Friday, Feb. 10, 1911
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
PUBLIC AUCTION of Rare Pattern Coins To Be Held at Kennedy's Auction Rooms B 14 West 29th Street New York City Friday, Feb. 10, 1911. Catalogued by F.D GA K H . A D A M S Nuinismalist. ^ crcr-i?u^ l/VvTfc^ MS\ftA^»XA>v»vji^M-igr" ^ H- Ou£jUArt\/}. Catalogue of Auction Sale of Rare Pattern Coins Comprising many pattern duplicates, in different metals, and of various denominations, belonging to Mr. William H. Woodin, of New York City. Among them the excess- ively rare Commercial dollar of 1875, the famous " School- jrirl" dollar of Barber of 1879, gold 1880 Barber stella in proof, six bright red copper half dollars of 1877, each of different design, "Washlady" silver dollar, "Washlady" half dollar and quarter in copper, Longacre 1872 Com mercial dollar, 1863 dollar with motto, aluminum, and m a n y o t h e r r a r i e t i e s . > = • - = Sale to be held at Kennedy's Auction Rooms 14 West 29th Street N e w Y o r k C i t y FRIDAY, FEB. 10, 1911 At 2:30 P. M. Lots to be sold will be exhibited on the date of sale from 10 A. M. to 1.30 P. Al. Catalogued'by EDGAR H. ADAMS, Numismatist, 40 Fourth Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. cl. 1346 Main. CONDITIONS OF SALE. teems—Cash, on delivery. The lots will be sold at so imicli per piece. A deposit of 25 per cent, must accomi)aiiy all bids, luiiess the bidder is known to tlie cataloguer. Non-attending bidders may send their bids to the catalog uer 'ind same will be executed at tlie usual rate of 5 i)er cent, for items purchased. Everv item is guaranteed to be genuine, unless otherwise siJecitied. A printed list of prices brought will be supplied after the sale for 50 cents. Plate catalogues, nine plates, $2.00. Same, with printed list of prices, $2.25. FOREWORD In my first sale at auction I am able to offer as a distin guishing feature a large number of United States pattern pieces, the duplicates of the well-known collector of patterns, Mr. Wil liam H. Woodin, of New York City Now that the Government by its recent action in restoring to Mr. John W. Haseltine the lot of patterns taken from him last year has established a clear title to pattern loieces, collectors may acquire such coins without the misgivings and uncertainty that formerly attended such purchases. Among the duplicates of Mr. Woodin there are many rare and interesting specimens that will grace any cabinet. Nearly all of these pieces are in proof condition. It is indeed seldom that a pattern piece is found in other than proof condition, which makes the pattern s e i ' i e s s o a t t r a c t i v e t o c o l l e c t o r s . There is no better time to buy patterns than right now, for their interesting character and the extremely limited number in existence—the commonest of which are usually scarcer than many high-priced coins of regular issue—will make them highly desirable, and prices must soon be forced by competition to a high plane. It is not unreasonable to predict that patterns will advance in value at least 100 per cent, within the ensuing year. It is scarcely necessary to bring to the attention of collec tors the interesting nature of a re])reseutative series of the pat tern coins that have l)een issued at the United States Mint since 1792 up to 1888, when their sale was prohibited at the mint. These coins embrace many projects of coinage and numerous de signs, some extremely artistic and beautiful, the work of nearly every one of the engravers who have been employed at the par ent mint, principally William Kneass, James B. Longacre, Wil liam Barber, Anthony C. Paquet, Charles E. Barber, and George T. Morgan. No collection of United States coins can be regarded as at all reiDresentative that does not contain at least a number of the pattern coins of the most striking and original design. To the collector of the regular series there are several reasons why he should have a few pattern pieces, for these in many instances represent the first use of the design or inscription or motto that afterward was embraced on the regular coin issued for ciroula- tion Tins IS tiue of the wpper half dollar, dated 1877, No. 163, which shows the desigu of the Morgan standard dollar both ob- verse and reverse, one year before its adoption, and on a coin of different denomination^ Again, we have dollars, half dollars, and quarters dated 1863,18C4, and 1865, all with the motto "In God We Irust, having been issued as patterns several years before the adoption of the motto on coins of regular issue. Tile five-cent mckels of 1882 embrace not only an fnteresting series of desips, but on one of them is the exact obverse and rare re verse design adopted in 1883, the "nickel without cents," the most ee ebrated com ever issued at the United States Mint. In he case of the pattern metric double eagle we have one of the handsomest coins of the denomination ever made, and likewise attractive as being illustrative of the plan of Dr W W Hubbell to have the Government issue coins struck in an alloy of gold, silver, and copper. There are perhaps not over four specimens in either g;o]d or copper of this piece, which met the hearty approval ot the Congressional Coinage Committee, but was not adopted as the mint officials pointed out clearly that the use of the goloid metal was impracticable. Many of the jDatterns in this list were issued for a s]3ecial purpose, such as the teu-cent piece (No. 79) of large size, dated 1868. It was intended to issue ten and fifteen cent pieces of this size in base metal with which to redeem fractional paper notes. The jDlan failed of adoption and now the only record of the i)ro- ject is this large copper-nickel coin. Still another example is the 1874 Dana Bickford ten-dollar piece, No. 147, intended as a model coin for international use. A sensible plan, but which fell by the wayside, as have so many similar coinage projects. Interesting coins are not always rare or high-priced, fortu nately, and it is possible for a collector now to acquire these pieces at what in years to come will be regarded as extremely low rices, for reasonable as the coins are in price they are ex tremely limited in number, and opportunities for acquiring spec imens will not be presented very often hereafter. E. H. A. CATALOGUE. PATTERN, TRIAL, AND EXPERIMENTAL COINS. —1 1838 Half Dollar. Grobreclit's seated figure of Liberty. Rev. flj'ing eagle in plain field. Copper. Eeeded edge. Dull red proof. 2 1854 Cent. Liberty head. Rev. "One Cent" in wreath. Copper. Fine. 3 1855 Cent. Flying eagle. Reverse "One Cent" in wreath. Composition. Fine. 4 1855 Cent. Same as No. 3, biit in pure nickel. Weakly struck. 5 1859 Double Eagle. Ob. Paquet's seated figure of Liberty. Rev. similar to adopted type of the year, the work of Long- acre. Copper. Dull red proof. .6 1859 Half Dollar. Ob. Longacre's bust of Liberty to right. 3 R e v. " 5 0 C e n t s " i n w r e a t h . S i l v e r. P r o o f . X ,.-7 1859 Half Dollar. Same as foregoing. Proof, somewhat " V v t a r n i s l i e d . S i l v e r . V 8 1859 Half Dollar. Same as foregoing. Copper. Dull proof. ^-^9 1859 Half Dollar. Same ob. as foregoing. Rev. "V2 Dol- 'VM lar" within wreath. Silver. Bright proof. —'10 1859 Half Dollar. Same as foregoing. Copper. Dull red \\ b proof. 11 1859 Half Dollar. Same as last. Dull proof. - 12 1859 Half Dollar. Same ob. as foregoing, with Longacre liead. Rev. "Plalf Dollar" within wreath. Silver. Bright proof. , —13 1851 Half Dollar. Same as foregoing. Copper. Dull proof. - 14 1859 Half Dollar. Same as last. Copper. Dull proof. ^15 1859 Half Dollar. Longacre obverse. Rev. eagle with rib- ^ bon in beak and long arrows in talon. Silver. About uncir culated. 16 1859 Ilalf Dollar. Paquet's seated figure of Liberty. Rev. eagle with perfect ribbon in beak. Silver. Bright proof. 1859 Half Dollar. Same as foregoing. Copper. Dull red C'' proof. ,8 PATTERN, TRIAL AND EXPERIMENTAL COINS —18 1859 Half Dollar. Same as last. Copper. Dull red proof. —19 1859 Half Dollar. Mule. Paquet's reverse of 1859, with im- perfect ribbon in eagle's beak, muled with the obverse of one of the 1838 half dollars, with Liberty head to left "1838" below bust. Copper. Reeded edge. Weakly struck! Some red. I _20 1861 Half Eagle. Ob. William Barber's handsome design of H Liberty head to left with stars on cap. Reverse small eagle with ribbon in beak. An inverted capital "A" used for a <' V " in " FIVE DOLLARS.'' Copper. Dull red proof. ^21 1861 Half Dollar. Same as regular dies of the year, but with the motto "God Our Trust" on scroll over eagle on reverse. (The first use on a United States coin of any form of the motto "In God We Trust." Copper.