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Sale 4
Lot 1408
The Unique 1851-O Silver Dollar. ANACS graded Proof 62. First auction appearance of this extraordinary rarity, essentially unknown to the collecting fraternity until 1990, when it was shown to the celebrated Walter Breen by a private collector. Breen reported the discovery in the Gobrecht Journal some years ago. We quote from his report, as it is the only source of reliable information on this coin.
Breen declared that "the 1851-O is a proof; and though genuine, it was not made where or when it claims to have been." He says the obverse on this piece is "identical to that of the 1851 Philadelphia restrike," and of the reverse he says this: "Heavy O mintmark, from the same punch as in 1859-O and similarly placed"; it was not from an 1860-O reverse, he decided, for it is "higher and slightly larger than that on 1860-O revs." Also this: "Shield does not have the same internal details as the 1858-59 proof rev. regularly used with the 1851 restrike obverse." Of the crucial O mintmark, Breen found under 20x magnification that "it shows plain evidence of having been chiseled off, carefully so as not to disturb any more of the proof surface than necessary". The coin is also very slightly underweight (at 400.3 grains or 25.94 grams, Breen said--against a standard of 412.5 grains), the cause being the filing off of the knife-rim, and perhaps a substandard planchet as well.
How was it made, and when? Breen surmises that the nephew of Adam Eckfeldt, one George J. Eckfeldt (foreman of the Engraving Department at the Philadelphia Mint into the 1860s), together with his own son, Theodore, some time in 1858 or 1859 "opened the Coiner's Vault and Engraver's Vault, retrieving the 1851 proof dollar obv. from the former and the nearest dollar reverse from the latter. Both dies had to be degreased, inspected, cleaned and polished; this was within George Eckfeldt's capacities as foreman of the Engraving Dept. The other accomplice (probably in the Coiner's Dept., as he would have to know how to set dies into a press) may have prepared the blanks, most likely foreign dollar-size coins polished down and with edges shaved off, rendering them lightweight. Unlike Mint Director Snowden, the Eckfeldt gang could not use regular silver planchets; like gold planchets, these were counted as money in inventories."
What happened next is sheer speculation, but it makes sense. Breen reasons that the "gang" spotted the O mintmark on the secret coin they had just made but had no time, for some unknown reason, to locate and prepare another reverse die, one without a mintmark. They intended to make more restrike 1851 Proofs, and perhaps they did--without the incriminating O mint letter. Breen thought they probably never had another opportunity, but who knows?
He concludes his tale as follows: "Too valuable to melt down, too dangerous to sell as is: what to do with the 1851-O dollar? The obvious expedient: remove the mintmark along with the unpleasantly sharp fin [mint terminology for the knife-rim), offer the coin as a regular proof 1851, and hope that buyers would not notice the traces of mintmark--or weigh the coin."
Breen's numismatic conclusions are usually thought of as decisive, so we have given him the final word here on this controversial and exciting rarity: "The unprecedented 1851-O silver dollar is, beyond doubt, one of the most extraordinary coin rarities of the 1850s, and one of the most important coin discoveries of the century; most likely the first and most valuable of the 1851 restrikes; certainly the only coin minted in Philadelphia with an O mintmark; the only 1851-O silver dollar, unique and likely to remain so."
What does it look like? Fairly graded as a Proof-62, we'd say, and having slightly iridescent, medium gray surfaces. The mirrors are nicely reflective and the overall appearance is that of an 1851 Restrike Proof Seated Liberty dollar. Even in the slab the "softened" knife-rim (or fin) on each rim is obvious. No marks on the reverse. The obverse is similarly clean, except for some identifying, notable marks on Miss Liberty: a chattermark (!) just below her throat right on her breastbone; a cut on her throat and another right on her chin; a small abrasion right below her left wrist (her right arm to the viewer); and another just to the left of her shoulder clasp on the other arm. Beneath the toning are some hairlines, as one would expect on a PR62.
And what of the O mintmark itself, the all-important feature of this fabulous item? It is soft but very evident, the inner and outer outlines of the O absolutely clear and undeniable. Curiously it looks as if somebody tried to scratch off what exists of it, for there are some fine hairlines right across it, but these are not heavy and the effort must have been brief. What it actually looks like is that the mintmark was partially lapped off the die it was made from; so it is possible that the "Eckfeldt minters" did indeed see the mintmark on the die they used, despite Walter's surmise, and just thought they did a good enough job. Without magnification, the mintmark is easily missed--in fact, this coin may well have passed into the collecting fraternity and traded for years as a Philadelphia Proof restrike. That would explain how it came to be in a collector's hands, after all--the man who brought it to Breen's attention in 1990. Whoever he was, he was the true discoverer of this rarest of all items--a unique, if clandestinely made, silver dollar rarity for the ages!
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| Realized $161,000 |
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