I'm sure other people here have bought from/follow M.Barr coins on eBay/Facebook, but they posted something really cool I wanted to share before heading out to the lake today. Quoting their post: "The finest known 1792 silver Half Disme, once in possession of then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and personally owned by the first United States Mint Director David Rittenhouse, has been sold for a record $1,985,000 by Classic Coin Company of Bridgewater, New Jersey. The Half Dismes were the first coins struck under the authority of the 1788 United States Constitution, and the first struck by authority of Congress under the April 1792 Mint Act." Maybe if i hit the lotto I'll have to grab it lol
Probably three-quarters of the 1792 half dismes were owned by Jefferson at some point. The latest research showed that Jefferson had $75 worth of Spanish dollars turned into 1,500 half dimes before he set out of Monticello in July 1792. The coins were made at the shop of artisan John Harper in Philadelphia under Jefferson’s supervision. He handed out part or all of them as tips on his journey to Virginia. In the fall, the first mint received the dies and made perhaps as many as 500 more. Those coins have rust spots (late date state) which can be used to distinguish them from the earlier pieces. The price of these coins has gone way up over the last 30 + years. I bought an NGC VF-30 in the early 1990s. I paid a high four figure price for it. Today it’s priced in the upper end of 5 figures. There are an estimated 300 to 325 survivors. Many of them are damaged or heavily worn. Even the not so nice ones are expensive.
Just learned another thing and happy for it! In terms of price point vs condition, it's a very similar story with the Fugio Cent (which I also want but am in no rush to get one)
This makes my mouth water..... Talk about touching real history..... But the debate still rages... Is it pronounced "deem" or "diz-me"?
About 40 years ago the finest known example of this coin came up in an auction. In those days everything was catalogs, no Internet. For a nanosecond I thought, “if I sold my whole collection, could I buy this coin? I figured that it would sell for about $100 thousand. There were no buyers’ fees in those days. As it turned out, I was right. The published price realized was about $100 thousand. Later I learned that it was good that I didn’t sell my collection. The coin actually did not sell. The consigner bought it in.
Interesting. I live in Bridgewater, NJ and have never heard of this company. They don't have a physical address listed. Just a PO. Is this just a one guy operation? I wonder what type of documentation was provided to the buyer. Address: P.O. Box 6463 Bridgewater, New Jersey, 08807 United States of America Contact: Brian Hendelson Phone: 908-725-5600 Fax: 908-725-2600
The Fugios are quite different. From my understanding they were underweight and never legally accepted to circulate as US currency. Also a large # were preserved in the Bank of NY hoard.
Are you sure there were no buyers fees in the 80's? I think my 1st attempt to buy a coin at auction was around 1982 when I attempted to buy an uncirculated Indian Head $2.50 gold (common date) out of a Stack's auction live. It went for an usually high amount, & I didn't get it.
Yep, I’m sure. The buyers’ fees started about 10 years later and grew from 10% to 15% to 20% and more.
Yes, you are correct. I still have pieces from the TNA Auction I purchased in 1981. The commission was 10%. It was advertised in the Numismatist in 1980, and is the only reason I bid, due to the TNA sponsoring it. In hindsight, it was interesting and I am glad I did bid.
The fact they were never legally accepted as currency: I did not know. But what I DO know (and meant to say) was that I've seen poor examples fetch a pretty penny, no pun intended.
The government did not give the Fugio cents recognition as money because they were perceived to be too light. The concern was they would trade as “coppers,” not cents, that is something that worth 1/100 of a dollar. The government tried to sell them a speculator, Royal Flint, who ended up unable to pay his debts. He went to debtors prison. The whole idea was to stabilize the copper coin make. The perception was the Fugio copper wouldn’t do.
I've posted on the half disme before. The evidence is in Jefferson's day book (diary) where he recorded ALL of his expenses. Prior to his departure for Monticello, his expenses were mostly in Shillings and pence or in units of 1/8 of a "Spanish" dollar or 12.5 cents (there are some transactions in other currencies as would be customary at the time). We see the silver dollars delivered to be coined: And we see his receiving the coins and starting the journey 12c would be 1/8 of a dollar. $3.81 is $3 and 13/16ths of a dollar. The first clear, recorded decimal expenditure is 30 cents as a tip for the servants at his first night's coach inn. The first recorded transaction of the new federal currency is for the slaves at the coaching inn! https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/02-02-02-0002
