The E-Gobrecht

Volume 1, Number 1, January 2005

This is an electronic publication of the Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC). The LSCC is a non-profit organization dedicated to the attributions of the Liberty Seated Coin series. Information contained in this email newsletter is provided by the LSCC from various sources as a general service to the membership and others with this numismatic interest. All disclaimers are in effect as all the information cannot herein be fully verified for completeness, accuracy, and/or correctness.

Information, input, comments, or suggestions for improvements to this E-Gobrecht are actively solicited from anyone and may be sent to wb8cpy@arrl.net or by writing or calling:

Bill Bugert

Editor, E-Gobrecht

P.O. Box 3761

Gettysburg, PA 17325-6927

(717) 337-0229

Features in this issue

==> Welcome to the Inaugural issue of the E-Gobrecht.

==> Harry Bass Jr. Pattern Seated Dollars on display at the ANA.

==> 1861-O “Proof” Half Dollar on display at the New Orleans Mint.

==> Brian Greer’s feedback on the FUN bourse.

==> Major study of 1861-O half dollars coming.

==> Randy Wiley visits the Odyssey Group.

Details

==> Welcome to the E-Gobrecht!! Thanks to the excellent suggestion of Michael Fey at the 2004 ANA annual LSCC meeting in Pittsburgh, and efforts of other members of the LSCC, the LSCC’s email newsletter is now a reality. This is your inaugural issue! The LSCC officers solicit your support to make it an informative and relative publication. That support can be any information related to Liberty Seated coinage and the LSCC such as preliminary announcements of newly discovered varieties, upcoming Liberty Seated coinage auctions and/or results, availability of Liberty Seated coins at coin shows, interesting activities at coin shows, LSCC member happenings, links to other numismatic internet websites, neat cherry picks, upcoming meetings or gatherings of club members, counterfeits seen or found, numismatic experiences or stories, and the like. This E-Gobrecht will not take the place of The Gobrecht Journal, the award winning club publication, but will supplement it. To protect everyone’s privacy, subscriber email addresses will remain private and the E-Gobrecht editor will not release any names or email addresses. The E-Gobrecht will be emailed to an undisclosed address listing so that no one, except the editor, will know who is on the distribution. The success of this email newsletter depends on the input from you, the LSCC membership. Please take a few moments every month or as often as you can and send a few words on your experiences to the E-Gobrecht editor.

==> For those of you traveling to the ANA Headquarters in Colorado Springs, CO, the Money Museum has portions of the Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection of Christian Gobrecht Dollars on semi-permanent display. The late Harry W. Bass, Jr., a Dallas businessmen, scholar, and collector, spent many years accumulating a massive collection many of us can only dream of attaining. Some of the display includes the rare 1836, 1838, and 1839 flying eagle reverse dollars. Off metal and Trade dollar patterns are also displayed. More information can be found at http://www.money.org/musexhibits.html.

==> According to the October 11, 2004 issue of Coin World, a Proof 1861-O half dollar is on display for the next three years at the Louisiana State Museum, formerly the New Orleans Branch Mint. For those of you traveling to New Orleans, you may want to stop by and view it. The Museum is located at 400 Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70116. Their telephone number is (504) 568-6968. This coin, the property of Robert LeNeve, a collector from Boynton Beach, FL, was bought at auction in 2002 for $17,250. More information on the old New Orleans Mint building and history can be found at http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/site/calendar.htm#exhibits. This web site also includes a link to a downloadable pamphlet on the history of the New Orleans Mint.

==> Brian Greer, noted Liberty Seated coin dealer, collector, author, and scholar, provides us with this feedback on the FUN: “While scarce dated Liberty Seated coins were in short supply at the show, just about any date could be found for the collector willing to pay strong retail prices. Nice inventories by a couple of dealers assured availability. For the collector seeking a bargain or a dealer looking for resale, the going was tough but coins could be found with hard work. Pricing is another question. Many non specialists are asking well above traditional wholesale levels assuming all seated coins are bringing a premium. These dealers usually lack knowledge of the series and do not know which dates bring strong prices and which do not. Pricing truly scarce dates is difficult now. What is a 71-CC 25c worth in fine? No one really knows right now as auction prices are SOMETIMES off the charts, sometimes not. I saw an 1874-CC 50C correctly graded PCGS VF35 on the floor priced at $4950. That is above XF retail. Since the coin did not sell, the price does not really mean anything. At what price would it sell?”

==> Randy Wiley, noted half dollar scholar, is currently finalizing a major study of 1861-O half dollar die marriages. His abbreviated study is currently planned to be published in the June 2005 issue of the Gobrecht Journal. Randy describes, in detail, the die marriages known for that date and the die linkages to show what die marriages were struck by the U.S. Government, the State of Louisiana, and the Confederate States of America. Look for it soon. I am trying to talk Randy into distributing full versions of his study after the article is published.

==> In January, the Odyssey Marine Exploration and NGC asked Randy Wiley to travel to the NGC to attribute their recovered 1861-O half dollars. For those you who don't follow the news, the S.S. Republic, a steam powered paddleboat, sank on October 25, 1865 near Savannah, GA while enroute to New Orleans, LA. Its cargo included gold and silver coin shipments. Odyssey Marine Exploration recovered many coins from the ship which are being preserved and offered to the public. Many Liberty Seated coins were recovered among these. The results of Randy's visit are confidential but, hopefully, details will be released later. For information on this shipwreck, go to http://www.shipwreck.com.

Miscellaneous

If you were fortunate, you had the chance to meet and know Harry X. Boosel. Among other things, Harry was known as “Mr. 1873” because of his love for all coins of that date. When asked why he chose that date, he replied “…no other year in United States coinage offers what 1873 does.” With all the open and closed 3’s, arrows and no arrows, three mints, gold, silver, and aluminum patterns, it is almost a type year in itself. His passion led to the discovery of the open and closed 3 rarities and a lifetime search for varieties of that date. Sadly, he is no longer with us but his zeal for collecting can be a model for a lot of us. Pick something that interests you; a certain date, varieties of a date, die states of a variety, a certain type. You will learn and you and others will benefit from your newfound zeal.

Have you ever done a search on the internet for the “New Orleans Mint?” In case you haven’t, the last time I tried it, my search yielded 125,792 hits of which many are fascinating. There are even interesting downloadable documents! Try it some time with your web browser.

Proof versus Proof-like. One of the questions we, Liberty Seated numismatists, often trouble over is whether a coin is a proof or a proof-like business strike. The major grading service professionals struggle with this too as I have seen and owned coins encapsulated as proofs that were actually proof-like business strikes. This topic actually merits a major study and essay outside the scope of this newsletter. For those of you who may be interested in a good starting reference, Walter Breen discusses this in the overview of his excellent reference Encyclopedia of United States and Colonial Proof Coins 1722-1977. Die diagnostics for many proofs are well know and often are the key feature in determining whether a coin is proof or proof-like. For example, a raised lump on the upper serif of the 7 in the date readily identifies the 1873 No Arrows Closed 3 Proof half dollar obverse die. Business strikes are not now known on this diagnostic. Check your collections and you will find similar characteristics.

Bill Bugert attended the Frederick, MD coin show on January 21, 2005. This is a very small, quarterly local show with about 20 dealer tables; here are my impressions as to the availability of Liberty Seated coinage. All series were represented with half dimes, quarters, dimes, half dollars, and dollars available, most to least. I was very surprised that few Trade Dollars were on display and of those few, most were cleaned. Common dates for all series were prevalent and I saw very few scarce dates and no rare dates. I saw most of these coins at previous shows by the same dealers and most of the coins had problems; cleaned, damaged, etc. Very few original coins were available and they were, in my opinion, pricey and above CoinWorld COINValues. Some encapsulated coins were displayed but, they were common dates.

1885 Trade Dollar. A new Trade Dollar auction record was set on November 29, 2004 at a David Lawrence Rare Coin auction in Baltimore. The Richmond Collection’s NGC Proof-62 1885 Trade Dollar sold for $1,006,250. This coin has great provenance such as King Farouk and the Norweb family. Kevin Lipton of Beverly Hills, CA was the successful bidder representing a southern California numismatic trader. Congratulations to DLRC and to the new owner!

1866 No Motto Dollar. On January 10^th, in conjunction with the Florida United Numismatists convention in Fort Lauderdale, the American Numismatic Rarities auctioned off the Texas example of the 1866 No Motto dollar for $1,207,500 including 15% buyer’ fee. The anonymous winner is touted to be a collector since childhood whose wealth is self made. Congratulations to the winner and the seller!

Thanks to Len Augsburger for alerting me to a great biographic sketch of Christian Gobrecht. The December 1911 issue of The Numismatist has an excellent three page summary of his early years and major activities as an engraver, focusing on his medals. It is very interesting reading.

The June 1965 issue of Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine has an excellent article by R. W. Julian entitled “Philadelphia Coinage Statistics: 1853-1873 The Quarter Dollar.” In this article, the author lists the daily statistics of the mintages of quarter dollars during those years. For you quarter dollar researchers, this article may be of interest.

The January 1968 issue of Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine has an excellent article by Raymond R. Reinoehl entitled “the United States Trade Dollar Types and Varieties.” Excellent photos and a long article with detailed information are included. Check it out!

Calendar

Deadline*: article submission for the next Gobrecht Journal - February 2

Deadline*: add submission for the next Gobrecht Journal - February 11

Richmond Collection auction of Seated coins (DLRC) - March 7

Deadline**: reporting your collection for the half dime census - March 15

ANA National Money Show, St. Louis, MO - April 8-10

ANA Summer Seminar: Colorado Springs, CO - June 25, July 1, July 2-8

ANA Convention: San Francisco, CA (new location) - July 27-31

* = Submissions are due to John McCloskey.

** = Submissions are due per instructions on the survey sheet.

Information on the Liberty Seated Collectors Club

The LSCC Pledge. To encourage, promote, and dispense numismatic knowledge of the Liberty Seated coins; to cultivate fraternal relations among its members and all those interested in the science of numismatics.

LSCC Officers.

President: John McCloskey

Vice President: Larry Briggs

Secretary/Treasurer: Mark Sheldon

LSCC Membership Information. Dues are $15 per year and include three issues of the Gobrecht Journal, an award winning numismatic publication. To join the Liberty Seated Collectors Club, for Gobrecht Journal mailing address changes, or for other membership questions, correspond with the LSCC Secretary:

Mark Sheldon

Secretary, LSCC

P.O. Box 261

Wellington, OH 44090

Articles, comments, or advertisements for publication in the Gobrecht Journal may be addressed to the LSCC President:

John W. McCloskey

President, LSCC, and Editor, Gobrecht Journal

Email address: John.McCloskey@notes.udayton.edu