Rare silver dollar found!

[Wihlborg]

I just read about this on Yahoo news and thought it would be of interest to the board. Rare 1866 Silver Dollar Is Found

 

John

[Bruceswar]

I think my uncle had a 1804 Silver dollar that I saw at a Museum.. I want in back... No really I never knew about the 67 robbery... I still the man should have got a finders fee... or something

[BOILER78]

I have a problem with them calling it "Americas rarest silver dollar" It is a fantasy piece created at the mint by the "midnight minters" probably to place with a mint official or well connected collector of the time. It really shouldn't be considered a coin and it isn't a pattern. Does anyone here really think this coin would bring more at auction than the Carter 1794 dollar or the Childs 1804 dollar?

[Tradedollarnut]

Technically, allowing the midnight minter's work, the class II 1804 dollar would be the rarest.

 

I do agree that it's really not a pattern - rather a novodel of a design that was modified at the end of 1865.

 

However, I don't believe this coin was the work of the midnight minters. The mint freely struck fantasy pieces and even previous year's proofs during this era. My original thought was rather dismissive of these coins, but I find my attitude changing just a bit. I don't see how, other than the tiny design change, the minting of these few coins for sale to connected individuals was any different than the striking of 1851-53 proof dollars during the same era. Yet those proof novodels are routinely collected as part of the series.

[truthteller]

Didn't a Dupont seated half dollar show up in a coin shop in Beverly Hills, maybe 4 or 5 years ago? I remember reading about it. Anyone got the story?

 

 

 

TRUTH

[BOILER78]

TDN- If this "coin" was struck in 1866 (who knows) could it still be technically called a novodel which is by definition a back dated piece struck from new dies? If it is not a novodel and it is not a pattern then it has to be a fantasy piece.

[Tradedollarnut]

Sunnywood said they were struck in 1867/68, which I have no reason to doubt. I believe it was struck at the same time as the 1851-53 proofs [did he say they share the same reverse?]. The proofs were struck due to demand from collectors for specimens.

 

The circumstances of striking seem very similar, the only difference is that the 1866 coins were struck from the discontinued design. Yet one is accepted and the other derided - why?

 

Like I said, I'm warming up to them a bit. I guess that I'd still classify them the same as the 1863-65 with motto restrike patterns, tho.

[Tradedollarnut]

Lots of good info here:

 

Thread

[GDJMSP]

Harold Gray, a Palm Beach, Fla., attorney for Willis du Pont, said the coin will go to the American Numismatic Association museum in Colorado Springs, Colo., after it is authenticated.

 

There, it will join the 1866 ``No Motto'' quarter and 50-cent piece - only one of each was minted - that were also stolen in the 1967 robbery and later recovered.

[BOILER78]

Ex. Farouk IMO a bigger mystery is how this coin escaped the polishing cloth?

[DWLange]

Farouk's staff cleaned only his copper coins. The silver and gold pieces were left alone.

[BOILER78]

David- Thats interesting information. I collect 1877 pattern half dollars and I just assumed that Farouk cleaned his silver coins as well as the copper because it seems like every Ex. Farouk 1877 pattern half in silver has been cleaned and/or lacquered. Maybe its just a coincidence?

 

I was under the impression that he cleaned almost everything but the gold?

 

Where can I find more information on this?

 

Thanks,

Mark

[Tradedollarnut]

At one point I owned the Farouk/Norweb 1884 and viewed its sister 1885. Both coins had been cleaned - I presumed by Farouk.

[Conder101]

I wouldn't put a lot of the blame for the cleaning on Farouk. At the time of his ouster it turned out a a very large amount of his coins were still in the packages from the dealers. They had never even been unpacked. Most of the cleaning was probably done AFTER the King fled by the egyptians unparking the coins and "getting them ready for the auction". If you read firsthand accounts of the sale it quickly becomes clear that the Egyptians working the sale had no idea how to handle coins.