Post a coin you never meant to buy

[x2rider]

This one was a buy due to some lag in time at a heritage online auction . Lucky it wasn't a dear one

 

[BillJones]

I’ve a soft spot for gold dollars and the history of the series since I was in high school. Still I never dreamed that I would own an example of the 1836 pattern gold dollar and did not go to a major show looking to buy one. The dealer from whom I purchased this piece had shown me a three or for others graded PR-63 at previous shows. None of them had done anything for me. They had a major mark or too many hairlines and generally displayed poor eye appeal.

 

Then he showed me this one in MS-64. It was head and shoulders above the other pieces he had shown me, and price was less than 15% more than the coins I had not liked at all. I went off and thought about it for about 15 minutes and then went back and pulled the trigger.

 

Brief history: At the time that the mint was producing the Gobrecht dollars in preparation from re-introducing a U.S. made silver dollar into circulation, treasury secretary, Levi Woodbury, asked mint director, Robert Patterson, to mock up a gold dollar. Patterson hated the idea because he thought that tiny gold coins like that were something that second rate nations issued. Nevertheless he complied with his boss’ request and asked Christian Gobrecht make a set of dies and strike some coins. This was the result.

 

As expected the gold dollar was rejected, but a fair number of these pieces were made in 1836 and in latter years to satisfy collector demand. Today this is the most common pattern coin in gold with perhaps 75 of them in existence. Unlike the Gobrecht silver dollars, there is not even clue as to finding a way to tell the original coins from the restrikes. It is obvious from the Liberty Cap design that Gobrecht borrowed the motif from the Mexican coinage.

 

This is the only “real” pattern in my collection. I consider my other “pattern” pieces, the 1792 half disme and an 1836 original “Gobrecht on base” dollar to be coins that were made for general circulation.

 

[KeyMan64]

Bill, that coin is fantastic!!! Wow, great coins combined with great history is what I really like but sadly cannot afford. Nice one!

[SkyMan]

I'm not a Morgan kind of a guy. I never meant to buy any of the Battle Creek Morgan dollars. I went to the Santa Clara July 2005 coin show and went browsing amongst the boxes of the upcoming Superior auction. I saw the Battle Creek Morgans and just about fell out of my chair they were so spectacular. After seeing them I was hooked. Here is one of the 2 BC coins I bought from that auction.

 

[Walkerfan]

About 7 years ago MANY sellers had alot of Capped Bust Halves from the MOHAWK VALLEY HOARD---a cache from an upstate NY stash!

 

They were all 'hallmarked', which is a euphemism for DAMAGED. The people that stashed the loot gouged the top and/or the sides, so that they could be easily identified later thus causing surface damage making them UNGRADEABLE by a TPGS. NGC encapsulated some but they were marked as such just like 'shipwreck' coins.

 

These were gorgeous, MS or nearly MS beauties that were a part of history, though. Soooo, I had pulled the trigger on about 3 of them (an 1812, 1817 & 1819).

 

I finally sold them last year and it was difficult to find a dealer who was interested but I finally let them go for a GOOD price. They're COOL but just not for me.

 

[grip]

About 7 years ago MANY sellers had alot of Capped Bust Halves from the MOHAWK VALLEY HOARD---a cache from an upstate NY stash!

 

They were all 'hallmarked', which is a euphemism for DAMAGED. The people that stashed the loot gouged the top and/or the sides, so that they could be easily identified later thus causing surface damage making them UNGRADEABLE by a TPGS. NGC graded some but they were marked as such just like 'shipwreck' coins.

 

These were gorgeous, MS or nearly MS beauties that were a part of history, though. Soooo, I had pulled the trigger on about 3 of them (an 1812, 1817 & 1819).

 

I finally sold them last year and it was difficult to find a dealer who was interested but I finally let them go for a GOOD price. They're COOL but just not for me.

 

 

 

CW ran the story,i may have it or got thrown out when i moved.

[shirohniichan]

 

 

Cool dollar pattern! I could only afford a replica of the steam press medal.

[mkman123]

great coins everyone!