Being a massive 33.436 grams of 90% gold alloy, the United States $20 double eagle coin always commands respect. A proof coin is evidence of the minter’s finest skills. The U.S. Mint usually created fewer than a hundred proof double eagles, and only for the years 1859 to 1915. The ones not sold were melted. Therefore, proof double eagles stand unsurpassed in the history of numismatics. (Facts here are from my article “US Coinage: Proof Double Eagles,” in The Numismatist, for August 2005. This coin is as much about the collectors as it is about the coins.) Chief coiner, Franklin Peale, rejected James B. Longacre’s first double eagle dies, completed December 22, 1849, with the help of Peter F. Cross. However, according to numismatist Donald Taxay, this unique 1849 double eagle was inspected at the Smithsonian Institute by Walter Breen and was judged excellent. The coin of 1849 is considered a proof. It is also considered unique. Writing in his Encyclopedia of United Stated and Colonial Proof Coins, Breen identifies another, perhaps passed to 19th century dealers John W. Hazeltine and Stephen Nagy, by Secretary of the Treasury William M. Merideth, though it has never appeared in a public sale. The U.S. Mint officially struck, recorded, and sold the first proof double eagles in 1859. Of the 80 made, perhaps seven are known today. The story of the work by Augustus Saint Gaudens at the request of President Theodore Roosevelt is well-known. Chief engraver Charles E. Barber complained that only multiple strikes, each of 172 tons of force by a hydraulic press, could bring up the high relief of the new double eagle. Apparently at least 22 of these “exceedingly high relief” coins, receiving perhaps nine blows each, went into Barber’s personal collection, where he considered them “patterns” rather than “proofs.” That point is significant. Mint records do not reveal the existence of any proof coins from 1907. However, Breen called all 11,250 Roman numeral issues “proofs.” In addition, Breen identified other, special proofs. According to J. P. Martin of the Independent Coin Grading Service, the 12 to 15 known extremely high relief proof double eagles are readily identifiable as having been struck from dies that were different than those used for the high relief business strikes. Michael Fahey of the ANACS grading service also does not consider mere high relief coins to be proofs. Fahey points to the lack of Mint documentation when he says, “These were not intended to be proofs.” On the other hand, Numismatic Guaranty Corporation does certify high relief Saints as proofs. Whatever the case in 1907, in 1908, in order to facilitate mass production, Barber sank new dies with lower relief. The Mint recorded the production of 101 Proofs. Coins that range from $50,000 to $150,000 probably seem out of the reach of the average collector. However, it might be said that if the average collector spends $2,000 per year, perhaps as much as $500 is wasted on impulse items of doubtful merit. Interestingly, some “impaired” proof double eagles have sold for as little as $5,000. (more)
THE COLLECTORS Emanuel “Ed” Trompeter joined the navy before World War II and served as a radioman on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise. He was transferred to the seaplane tender U.S.S. Tangier where he was on station at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Before retiring, he joined the Digital Data Bus Standards Committee, which provided infrastructure for electronic combat in the first Persian Gulf War. Working with the military, Trompeter, traveled extensively and discovered numismatics. As he explained to Coin World’s Beth Deisher for a July 3, 1991, interview: “I used to get up early on Sunday morning and want something to do. I would go places and do things. I would go to stamp shows, swap meets. You name it. I did it. One day, I ended up at a coin show, and I was intrigued by the coins.” Pursing a complete set of U. S. proof gold from 1859 to 1915, Ed Trompeter attended the 1982 Eliasberg sale. Also at that auction was Harry Bass. Harry Wesley Bass, Jr.,(1927-1998) grew up in a family oil business. As an adult, he was active in local politics in Dallas, a Republican Party activist in a heavily Democrat neighborhood. Extroverted and enthusiastic, he organized the Dallas Ski Club and worked hard to develop new facilities in Vail, Colorado. He bought his first collectible coin at age 39. The following year, he attended his first auction. The Eliasberg auction was the most complete collection of U.S. gold by type and variety, but it was not a complete set of U.S. gold coins in proof – and that was exactly what Ed Trompeter and Harry Bass both were after.
