Most desirable United States coin?

Number 7 in

 

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Number 2 in

 

I looked at that book in the ANA money museam gift shop(whats a north carolinian doin there?) and I don't agree with it much.

 

The order is certainly subjective, but I didn't disagree much with the overall inclusions.

 

The 1794 SP-66 is a magnificent coin in hand, but it really goes far beyond numismatics. It is widely accepted as being the first dollar ever struck by the United States. Remember that all 1794 dollars were struck using a single pair of dies, the sharpness of detail and remarkable execution of the piece surely hints at the belief that this coin was in the hands of our founding fathers. Although a full four years removed from the coinage act, the first dollar stuck in the new world is a truly historical piece.

 

I would rate "The coin" in EAC circles, the SP66 Chain Ameri cent, as being even more important.

The hard thing about all of these things is they all don't come up for sale at the same time, so there is no way of comparing. Even knowing about the 1794 dollar, the Ameri cent, Strawberry leaves, etc, I still would wager, if all were sold on the same day, the finest 1804, Brasher Dabloon, or 1933 double eagle would bring the highest prices.

Just my opinion. I certainly would not value them that way, (I find the 1804 to be not as desirable being a restrike, the BD not really a US coin, and the 1933 of dubious legality), but those would be my guesses.

Myself? I would choose the 66 Ameri cent as the one US coin I would want above all others, ignoring value. It has an extremely strong case for being THE first US coin struck for commerce.

 

My personal favorite (although a pattern) is the 1792 SP-67 half disme featured in my thread http://www.cointalk.com/t210931/ It is likely the first coin ever struck by US dies.

 

EEEEK!

Read more: http://www.cointalk.com/t46827-3/#ixzz24QySDB3N

 

Maybe the SP-66 does look better in hand but from photos it is not that attractive. And while I would agree that it is certainly one of the first ones struck (It is from the earliest known die stage and is the ONLY piece known from that die stage) I still do not believe it was the first one struck. The striking of the first silver coin and the first dollar size coin would have been of extreme prestige and importance. You would want that coin to be something truly special as the apparently polished die surfaces of the SP-66 coin shows. But tell me for that very important coin would you chose a non adjusted proper weight planchet that was as nice as you could find among the planchets you had on hand? Or would you use one that was underweight , had had a hole punched in it, a plug inserted, and then scraped across the faces with a coarse file to bring it back down to legal weight? Legal weight unadjusted planchets were on hand, there are higher grade pieces still in existence that don't have adjustment marks, so why use a seriously defective planchet for the highly important first coin?

I don't think they did. I think they used a good planchet for the first coin and the SP-66 piece was one of the next few before the polish on the die surfaces faded and the first crack appeared. The real question is what happened to that first coin? It would not surprise me if it is still in the hands of one of the Rittenhouse descendants who doesn't know it's significance. (ALL of the 1794 dollars belonged to Director Rittenhouse. He had provided the silver for the coinage and under the law all the coins had to be turned over to him as the depositor.) Or not knowing its importance it may have been spent after Rittenhouse's death and become one of the roughly 1,600 pieces that disappear to circulation and the melting pot over the years.

 

I actually very much agree with you on that. It doesn't seem logical to use a silver plugged planchet for such a significant piece, but it is obviously a presentation piece. Its original intent is debatable, but it had to see some remarkable hands. I argued similar points with Steve Contursi when he owned it a while back. He was having none of it and I really didn't want to anger him. At the time, he just sent his helper to get the King of Siam proof set and the center EB counter stamped Brasher doubloon. I was afraid that he was going to kick me out of his office before I had the opportunity to see those if I kept going on about it. Before seeing it, I was unaware of the planchet flaws.

 

Just speculating on the First actual Dollar struck. I can imagine that it would have been presented to George Washington as President. Then, because of the debt he was in due to his service to the nation, being used to pay off a debt. There it would have circulated in commerce until worn out, having also served the nation in it's own way.

A romantic notion perhaps, but I have a special place in my heart for the coins which circulated and functioned in the capacity for which it was intended.

 

I would have to say either a nice proof cameo Morgan or a toned, high grade FH 1916 SLQ

 

For me it is the 1868 Large Cent, really a pattern created only for collectors. I was fascinated with that coin immediately when I was about 12 and read about it in a coin mag. A few years ago I found one.

 

I also have that book "100 Greatest US Coins" and I recall an early 1800s coin mentioned in there (I don't remember the specific coin - d'oh!) that was very rare even around 1900 when this story took place, and some wealthy businessman like Astor or Vanderbilt got into a bidding war with another coin collector when one finally came up for sale. Astor (if it was him) finally relented, saying that he wasn't going to pay over X amount for it, and that he would wait for the next one to surface. The problem was, another never surfaced in his lifetime, and it was always a big regret for him that he didn't pursue the one that got away, since he was a big coin collecter. It was an interesting story to go along with an interesting coin.