Featured Presidential Provenance: Unbroken Chain of Ownership

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by DrDarryl, May 2, 2018.

  1. DrDarryl

    DrDarryl Well-Known Member

    A new type of U.S. Mint® collecting that I have been pursuing specimens with a primary emphasis on ownership/gifted by a President of the United States.

    President Johnson -to- Congressman Stephens -to- DrDarryl (the number of -to- indicates I achieved two degrees of separation from President Johnson).

    Bonus point 1 for the original White House letter signed by President Johnson.

    Bonus point 2 for the specimen identified as "...among the first Kennedy half dollars...".

    Bonus point 3 for the March 24, 1964 date (it's the first day of issue of the John F. Kennedy half dollar).

    Johnson_Kennedy.jpg

    Bonus point 4 for original White House envelop.

    lbj1.jpg

    Bonus point 5 for obtaining a letter of provenance from the estate of the original recipient (redacted for privacy).
    lop.jpg

    Bonus point 6 for finding another example gifted to Senator Medcalf.

    jfk_senator.jpg
    To be continued ... (ownership/gifted specimens from John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon, and Dwight D. Eisenhower)
     
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  3. Morpheus

    Morpheus Active Member

    That is pretty awesome.
     
  4. CoinBlazer

    CoinBlazer Numismatic Enthusiast

    Dang, I think the papers and letters are coolers than the coin!!!
     
    mlov43 likes this.
  5. Numismat

    Numismat World coin enthusiast

    A first/early strike designation that is actually historically cool, very nice :)
     
    jwitten and -jeffB like this.
  6. jwitten

    jwitten Well-Known Member

    Very cool! If there was ever a time to use a first strike or first day of issue, this is it!
     
    Numismat likes this.
  7. JayF

    JayF Active Member

    This can't be from eBay hehe. WELL DONE, this is quite impressive! Thanks for sharing.
     
  8. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    That is a sweet find. From a historical perspective it is a great collectable, and I'm sure from a financial standpoint the provenance adds big value. The only way it could have gotten any better is if you had a coin with the accompanying letter from one of the better known and popular presidents of the 20th century, like an FDR, or a JFK, or even Reagan. But hey, LBJ is not a bad signature to have...probably a lot more collectable than a Harding or a Coolidge, or Taft (you know, one of those presidents hardly anyone knows).
     
  9. Paddy54

    Paddy54 Well-Known Member

    That is awesome!!!
    My dad worked for the Federal Reserve for 47 years.
    The day before the Kennedy half was released to the public he came home with a roll of them.
    In those days the armor cars as they were called delivered bags of mint coins to the Federal Reserve and branch banks , they were rolled at the branch banks to be shipped to the commercial banks.
    I recall several visits to the old Federal Reserve bank in Baltimore.
    The front doors were huge bronze doors you walked in and to the left was a clock around 10 feet off the floor . The clock was a focal point for the gun turret that was right over the clock. With a clear view of the floor below.
    Next there were cages. Tellers were locked in them they had several functions.
    Gold scales,rolling machines.
    Out back was an alley leading up to the loading dock. When a shippment arrived the armoured car/truck would be met by guards with Thomson machine guns.
    The door would be opened and the truck pulled right in and door closed.
    The truck pulled in not backed in as there was a turn table....that turned the truck around to be unloaded. This was done for security so no time was lost turning the truck to back up to the loading dock.
    The bags were placed on heavy dollies.pushed into the cages were mostly women rolled and packed the coinage.
    The vault was down in the basement....and the floor actually lowered to open and close the door. Inside were several rooms that housed bricks of money. Banded together with a steel strap and plywood on the ends. The front end showing the money run of notes.
    As a kid I actually got to sit on a skid of $100,000.00 notes! Who's on a 100 k note?
    And if you had a million dollars could you get 10 of them ? :)
    Money was also destroyed there.... cut and burned.
    I do remember the nignt dad came home with the newly released Kennedy halfs! I still have 5 .
    He actually had two rolls as he was gifting them to my cousins and other family members....one also was given to Sister Helen my 4th grade teacher.
    I have no paper work...to prove anything...but a memory of a 10 year old collector with a bright new half dollar. The night before the banks around Baltimore had them!
    Sorry for hijacking the thread , just a flash back to 54 years ago.... A very cool piece of numismatic history!
     
    Evan8, Beefer518 and NLL like this.
  10. NLL

    NLL Well-Known Member

    Wow! That sounds awesome!
     
  11. Beefer518

    Beefer518 Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]

    (j/k)
     
  12. Paddy54

    Paddy54 Well-Known Member

    I can post a picture of five 64 halfs....but again no providence other than my childhood memories. And my father worked at the bank 47 years untill 1974 .
     
    ilmcoins likes this.
  13. C-B-D

    C-B-D Well-Known Member

    It would be amazing to have the roll still in tact. But cool memory for sure .
     
  14. DrDarryl

    DrDarryl Well-Known Member

    The Dwight D. Eisenhower Appreciation Medal - "Six Degrees of Separation".

    Not the movie...but a rare Presidential artifact.

    Back in 2013, I discovered, organized, formed, and named an entire U.S. Mint® series (really I did). This medal is part of this series. http://www.potus-sgm.com/

    This medal has a diameter of a half dollar and a little thicker (prevent clash marks on the blank reverse side). The engraving was performed by a jeweler in the Pentagon. The engraved text identifies Eisenhower's Summer White House (Newport, Rhode Island) in 1958.

    The provenance was traceable and documented with the help of "owner 1".

    Provenance in images.
    allen1.jpg allen2.jpg

    This is the chain of ownership.
    one.jpg
    Identification of 5th and 6th degree of separation

    two.jpg
    Identification of 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st degrees of separation.
    three.jpg
    The Dwight D. Eisenhower connection.
    five.jpg
    The bill of sale from 5th degree.
    six.jpg

    To be continued ... (Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy).
     
    Rich Buck likes this.
  15. CoinBlazer

    CoinBlazer Numismatic Enthusiast

    Who is Coolidge?
    Just kidding, I'm playing along
     
    Sallent likes this.
  16. NYandW

    NYandW Makes Cents!

    Fabulous work, thank you. :)
     
  17. DMPL_dingo

    DMPL_dingo Well-Known Member

    This is so f***ing cool.
     
  18. CoinBlazer

    CoinBlazer Numismatic Enthusiast

    Be careful....replacing words or letters with astrics is still not acceptable
     
  19. Please forgive me for inquring, but I believe I understand your chain of provenance. However, just by looking a the LBJ letter at a distance in your photo, I would be concerned as to whether the Signature is actually the president's as opposed to an Autopen signature. This type of mass mailing is famous/infamous for having been handled involving Autopens. If it was me, I would proceed cautiously and apply liberal doses of caveat emptor at large.
     
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