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Sale 110
Lot 901
1795. 3 leaves beneath each wing. B-7, BB-18, Rarity 3. PCGS graded MS-63. CAC. PQ. Lovely original multi-colorful toning with semi reflective surfaces. A coin that should be sent in for regrading. Only 16,029 struck. Looks like a special strike. For many years considered as the finest known for the variety. Pop 1; 1 finer in 66 for the variety.
This is a stunning example of this prized early Flowing Hair silver dollar. At first glance, the reflective fields offer the appearance of an early proof or a specimen strike, as Flowing Hair and Draped Bust Dollars rarely offer any mirror surface in the fields. Examination of the surfaces finds only a few trivial signs of contact from nearly 225 years of careful preservation. Today this coin is firmly placed in the Condition Census as one of the top six examples to survive of this particular die pairing.
Simply stated, the quality and eye appeal of this offering is stunning. When Larry Goldberg first saw the magnificent silver dollar collection of Jacque and Alfred Ostheimer in the early 1970s, this is one of two coins that stood out, the other being the incredible 1794 silver dollar from the Lord St. Oswald Collection. This coin towered above the 100s of other Flowing Hair and Draped Bust silver dollars in terms of eye appeal and overall quality. Any collector should take the time necessary to view this extraordinary example of numismatic art, for once it is sold, it may be off the market for a very long time.
In 1950 Mr. M. H. Bolender wrote a book titled "The United States Early Silver Dollars From 1794 – 1803". This became the standard reference for the Early Silver Dollars series from that time until 1993, when an updated reference on these coins was released by Bowers and Borckardt. The Bolender collection was one of the most advanced at the time it was formed in the 1930s and 40s, and the coin he chose for the 1795 B-7 (BB-18) variety was this exact specimen. Its condition was not fully appreciated at the time. Sometime prior to 1952 Bolender sold this coin to W. G. Baldenhofer, assuming he could replace it with a similar example. Bolender was mistaken, and later when his collection was sold in 1952, he lacked an example of this die marriage. Baldenhofer later sold this coin and several other Early Silver Dollars via Bolender to the Ostheimer’s who set to task and formed a collection even more advanced and complete than the Bolender Collection. Sadly, in June of 1968 the Ostheimer’s were robbed and a portion of their early silver dollars were stolen, including this coin, but thankfully they were recovered intact later in 1968. The shock of the robbery caused the Ostheimer’s to eventually sell their collection of Silver Dollars, which included a complete set of Liberty Seated dollars as well as the later Morgan and Peace style coins too.
While we are uncertain of the pedigree of this magnificent coin prior to Bolender’s ownership, it likely came out of a major collection in the 1930s or 40s. The Goldberg’s brokered most of the Ostheimer Collection coins in the late 1960s to Edwards Huntington Metcalf, the grandson of railroad baron Henry E. Huntington. Metcalf then auctioned these magnificent early dollars through three major auctions, and this coin appeared in each one finally selling to Dr. Carl B. Ermshar, Jr., in 1977, where it has remained since in his collection. This is a most important opportunity to secure one of the most splendid Flowing Hair silver dollars we’ve ever seen (PCGS # 39973) Estimate Value $50,000 - UP
Ex Bolender; Ex W. G. Baldenhofer; Ex Ostheimer; Ex Metcalf; Ex 1975 ANA Sale, Lot 779; Ex February 1977 Superior Auction Lot 466, sold for $6,250 and held by the current owner for over 40 years; Ex Dr. Carl B. Ermshar, Jr. Collection.
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| Realized $156,000 |
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