Demand was strong enough that 466,000 pieces were struck by year’s end.”

Julian further notes that while Gobrecht’s obverse design was artistically successful, it created certain technical challenges that Mint Director Patterson decided to rectify. In a different article, “Collectors Clamor for Seated Liberty Quarters” in the February 29, 2000 edition of Numismatic News, Julian describes the change made and how it affects the way today’s collectors approach the series:

“The quarter coinage of 1838-1840, without drapery, is increasingly obtained by type collectors because of the distinct difference in the obverse dies. This variety was struck at Philadelphia in 1838 and 1839 but also at New Orleans in 1840; the dies for the latter were sent off before all the changes were in place. Philadelphia coined only the variety with drapery in 1840.

“Sculptor Robert Ball Hughes had been hired by Director Patterson to slightly redesign the silver coinage, especially the Seated Liberty figures; the change of drapery at the elbow is a mark of Hughes’ work. The point of the make-over was to reduce the height of the figure so that the coins would strike up better in the available coining presses.” (more…)

Heritage’s pre-ANA Auction in Philadelphia in 2000 featured the wonderful Mercury Dime Collection of then New Jersey State Senator C. Louis Bassano. No coin in that set graded less than MS65 FB, and all the regular issues after 1934 were MS67 FB. Total prices realized were an incredible, chart-busting 274% of Bluesheet bid — and that didn’t even include his five wonder-gems that were off the Bluesheet charts! After the auction, Senator Bassano wrote to us: “Let me just say it: UNBELIEVABLE! The prices that Heritage realized… were simply unbelievable…. That Heritage sold my coins for double the most optimistic price that I had dreamed was equally unbelievable — at least until I received the check!”

Heritage is honored to now offer The Louis Bassano Collection of U.S. Commemoratives as a part of our 2009 August Los Angeles, CA US Coin Auction, taking place July 30-August 1. Every one of the nearly 150 beautiful coins in this collection grades MS66 or higher.

Senator Bassano was one of the most important and beloved figures in New Jersey politics. A three-decade veteran of the Legislature, he was first elected to public office in 1971, serving four terms as a Representative, and then more than two decades in the Senate. He garnered dozens of civic awards and honors for his service, and wrote many laws protecting public health and safety, focusing on issues affecting children, senior citizens, and the disabled.

His interest in old coins started during the 1950s, as his father’s business generated a tremendous amount of coinage. At the age of 8, he joined his Dad in searching for 1932-dated quarters. As he grew older, he continued to search through circulating coinage, working on sets of Walking Liberty halves, Mercury dimes, and silver dollars, key-date quarters, and other classic 20th century rarities. His appreciation for his coins stems from his enjoyment of history, “evidenced by travels to Rome, Greece, and Israel,” which he described as the “triangle of ancient civilization.” Coins are also an important part of American history, and he believed that “no series captures American history like the classic silver commemoratives.” (more…)