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Sale 69
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Lot 1863
1883 Hawaiian Quarter Dollar. PCGS graded Proof 66 Red & Brown CAC Approved. In a new secure plus holder. Pop 1; none finer at PCGS. The finest known example. Only 18 struck. Ex Dagget and our September 2009 sale. A blazing red and brown gem of the finest order with extensive red to fire-gold hues on both surfaces. The brilliant orange centers give way ever so grudgingly to deepening shades of red near the rims and include a subtlety of lilac-rose. Soft-edged devices and lettering throughout the centers are never, ever found on Proof Patterns on this issue. All are needle-sharp and keen-edged, as seen here; with production so low, it might take decades to find another example this spectacular -- if it even exists! (We doubt it exists. All things point to this specimen being the Finest Known. Certainly it is the highest graded.) Identifiers include two tiny toning dots on the obverse, once in the field below the neck truncation, the other in the hair directly above the top of the ear. What seems a miracle to us is that our consignor even found it since coins of this caliber, of this stature, tend to be locked away in famous "name" collections and passed down from father to son, rarely to see the light of day. Act boldly with your bids! (PCGS #509652)
Please excuse us if we take a short detour down memory lane to append this (admittedly lengthy) discussion of the origin of this remarkable twosome (with the 1883 Pattern half dollar) of ex Dagget Hawaiian copper Patterns. The first owner, a Mr. John Daggett, one-time superintendent of the San Francisco Mint, is also the man responsible for having had struck the 24 1894-S Barber dimes! According to Coinfacts.com's website: "In 1972, coin journalist James Johnson, attempted a complete accounting of the 1894-S story. After the article ran in Coin World Collector's Clearinghouse (9/13/72), he received a letter from Guy Chapman of California. Chapman wrote that he had been shown two of the dimes in 1954 by California dealer Earl Parker, just after Parker had acquired them from Hallie Daggett, daughter of the San Francisco Mint superintendent John Daggett. Ms. Daggett told Parker that her father had minted 24 S-mint 1894 dimes as a special request for some visiting bankers. According to her account, Daggett struck the 24 pieces and presented three coins each to seven people. The remaining three, he gave to Hallie, telling her to "put them away until she was as old as he was, at which time she would be able to sell them for a good price." (Breen) As the story goes, Hallie immediately proceeded to spend one of the dimes on ice cream, but kept the other two until she sold them to Parker."
"Today, most experts accept the "made for banker friends" theory as the more likely one. Further evidence is in the fact that all seven of the remaining high grade coins seem to be proof strikes, made from specially-prepared dies and were carefully struck. It's quite unlikely that such care would be taken simply to "round out the books," but the process is logical for such purposes as presentation to bankers."
How does a story about the 1894-S dimes relate to the top-graded Hawaiian copper Proofs we are offering in this sale? A set of four Hawaiian Patterns in copper originated from the same source, San Francisco Mint superintendent John Daggett (1893-97); later, to his daughter Hallie Daggett, the girl who bought ice cream with an 1894-S dime! (to the coin dealer Earle Parker, from whom Hawaiiana specialist Gordon Medcalf, purchased it in 1961). At some unknown time, Gordon Medcalf sold the set to another Hawaiian specialist and collector Ronald Russell (who co-authored the standard guide to Hawaiian coins with Gordon's son, Don Medcalf). It later was acquired intact and sold in September, 2009, by our firm as individual lots.
Estimated Value $30,000 - 35,000.
The Forsythe Collection. Ex: John Daggett (Superintendent, San Francisco Mint 1893-97) as part of a complete 4-piece copper Pattern set; Hallie Daggett (John Daggett's daughter); Earl Parker; sold to Gordon Medcalf, 1961; Sold to Al Ostheimer; Superior Auction Feb 1975 Lot 1540;Ronald Russell;; Ira & Larry Goldberg Auctioneers 9/2009.
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| Realized $42,550 |
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