When a Morgan or Peace Dollar is attributed with a VAM number, this means it is one of the recognized varieties that are listed in the Encyclopedia of Morgan & Peace Dollars.

This book was written by Leroy Van Allen & George Mallis — their initials make up the abbreviation VAM.

Each different date/mint combination has it’s own set of varieties and VAM numbers.  VAM-4 would be the 4th listed variety for that specific date/mint.  A VAM-4 for one date/mint will not be the same for a different date/mint.

Each of these VAMs has its own rarity & interest factor.  A rare variety with a high interest factor will be quite valuable — a common, low-interest variety may not have any premium at all.  The rarity and interest factors are listed in the encyclopedia, but prices are not.

Vam collectors are passionate about their specialty, and this is the first new discovery of a new die marrige for a 1878 with B1 reverse that has been reported in the past 45 years.

First posted on the Coin Community message boards on October 21st, and then on the Vamword website several hours later, the  coin initially had collectors stumped in trying to reconcile the die charactoristics with the then known Vam Varieties. It was suggested by several collectors that the coin be sent to Vam expert Leroy Van Allen for inspection and attribution.

On October 26th, the following news reportedly arrived from Mr. Van Allen:

NEW 1878 P B1 DIE VARIETY LISTING
In late October 2010, Kenneth Robb sent a nice condition PL 1878 P with B1 type reverse that had the II/I 6 obverse of VAM 80. However, he pointed out that the reverse die didn’t match the reverse die cracks of VAM 80 and also didn’t have the die chips on the eagle’s right wing. Furthermore, the reverse die didn’t seem to match any of the known B1 reverse listings.

Examination of the coin confirmed that the reverse die was a new variety combined with the VAM 80 obverse die. So it is the first new die combination for 1878 P B1 reverse varieties since they were originally listed in Van Allen’s 1965 booklet, Morgan and Peace Dollar Varieties. Some sub-varieties had been added for VAMs 80A and 84A in 2003 and 2006 for the clashed die letters. This is a major new variety find for the 1878 P 7TF varieties and has been listed as a new VAM 85.

The sample coin had proof-like fields without any trace of die wear lines. But a peripheral die crack all around the [reverse] die would likely have caused early die retirement. The obverse die was an earlier die state than VAM 80. So this die combination of the new VAM 85 must be very rare to have gone undetected all of these years!

Die Characteristics
The obverse die shared with the VAM 80 II/I 6 has a doubled motto, some stars, top wheat leaves and grains, last four letters in LIBERTY, cotton leaves, 878 and Phrygian cap fold. The doubled cap fold is a key identifier for this obverse die.

The unique new reverse die has over polished left three disconnected olive leaves and a small blank spot in the middle of the eagle’s left wing. There is a vertical thread-like die impression at the tip of the eagle’s right wing and another horizontal die impression at the upper right of the upper tail feathers. A good die marker is some raised die chips at the left side of the upper tail feathers. There is a strange raised “7″ on the right leg of the A in STATES, probably from the die polishing.

A major new find that is very rare!

Congratulations to Kenneth Robb. Surly this will be one of the highlights of his collecting career and most certainly inspire other Van collectors to take a second look at the coins they hold in thier collections.

Note: CoinLink will update this story as new information is received and as more Hi-res images are made available.

Reference Sites for Vam Collectors:
www.vamworld.com
www.vanquest.com
Coin Community Vam Forum
www.vanlink.com

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2. New Coin Discovery: 1856-O Double Eagle Discovered in Ohio to Be Offered At Long Beach
3. Fey Discovers Ultra Rare 1878 8TF Partial Collar at Smithsonian

Gold coin specialist Doug Winter calls the 1856-O double eagle issue “the rarest New Orleans double eagle and the rarest gold coin struck at the New Orleans mint.”

The Discovery

McCloskey’s Coin World article describes how an Ohio resident asked him to evaluate the family holdings:

“He indicated that ownership of the coins could be traced back to James Bullock, a gentleman who owned a farm near the city of Livermore, KY., during the early years of the 20th century.

“When Bullock died on June 26, 1923, his estate included a collection of gold coins that were passed down to his heirs as treasured family heirlooms. These coins have passed through three generations of family descendents over the years since his death and are now spread out among several family members.”

The Realization

The Coin World story relates the owner’s gradual realization of how fabulous and rare the 1856-O twenty is:

“After my evaluation session with the new owner I went home and checked the June 2010 issue of Coin World’s Coin Values and realized that I had just stumbled upon a great rarity that was completely unknown to the numismatic community. I then called the owner and told him that the 1856-O double eagle was listed at $220,000 in an Extremely Fine grade and that the piece might bring considerably more than that at auction considering its beautiful original surfaces and minimal field marks. I don’t think that the family really believed my estimate of the coin’s value but it began to sink in after I showed them the price listing in my copy of Coin Values.”

The Authentication

McCloskey goes into great depth over how, after they realized that “we had a treasure on our hands,” he studied the present piece under a microscope and identified various surface diagnostics that helped in its authentication as a genuine 1856-O double eagle. His descriptions of those obverse and reverse criteria, as quoted from Coin World, follow:

Obverse
“The date on this obverse die is low in the field between the bust above and the dentils below. The left edge of the digit 1 is closer to the dentils below than the top of the digit is to the bust above. The date has an upright 5 with a short upper serif that does not extend to the right edge of the digit. The date has a small knob 6 with a wide opening between the knob and the lower loop of the digit below. These are all date characteristics that are consistent with the only known obverse die used to strike double eagles in 1856.

“In 2007 Seated Liberty half dollar expert Bill Bugert reported that all 25 known obverse dies used to strike half dollars at the Philadelphia, New Orleans and San Francisco Mints in 1856 have a small triangular notch along the bottom edge of the base of the 1 in the date. This defect is identical on all of these dies and appears near the right edge of this digit.

“This feature is the result of a defect in the four-digit logotype that was used to prepare the dates on half dollar dies of this year. My own personal research has shown that the same four-digit punch was also used to prepare the dates on eagle and double eagles dies for this year.”

Reverse
“The reported mintage for the 1856-O Coronet double eagle was a minuscule 2,250 pieces and there is only one known reverse die for this issue. The New Orleans Mint mark is centered below the eagle’s tail feathers and is also centered over the N in TWENTY in the denomination. The O Mint mark is closer to the tail feathers than it is to the letter N below.

“A die crack runs from the rim up through the space between two dentils, up through the right side of the opening in the D in the denomination and finally up through the field to the ribbon below the M in UNUM.
“The left half of the crossbar on the A in STATES is broken due to a defect in the reverse die.
“These are all surface features that are known to appear on the only reverse die used to strike double eagles at the New Orleans Branch Mint in 1856.”

Importance of This Discovery

The importance of this discovery coin cannot be overstated, as a high-grade specimen that has reposed in family holdings, completely unknown to the numismatic community, for the better part of the past century. Almost all certified survivors grade in the range from XF40 to AU58. Two examples are permanently impounded at the Smithsonian Institution. The total certified at NGC and PCGS combined is only 23 coins–10 at NGC and 12 at PCGS that range from Very Fine to AU58, plus one Specimen-63 coin. The certified total almost certainly includes duplications. We would be unsurprised to learn that as few as 16 separate coins exist today that are theoretically available in the marketplace.

A single example of the 1856-O is now certified as Specimen-63 by PCGS, a coin that was passed down directly from New Orleans Mint Superintendent Charles Bienvenu to his heirs. We have handled that coin three times at Heritage, in 2002, 2004, and 2009, where it realized, successively, $310,500; $542,800; and, most recently, $1,437,500. (Its first appearance was MS63 Specimen NGC, the second, Specimen-63 NGC.) That example is the only Uncirculated piece that Doug Winter lists in his 2006 edition of Gold Coins of the New Orleans Mint.

The Present Specimen

While the present example is not quite in the same league as the stellar 1856-O above, it is a momentous discovery that has again generated broad awareness of the desirability and eminent rarity of this legendary early O-mint issue. The last two appearances of XF45 1856-O twenties in our auctions–both XF45 PCGS with CAC sticker, dating from 2009–each generated returns in excess of a quarter-million dollars (Heritage, 1/2009, lot 4131, $276,000; 7/2009, lot 1315, $253,000).

The present piece, certified XF45+ by NGC, is destined to also generate remarkably strong results. The Plus grades at NGC and PCGS are still new to the market, but we are seeing strong results for Plus-graded coins from both services, and in fact we are seeing remarkably strong prices for rare coins across the board.

Most examples of the 1856-O are heavily abraded, but this piece is a remarkable, pleasing exception. A few tiny field marks are individually insignificant. The only marks useful for pedigree identification are located below the inner point of star 6, another above star 13, and a tiny mark just to the upper left of the top of the mintmark, in the field. The surfaces have a somewhat subdued orange-gold coloration. Slight traces of luster remain around the peripheral lettering and between the glory of rays. The coin is sharply struck overall, with no singular areas of weakness. Slight high-point rub is characteristic and as expected for the Choice XF grade. It is interesting to note that the same “Broken A” reverse die diagnostic that McCloskey describes above is better-known to many collectors from the 1856-S and 1857-S double eagles, many of them recovered from the S.S. Central America shipwreck.

Q. David Bowers writes in his Guide Book that “the acquisition of an 1856-O has been the dream of every advanced specialist in the double eagle series.” Bowers estimates “fewer than 25 known, and perhaps fewer than 20.” Garrett and Guth, in their gold Encyclopedia, repeat the estimate of “fewer than 25 coins,” which includes the Specimen-63 and the two Smithsonian coins.

This Coin will be offered By Heritage at the 2010 September Long Beach, CA Signature US Coin Auction #1144

Related posts:

1. 1856-O Double Eagle Certified Specimen-63 Sells for $1.4+ Million at Long Beach
2. Bullock 1856-O double eagle brings $345,000 to headline $13.4 Million Heritage Long Beach Auction
3. Stunning 1856-O double eagle leads $17.7 million Heritage Long Beach coin auction

The coin is 2,200 years old and was minted in Alexandria, Egypt in 191 BCE by Ptolemy V and bears the name of the wife of Ptolemy II, Arsinoe. The Israel Antiquities Authority says the coin is the heaviest and has the highest contemporary value of any coin ever found in an excavation in Israel. The coin weighs almost one ounce (27.71 grams), while most ancient gold coins weighed 4.5 grams.

The denomination is called a mnaieion, meaning a one-mina coin, and is equivalent to 100 silver drachms, or a mina of silver.

According to Dr. Donald T. Ariel, head of the Coin Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “This is an amazing numismatic find. The coin is beautiful and in excellent preservation. It is the heaviest gold coin with the highest contemporary value of any coin ever found in an excavation in Israel. The coin weighs almost one ounce (27.71 grams), while most ancient gold coins weighed 4.5 grams. In Ariel’s words, “This extraordinary coin was apparently not in popular or commercial use, but had a symbolic function. The coin may have had a ceremonial function related to a festival in honor of Queen Arsinoë, who was deified in her lifetime. The denomination is called a mnaieion, meaning a one-mina coin, and is equivalent to 100 silver drachms, or a mina of silver.

The obverse (‘head’) of the coin depicts Arsinoë II Philadelphus. The reverse (‘tail’) depicts two overlapping cornucopias (horns-of-plenty) decorated with fillets. The meaning of the word Philadelphus is brotherly love. Arsinoë II, daughter of Ptolemy I Soter, was married at age 15 to one of Alexander the Great’s generals, Lysimachus, king of Thrace. After Lysimachus’ death she married her brother, Ptolemy II, who established a cult in her honor. This mnaieion from Tel Kedesh attests to the staying power of the cult, since the coin was minted a full 80 years after the queen’s death.

According to Ariel, “It is rare to find Ptolemaic coins in Israel dating after the country came under Seleucid rule in 200 BCE. The only other gold Ptolemaic coin from an excavation in Israel (from `Akko) dates from the period of Ptolemaic hegemony, in the third century BCE, and weighs less than two grams.”

Ariel notes that although the inscription on the coin identifies the queen as Arsinoë Philadelphus, “it is plausible that the second-century BCE mnaieia actually depict cryptic portraits of the reigning queens. Consequently, the queen represented on the Tell Kedesh mnaieion may actually be Cleopatra I, daughter of Antiochus III, whose marriage to Ptolemy V in 193 sealed the formal end of the Fifth Syrian War.”

Some three years ago an Alexandrine hoard of Ptolemaic gold coins appeared on the world antiquities market. That hoard, however, contained no coins of Ptolemy V, so the extreme rarity of the mnaieion from Tell Kedesh remains unimpaired.

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For more than a century, numismatists have puzzled over the purpose of the Kellogg fifties and exactly how many were struck. All known specimens were minted in proof format, suggesting they may have served as presentation pieces for bankers and politicians: They were struck when the firm was considering a large business strike mintage to compete with the fifty dollar pieces of their competitors, Wass, Molitor and Company. The “regular-issue” coins never materialized, but the proof production has delighted and puzzled collectors since the coins appeared.

One disputed question about the Kellogg proof fifties has been the number struck. The proprietors of Kellogg & Co., John Glover Kellogg and Augustus Humbert, were partners in 1855. Both of them retained several examples of the Kellogg fifties long after they dissolved their partnership in 1860. Kellogg’s heirs, including his son Karl, remained in possession of three coins many years after Kellogg’s death in 1886. Humbert, who died in 1873, left his collection to his brother, Pierre. When Pierre died in 1901, his heirs sold the collection to Captain Andrew C. Zabriskie. As Henry Chapman relates in the introduction to the Zabriskie Collection (Henry Chapman, 6/1909):

“Capt. Zabriskie some years ago had the good fortune to purchase from his executors the collection of coins left by Mr. Humbert, the California Assayer, and from which collection he derived many of the most remarkable Pioneer Gold Coins, which , added to his collection that had been forming for many years, makes his Pioneer Gold the best ever offered at public sale.”

Later in the sale, Chapman described the Kellogg fifty in lot 341, which realized $1,250, a huge price at the time. To quote his description in part:

“Sharp, beautiful specimen. The finest known, as Capt. Zabriskie had his choice of the six which Mr. Humbert had preserved. So far as I am aware, it is possible about 10 are known, in fact, this is the number it is said was coined.”

Chapman thus reveals the startling fact that Humbert saved at least six specimens of this issue until his death. We can only wonder what Humbert’s purpose was, since $300 was a large sum in 1855, too large to tie up in souvenirs. Whatever his reasons, he deserves the thanks of all Pioneer gold collectors for preserving so many of these wonderful coins. In his catalog of Humbert’s collection, which he sold in 1902, Chapman mentioned one specimen in the collection of J.W. Scott, which would be the 10th coin in his census, after the three kept by Kellogg’s family and the six in Humbert’s estate.

The trouble with Chapman’s roster is this: More than 10 specimens have always been known to numismatists since the coins surfaced. The census of known examples has gone up and down over the years, but most catalogers agree at least 13 pieces were struck, even if fewer examples seemed to be extant at a particular time. With the appearance of the present coin, we have a pictorial record of what seem to be 14 different coins.

In 1905, prominent collector DeWitt Smith compiled a list of 13 coins he was familiar with, and the owner of each piece. Edgar Adams published the list in Private Gold Coinage of California in 1912, making one correction. The number of known specimens remained the same, but an example DeWitt Smith erroneously believed to be in the Mint Cabinet was removed from the roster, and a specimen in the H.O. Granberg Collection he was unaware of was added. Apparently, Chapman was unaware of the list in 1909, when he reported only 10 specimens were struck. The J.W. Scott coin was not on Adams’ list, and no such coin appeared in the catalog of Scott’s collection when he offered it in 1882. Still, the fact that we have 14 specimens extant today lends credence to Chapman’s statement regarding the coin’s existence.

Zabriskie marketed the five duplicate specimens from Humbert’s collection, along with many other coins, through the Chapman Brothers. They placed one of the Kellogg fifties in lot 716 of the William R. Weeks and Augustus Humbert Collections (S.H. and H. Chapman, 5/1902), which realized $575 to Virgil Brand. They sold one example each to George Earle and John Story Jenks by private treaty. It is very likely that John A. Beck acquired his Kellogg fifty in the same fashion. The details of what happened to the final coin in Humbert’s hoard are unknown, but it was undoubtedly sold to one of the early collectors on DeWitt Smith’s list. When news of the great prices realized by the coins featured at auction spread, the examples held by Kellogg’s descendants and the other specimens began to appear on the market. We have included as much of the history of these fabulous coins as can be determined in the roster below.

Greg Reynolds in his lasted Coin Rarities Column stated “I am certain that this is not one of the two that Stack’s auctioned in March 2005. I am almost certain that it is not an ‘upgrade’ of the PCGS certified Proof-53 Kellogg fifty that sold in Superior’s (Goldbergs’) session of Auction ‘90. Except the probably never certified Eliasberg coin, all the other privately owned Kellogg $50 gold pieces on Borckardt’s 2007 list have been PCGS or NGC graded 62 or higher. Therefore, it appears that this one is a newly emergent Kellogg fifty or a rediscovery of one that had been forgotten about or had been erroneously incorporated into the pedigree chains of one of the others. Either way, it is exciting. I believe that the Kellogg fifties are the only classic, Proof $50 gold coins that are available to collectors.”

The present coin is sharply struck, with fine detail on Liberty’s hair and all star centers fully brought up. A few minor handling marks are evident on both sides, almost inevitable with such a large gold coin. The brightly reflective surfaces are a pleasing orange-gold, with green highlights. The majesty of this numismatic icon cannot be conveyed by words or pictures alone. It only becomes real when you feel the solid weight of this enormous gold coin in your hand.

The discovery of a new Kellogg fifty is big news for the numismatic community. The last time a previously unknown specimen of a coin of this magnitude appeared was in 2005, when the C.L. Lee specimen of the 1854-S quarter eagle came to light. Of course, there is also a precedent in the roster of Kellogg fifties, when coin number 5 surfaced in the Buddy Ebsen Collection in 1987. We expect the excitement of those previous landmark events to be equaled when this lot is offered.

The following roster was compiled from many sources, expanding on previous efforts by Walter Breen and DeWitt Smith, with extensive contributions by Heritage Senior Cataloger Mark Borckardt, numismatic researchers P. Scott Rubin and Karl Moulton, and Pioneer gold specialist Don Kagin.

It is believed that just 14 examples of this famous rarity are known, but some earlier appearances are not definitely accounted for today and may yet turn up as additional coins. The numbers assigned to each specimen rank them according to grade, with the exception of the present coin, listed as number 14. The associated number from Walter Breen’s roster has been included where applicable. At one time or another, most of the known examples have been described as the finest known.

1. PR64 PCGS. Breen #11. British private collection; Greater New York Convention (Stack’s, 5/1984), lot 784; Robert Hughes; Rarities Sale (Bowers and Merena, 8/1995), lot 498; 2007 FUN Auction (Heritage, 1/2007), lot 3893. In the 1984 catalog, Stack’s noted: “From information conveyed to us, this coin has recently come from England along with a few less important Territorial and Federal gold coins.”

2. PR64 PCGS. Breen #1. Augustus Humbert; Humbert’s heirs; Capt. Andrew C. Zabriskie; Zabriskie Collection (Henry Chapman, 6/1909), lot 341; Col. James W. Ellsworth; John Work Garrett; Johns Hopkins University; Garrett Collection (Bowers and Ruddy, 3/1980), lot 910; Kagin’s; Paul Padget; Donald Kagin and Stuart Levine; private collection. In the Garrett catalog, it was noted: “It is believed to be the finest known example of its kind.” However, that catalog was written several years before the example mentioned above became known to the numismatic community.

Note: Walter Breen recorded the Garrett piece as later appearing in Auction ‘85. However, the coin in that auction was the unique 1854 Kellogg $20 proof from the Garrett Collection.

3. PR63 PCGS. Not in Breen. Smith & Son (3/1941); Frank Heim (6/2000); Don Kagin; Q. David Bowers; Don Kagin; Superior (1/2005), lot 953; Western collector; ANA Signature Auction (Heritage, 8/2007), lot 2119; FUN Signature Auction (Heritage, 1/2008), lot 3448.

4. PR63 PCGS. Breen #2. Kellogg family; possibly sold privately by Thomas Elder around 1916; New York collector, possibly F.C.C. Boyd; “J.F. Bell” in 1945; Memorable Collection (Numismatic Gallery, 3/1948), lot 967; Don Keefer; F.K. Saab; Gibson Sale (Stack’s, 11/1974), lot 189; Auction ‘79 (Stack’s, 7/1979), lot 996; Jerome S. Coles Collection (Stack’s, 10/1983), lot 239; 68th Anniversary Sale (Stack’s, 10/2003), lot 2292; 72nd Anniversary Sale (Stack’s, 10/2007), lot 4017; FUN Signature Auction (Heritage, 1/2009), lot 4228.

5. Choice Proof. Not in Breen. Buddy Ebsen Collection (Superior, 5/1987), lot 3140. This piece appears to be a new example that matches none of the others and was unlisted in the Breen Census.

6. PR62 PCGS. Breen #3. George W. Rice; Virgil M. Brand; William F. Dunham (B. Max Mehl, 6/1941), lot 2369; W.D. Waltman Collection (B. Max Mehl, 6/1945), lot 37; Amon Carter Collection (Stack’s, 1/1984), lot 1149; Harlan White; ANA Signature Auction (Heritage, 8/1997), lot 7898; Donald Kagin; Craig Smith; Paul S. Mory Collection (Bowers and Merena, 6/2000), lot 1053; Rarities Sale (Bowers and Merena, 1/2002), lot 857; Midwest collection.

7. PR62 NGC. Breen #7. N.M. Kaufman Collection (RARCOA, 8/1978), lot 66; Auction ‘80 (Paramount, 8/1980), lot 982; Auction ‘84 (RARCOA, 7/1984), lot 2000; ANA Signature Auction (Heritage, 8/1992), lot 2583; RARCOA; Donald Kagin; private collection.

8. PR62. Breen #9. Augustus Humbert; Humbert’s heirs; Capt. Andrew C. Zabriskie; Henry Chapman; John Story Jenks; Reuting Collection (Reuting, a Pennsylvania collector who specialized in private gold coinage, was the proprietor of a lumber yard and served one term as mayor of Titusville, Pennsylvania); Arthur C. Nygren (B. Max Mehl, 11/1914), lot 82; Henry Chapman (per Mehl in the Waltman catalog); George Alfred Lawrence (Thomas Elder, 6/1929), lot 1365; John H. Clapp; Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr.; Eliasberg Estate; Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection (Bowers and Merena, 5/1996), lot 366; East Coast collection.

9. PR62. Breen #4. Augustus Humbert; Humbert’s heirs; Capt. Andrew C. Zabriskie; Henry Chapman; George H. Earle Collection (Henry Chapman, 6/1912), lot 3782; purchased by B. Max Mehl and sold to Fred T. Huddart; Judge C.W. Slack (B. Max Mehl, 5/1925), lot 29; Col. E.H.R. Green; Josiah Lilly Collection; Smithsonian Institution. Walter Breen recorded this specimen as once the property of Amon Carter, Sr. and Jr., although such a listing is doubtful. Additional intermediaries handled this coin on a consignment basis. Both Smithsonian pieces have recently been examined and graded by Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth.

10. PR62. Breen #5. H.O. Granberg (consigned to the 1914 ANS Exhibition); William H. Woodin; Waldo C. Newcomer; Willis duPont; Smithsonian Institution. This piece was stolen from duPont in October 1967 and recovered in July or August 1978, as reported in Coin World, August 9, 1978. Illustrated at http://americanhistory.si.edu and plate-matched to Mehl’s Newcomer plates.

11. PR53 PCGS. Breen #10. J.W. Schmandt (Stack’s, 2/1957), lot 1028; Dan Brown; John H. Murrell; Henry H. Clifford;1983 ANA Sale (Kagin, 8/1983), lot 3630; Auction ‘88 (Superior, 7/1988), lot 491; Auction ‘90 (Superior , 8/1990), lot 1406; Orlando Sale (Superior, 8/1992); private collection.

12. Impaired Proof. Breen #6. Augustus Humbert; Humbert’s heirs; Capt. Andrew C. Zabriskie; Henry Chapman; John A. Beck; John A. Beck, Part I (Quality Sales, 1/1975), lot 729; Dr. Ketterman; Arnold and Romisa Collections (Bowers and Merena, 9/1984), lot 330; Hoke S. Green Collection (Bowers and Merena, 6/1985), lot 24; Christie’s (3/1994), lot 375; Morrison, Licht Collection (Stack’s, 3/2005), lot 1320; Donald Kagin; private collection. Described as a “Brilliant Proof with some hairlines and minor friction.”

13. XF Details NCS. Breen #8. C.W. Cowell (B. Max Mehl, 1911); Waldo Newcomer; Amon Carter, Sr.; 1962 N.Y. Metropolitan Sale (Stack’s, 4/1962), lot 2814; John Rowe; Abner Kreisberg (1968); Public Auction Sale (Quality Sales Corp., 11/1972), lot 1410A; Jack Klauson; 1973 ANA Sale (Jess Peters, 8/1973), lot 1030; Walter Breen Gold Sale #1 (Pine Tree, 3/1974), lot 455; West Coast collection; Christie’s (3/1990); Morrison/ Licht Collection (Stack’s, 3/2005), lot 1321; Donald Kagin; private collection. In 1972, Abner Kreisberg and Jerry Cohen commented: “The usual surface abrasions and scratches have all been removed and quite a bit of luster is still adhering. Extremely Fine.”

14. PR60 PCGS. From an East Coast estate. The present coin.

The following citations represent earlier appearances of coins we have been unable to positively link to the pedigree chains above. They may constitute duplicate appearances of some of the examples in the above list, or they may be different individual coins.

A. DeWitt Smith, of Lee Massachusetts, by 1905; obtained by Virgil Brand when he purchased the DeWitt Smith Collection intact.
B. Augustus Humbert; Humbert’s heirs; Capt. Andrew C. Zabriskie; Henry Chapman; William R. Weeks and Augustus Humbert Collections (Henry Chapman, 5/1902), lot 716; Virgil Brand.
C. Two specimens retained by the heirs of John Glover Kellogg.
D. A specimen said to be in the possession of J.W. Scott in the 19th century. (#10228)

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“In a recent New York auction Louis Werner observed that the 1838 brilliant proof Gobrecht dollar (a typical restrike, with two minute rust spots on the obverse die which should have been mentioned in my description of restrikes on page 17 of the monograph) showed a faint but unmistakable date 1859 to the right of the real date 1838. When I first saw the coin I recognized that this could have come about only through the fact that it was actually overstruck on an 1859 silver dollar. …I will simply say that I have looked at over twenty 1838s all told-originals and restrikes alike-and have never seen any other example of the kind.”

While unprecedented among Gobrecht dollars, there are parallels to two other famous coins, the 1851 dollar overstruck on an 1859-O or 1860-O dollar, and the unique Class II 1804 dollar was overstruck on an 1857 Bern Shooting taler. It is conjecture, but certainly possible that the 1851-O dollar, the Class II 1804 dollar, and this piece were all struck within a few months of each other. It is also most likely that all three were struck by the same person, Theodore Eckfeldt.

Theodore’s family had been employed in the Mint since 1792 (when Adam was first employed to do blacksmith work). In a case of poor judgment on the Mint’s part, after firing young Theodore for theft, he was later rehired as a night watchman. Eckfeldt then proceeded to work with employees in the Coiner’s Department to strike various rarities, including 1804 dollars, which he then sold to Dr. Montroville Dickeson.

Much of the Seated dollar undertype is apparent. The 859 is clearly discernible (see closeup), and most of the 1 shows except top of serif, which was struck out by the 8. Under a microscope, all obverse stars are visible (star 9 is faintest), and several of the letters in the reverse legend can be detected.

While the coin has acquired significant toning since its appearance in the Bostic auction in 1956, there are telltale marks on the reverse that confirm it is that piece. There are a couple of shallow marks between the eagle’s upper wing and the second A in AMERICA, and there is a distinctive diagonal mark below the F in OF.

This coin is enormously important. It is the “smoking gun” that proves the earliest date that all Die Alignment III 1838 dollars could have been struck.

Breen mentions this piece in his Encyclopedia (1988), but it is treated more as a curiosity than a coin that makes a definitive statement about the striking period. After the undertype was discovered by Louis Werner, the coin was subsequently sold to Art Kagin. The coin then went into an advanced collection of Gobrecht dollars assembled by the consignor, and has not been offered for auction or private treaty sale since 1969. Graded Proof-64, this coin will undoubtedly attract strong bids from Gobrecht dollar specialists and scholars.

Available as LOT 15008 in the Upcoming Boston ANA Sale

Related posts:

1. An introduction to Gobrecht Silver Dollars 1836-1837
2. Heritage Releases Most Complete New Book on Gobrecht Dollars
3. Finest Certified 1838 No Drapery Quarter, PCGS MS68 CAC to be Offered at Auction