Robert Scot – 1793-1823
The first Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from its inception in 1793 until his death in 1823. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Scot was trained first as a watchmaker, then learned the art of engraving. He came to the United States in 1778; in 1781 he was asked by Governor Thomas Jefferson of Virginia to engrave medals for presentation to Indian chiefs.

In 1793, Scot was appointed engraver of the United States Mint in Philadelphia, where he cut dies for a variety of cents and half cents. He designed the 1795–1797 $10 eagle, the 1797–1804 Heraldic Eagle, the 1794–1797 half cent, and the 1800–1808 draped bust type half cent. In addition, he designed the Thomas Jefferson Indian Peace Medal.

William Kneass – 1824-1840
Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Kneass Worked as an engraver in Philadelphia from 1805 to 1840, and became the second chief engraver of the United States Mint on January 29, 1824. During his tenure, he oversaw the production of United States gold coinage (1834–1838) and circulating coinage (1836–1838). Kneass was, along with William Barber, one of only two 19th century Chief Engravers not to have designed any major circulating coinage. Kneass’s wife was Mary Turner Honeyman Kneass. Samuel Honeyman Kneass, their son, was a notable Philadelphia-based civil engineer and architect. (more…)

The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many appeals from devout persons throughout the country, urging that the United States recognize the Deity on United States coins. From Treasury Department records, it appears that the first such appeal came in a letter dated November 13, 1861. It was written to Secretary Chase by Rev. M. R. Watkinson, Minister of the Gospel from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, and read:

Dear Sir: You are about to submit your annual report to the Congress respecting the affairs of the national finances.

One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form on our coins.

You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were not shattered beyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our past that we were a heathen nation? What I propose is that instead of the goddess of liberty we shall have next inside the 13 stars a ring inscribed with the words PERPETUAL UNION; within the ring the allseeing eye, crowned with a halo; beneath this eye the American flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the number of the States united; in the folds of the bars the words GOD, LIBERTY, LAW.

This would make a beautiful coin, to which no possible citizen could object. This would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism. This would place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed. From my hearth I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters.

To you first I address a subject that must be agitated.

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Congressional Gold Medal of Honor

The first award is the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor – more commonly known as the Congressional Gold Medal – the nation’s highest and most distinguished civilian award. First awarded in 1776 to General George Washington, there have been over one hundred medals awarded. There have been two two-time winners – Major General Winfield Scott (1814, 1848) and John Horn, Jr (1874, 1904). Major General Zachary Taylor was awarded this special distinction three times: in 1846, 1847, and 1848.The medal has been awarded to individuals and groups from all walks of life.

It was originally awarded to military leaders for achievement in battle, but became a civilian medal after the Medal of Honor was instituted. The medal is presented both for singular acts of exceptional service and for lifetime achievement. Congressional legislation is required to make the medal, and needs at least two-thirds of the House of Representatives to sponsor the legislation to the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy, Technology, and Economic Growth and 67 Senators to sponsor it to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Once the legislation is past, the Congress commissions the U.S Mint to design and create the medal. This ensures that each medal is unique, representing each individual and/or event that it has been awarded for. The legislation provides for duplicate copies of the medal to be cast in bronze for sale, on occasion. (more…)

Gold has always held a special allure and fascination in peoples minds. Perhaps it is the color, weight, or the fact that over time it has come to symbolize an elemental resource for value and wealth. Whatever the reason, I wanted to see if there were any estimates as to the total amount of gold we humans have laid out hands on.

After a small bit of research on the World Gold Council website, I saw an estimate which pegged the total amount of mined gold from ancient times to the present, calculated at 158,000 tonnes.

A big number but one that is a bit hard to get your mind around. What does on tonne of gold look like. Lets do a little math.

If the estimates are correct and there has  been 158,000 tones of gold recovered from “Mother Earth” (assuming 24 K purity) then that would translate into 5,079,817,925 troy oz. of the precious metal. However unless you are Bill Gates or one of the other billionaires on the planet, I still have a hard time grasping what over 5 billion ounces of gold would look like. Back to the calculator.

If a cubic centimeter of 24K gold equals 19.3 grams, then a cubic meter of gold would weight 19.3 tonnes. Likewise all the gold ever mined would amount to 8,187 cubic meters. That still doesn’t mean anything to me.

I have to put that into perspective and visualize what that much gold would look like. So , if all the gold in the world would fit into a 20.15 meter cube, or 66 feet 1.3 inches square,  that would kind of  be the size of a small office building.  Now that I can understand.

By Doug Winter – www.raregoldcoins.com

Louis Eliasberg was a financier from Baltimore who began collecting coins in the 1940’s. In 1942, he was able to purchase the Clapp Collection. This was a collection formed by a father and son from Pittsburgh between the 1890’s and the 1930’s. It contained superb coins from famous auctions held from 1895 to 1915 as well as pieces that had been purchased directly from the United States mints at their time of issue. The Clapp Collection was very advanced for its era as it contained not only very high quality coins but also significant die varieties and types as well.

Eliasberg continued to add to the collection and by the last 1950’s it was regarded as the most complete and highest quality collection of United States coins ever formed.

After Eliasberg dies, his collection was divided among his two children. One received his gold coins and this collection was sold by Bowers and Ruddy in October 1982 as the “United States Gold Coin Collection.”

The Eliasberg gold sale consisted of 1074 lots and the final price realized was $12.4 million. The highlights of the sale were the unique 1870-S Three Dollar gold piece and the excessively rare 1822 Half Eagle, both of which realized $687,500. Other areas of strength in this sale included long runs of early coins, many rare proofs and spectacular pieces obtained directly from the Philadelphia, San Francisco, New Orleans and Denver mints from the 1890’s and 1900’s.

The remainder of the Eliasberg collection was sold by Bowers and Merena (the successor firm to Bowers and Ruddy) in two sales. The first of these was held in May 1996 and it contained colonials, patterns, copper coinage, nickel coinage and silver coinage from half dimes through dimes. The sale consisted of 1348 lots and it realized $11,598,000. Highlights included a Gem Proof 1913 Liberty Nickel which sold for a record $1,485,000 and the unique 1873-CC No Arrows Dime that brought $550,000.

The final Eliasberg sale was held by Bowers and Merena in April 1997. It contained silver coinage from twenty cent pieces through silver dollars and miscellaneous items from the collection. The sale consisted of nearly 2,000 lots and it realized $20.9 million. Highlights included a Proof 1804 dollar that brought a record $1,815,000 and a Gem Proof 1885 Trade Dollar that sold for $907,500.

The Eliasberg collection is the finest group of United States coins ever sold at auction. This is considered the most desirable pedigree for any coin to have, as it is a virtual guarantee that a coin is choice, original and appealing.

By Doug Winter – www.raregoldcoins.com

As with many of the great collections, the Norweb Collection was formed through a number of generations. The collection was begun by Liberty Emery Holden, the owner of the Cleveland Plain Dealer in the 1890’s. His son, Albert Holden, was an ardent numismatist who added a number of important coins to the collection between the late 1890’s and his death in 1913. His daughter Emery May Holden Norweb (or “Mrs. Norweb” as she became known to the collecting fraternity) and her husband R. Henry Norweb Sr. were well-known collectors who were very active from the 1930’s to the early 1970’s; he died in 1983 and his wife passed away in 1984. Their son R. Henry Norweb Jr. and his wife are still collectors although they decided to sell the bulk of their family’s collection in 1987 and 1988.

The firm of Bowers and Merena was chosen to sell the United States coins from the Norweb Collection. The first of three sales was held in October 1987. It contained half cents, Indian and Lincoln cents, two cent and three cent pieces, half dimes, dimes, twenty cent pieces, three dollar gold pieces, California fractional gold and colonials. There were a total of 1413 lots and highlights included a Gem Proof 1829 Small Planchet half eagle that sold for $352,000 and a Gem Uncirculated 1864-S half eagle that realized $110,000.

Part II of the Norweb Collection was conducted in March 1988. This sale contained nickels, quarters, Trade dollars, gold dollars, quarter eagles, eagles and Colonials. There were 1269 lots in this sale and highlights included a Proof 1885 Trade Dollar that sold for $121,000 and a superb gem 1911-D eagle that realized $132,000.

The final Norweb sale was held in November 1988. This 1451 lot sale included large cents, half dollars, patterns, colonials, silver dollars, and double eagles. Highlights were a gem 1797 half dollar that brought $220,000, a Proof 1838-O half dollar that sold for $93,500, a 1792 Silver Center Cent that realized $143,000, an Uncirculated 1794 silver dollar which sold for $242,000, a gem 1893-S dollar which broke all records at $357,500 and the extremely rare 1861 Paquet reverse double eagle which sold for $660,000.

Overall, this 4000+ lot sale realized more than $10 million dollars. Many price records were set in all series.

The Norweb collection will long be remembered for its broad scope and superb quality. Over 95% of all United States regular issue coins were present and there were many finest known or Condition Census pieces in all series. The strongest areas included pre-1834 gold coins, early copper and silver proofs and mintmarked 19th century gold.

As with the Eliasberg collection, many of the Norweb coins were from famous auctions conducted in the early part of the 20th century. Thus, by owning a Norweb coin, it is often possible to trace its pedigree back another 50 to 75 years.

By Doug Winter – www.raregoldcoins.com

The Garrett Collection is another collection that was the result of the efforts of several generations of one family. In this case, the collection was begun by T. Harrison Garrett, an owner of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, in the 1870’s. The collection grew considerably in the 1880’s, until Garrett died in 1888. The collection was continued by his son Robert, who loaned it to Princeton University for nearly two decades at the beginning of the 20th century. The collection was acquired by Robert’s brother John in exchange for his art collection. It was added to until the death of John Work Garrett in 1939, after which it was donated to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

The first Garrett sale was conducted by the New York auction firm of Stack’s in March 1976. This sale featured long runs of original 19th century proof sets and one of the finest selections of proof gold coins ever offered.

The bulk of the Garrett collection was auctioned by Bowers and Merena from 1979 through 1981. The first sale was held in November 1979 and it contained 622 lots which realized a bit over $7 million. The unquestionable star of this sale was an example of the celebrated Brasher Doubloon that sold for a record $725,000. As this sale was held during a numismatic bull market (as were the next two parts of the sale), many price records were set.

The second Garrett sale was held during the incredibly strong market of March 1980. Consisting of just 572 lots, the prices realized for Part Two was an impressive $7.05 million. The two highest prices realized were $400,000 for an 1804 silver dollar and $500,000 for a Proof 1851 Humbert octagonal $50 “slug.”

The third Garrett sale was held in October 1980 in a market that was still extremely strong. A total of 496 lots sold for over $4 million dollars and numerous new price records were established. The highest individual prices realized for this sale included $130,000 for an Uncirculated 1795 $10 and $120,000 for a choice 1798/7 eagle.

The final Garrett sale was held in the more tranquil market of March 1981. Nonetheless, the prices realized for the 661 lots totalled over $4 million, bringing the gross prices realized for the four Bowers and Ruddy sales of this collection to over $25 million. This is the second highest price realized at auction for a single collection, exceeded only by the Eliasberg collection (which brought over $40 million).

The Garrett collection was one of the first great sets of American coins and included many extreme rarities with pedigrees back to the 1870’s and the 1880’s. This was clearly one of the greatest collections of all time and one which probably could not be duplicated today.