Q. David Bowers
• 15. 1979 Susan B. Anthony dollar. The public used this coin as a whipping boy for the perceived problems swirling about the administration of President Jimmy Carter. Although any coin collector who had earned a C grade in Numismatics-101 could have said that it would be mistaken for a quarter dollar due to its similar size, and although the image of Susan B. Anthony was chosen for purely political reasons, I still like it. Perhaps it was because I was there at the creation. I visited with Chief Engraver Frank Gasparro a number of times at the Mint and at special ceremonies, and I watched the coin design as it progressed from its earliest stages. Besides, a collection of the three dates and three mintmarks of Anthony coins-nine coins totally, if you don't count minor variations-looks rather nice when displayed in a holder. No, it is not the "King of American Silver Dollars," as the 1804 has been called, and is not even in the royal court. Perhaps it is like a cat peering through a distant door to see the king, or visiting the castle only to frighten a little mouse under the royal throne. Still, it represents the era of its creation and, in my opinion, enriches the dollar series.
• 16. Trade dollar. Which one to pick? I will leave this up to the reader. I've picked 15 coins; now it is your turn. The 1873 is the first trade dollar, and perhaps it should be considered. Or, what about the 1875-S over CC, the only overmint mark in the series? How about the 1878-CC, minted briefly and in small quantity, halted by Treasury order, and the vast majority officially melted? How about a common 1877-S with a few chopmarks, illustrating that it did its duty in China? Or, how about the rare and possibly legitimate 1884, or the sneakily-made, but exceedingly rare Oust five are known) and quite desirable 1885? When I was a teenager contemplating the wide world of American numismatics, I wistfully imagined that possessing the unreachable 1884 and 1885 trade dollars would be the peak of satisfaction.
When I think of silver dollars I think of how they were actually used. While writing this book I came across a letter from Calvin Farrar, of Waterford, Maine, who was attending Bowdoin College in the same state, and whose tuition and expenses were being underwritten through the kindness of a Waterford physician, Leander Gage, M.D. A letter from Farrar to Gage, October 3, 1834, noted in part: (Copy of letter furnished to the author by the Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine)
Dear Sir-
I take the liberty to direct this letter to you, supposing it will not be unacceptable though I have nothing particularly interesting to communicate. If however you should derive as much pleasure from its perusal as I receive in writing it, I shall esteem both my time and paper well spent- I am well aware that I have been very remiss in writing to you heretofore-more so than I ought to have been-but as I cannot possibly devise any excuse that would exculpate me in your opinion, I shall not offer any apology for past neglect, but I assure you I will endeavor to do better for the future.
I spent two years in college, and I am happy to state upon a retrospection of the past I have no reason to regret that I ever entered "old Bowdoin"- It has certainly been the happiest period of my life thus far-and I trust the privileges that I have enjoyed in the interim have not been wholly abused-or the "fields of knowledge" that have surrounded me wholly unexplored- The course of study pursued here has been on the whole pleasant and interesting ....
I am compelled to ask you for a "round" sum of money and I wish to do it in as handsome and polite a manner as I am able. This round sum is no less than 75 "round silver dollars." Don't be surprised! For I will prove it out to you mathematically that I really need it which I suppose will be sufficient to insure me the sum specified-I shall prove it out to you by simple addition-you will see it as very easily done ....
The letter and money I shall be anxiously looking for-I shall expect to receive it in a week or fortnight, at most, after the reception of my letter-my love to Mrs. Gage and your children.
Respectfully yours- C. Farrar
Presumably, young Farrar received his dollars, not in paper money or by bank draft, but as requested-silver dollars. Were any of them United States silver dollars dated 1794? Or were they Mexican dollars? We will never know, but what fun it would be if we had a numismatic record of the 75 coins involved! School and dollars mentioned together reminds one of the old nursery rhyme of unknown provenance:
A dillar, a dollar,
A ten o'clock scholar,
What makes you come so soon?
You used to come at ten o'clock,
And now you come at noon.
Early dollars of the type Calvin Farrar received, assuming they were Philadelphia Mint products and not Mexican dollars, were of the general class that newspapers and a later generation of numismatists called "dollars of our daddies," the dollars of long ago, the dollars from the mists of time before the Liberty Seated series, although the term has been used by some to cover Liberty Seated silver dollars as well.