Q. David Bowers
B. Max Mehl's sale of the Dr. Charles W. Green Collection, April 16, 1949. This cabinet was better known for its gold coins than for its silver dollars, which were of just average quality, with one or two exceptions.
1795 EF with considerable mint lustre. $41.00.
1795 Good. $13.25.
1796 VF. $42.50.
1797 Good to VG, but initials lightly scratched on right obverse and on reverse. $12.25.
1798 Fine to VF. $30.00.
1798 Strictly VF. Only slightest touch of circulation. $21.70.
1798 Fine, short scratch on reverse. $11.00.
1799/8 Strictly Fine. $18.00.
1800 Nearly Fine. $12.75.
1800 Unc. with frosty mint surface; sharp with raised borders. Just the slight cabinet friction. $45.00.
1801 Strictly Fine to VF; bold impression. $26.50.
1802/1 EF with mint lustre. $31.00.
1802 Unc. with iridescent mint lustre. Slight cabinet friction. $110.00.
1803 VG. $11.00.
The Adolphe Menjou Collection sold by Numismatic Gallery, June 15.17, 1950. Menjou was a movie star who was interested in coins. Although his name appeared on a catalogue cover, it is believed that many of the coins were actually the property of Charles Williams, of Cincinnati. Included in the Menjou sale were the following early dollars.
1794 VF. $510.00.
1795 H-1. Faint obverse scratch, edge dent. VF and a scarce variety. $27.00.
1795 H-2. Eagle is rather weakly struck. Fine and scarce. $19.00.
1795 H-5. Fine. $25.00.
1795 H-14. Fine. $20.50.
1796 H-5. Fine. $21.00.
1797 H-1. Small dent on reverse edge. VF, sharp. $45.00.
1797 H-3. Fine. $25.00.
1798 H-2. VG. $27.00.
1798 H-3. About Fine. $16.00.
1798 Fine to VF. $16.00.
1798 VF. $15.00
1799/8 H-1. Fine-VF. $20.00.
1799 H-4. First.9 is out of place. Fine. $17.00.
1799 H-5. EF. $31.00.
1799 VF. $18.00.
1799 Fine. $23.00.
1800 Fine. $13.50.
1801 H-3. VF-EF. $27.50.
1802/1 EF. $29.00.
1802/1 VF. $15.00.
1802. About EF. $23.00.
1803 VF.
1803 VF $16.50.
1803 VF. $18.00.
The Bolender Collection of early dollars, M.H. Bolender's 183rd Sale, February 23, 1952. This sale featured Bolender's reference collection used to describe and illustrate his book on early dollars, and thus is one of the most important in the annals of the series. Nearly all of the Bolender Collection coins were acquired by K.P. Austin, of Salisbury, Maryland, who in turn later sold them with the balance of his collection to Alfred]. Ostheimer, 3rd. (Per author's conversation with Jules Reiver, December 2, 1992.) In due course, most of the Ostheimercoins were sold either in Lester Merkin's 1968 sale of the Ostheimer Collection or the 1973 Gilhousen Sale conducted by Superior.
Bolender's descriptions of the dies are omitted in the listing below, as they duplicate those in his book and the technical descriptions given later in the present volume. However, his pedigrees and interesting, chatty comments are retained, as are the references to the plates in his book. The Bolender Collection catalogue represents the most detailed published up to this date.
1794 [BB-1] VG. Lower stars on left are weak as usual. Rare. $425.00.
1795 [BB-11] B-3. Flowing Hair. Strictly VF, sharp even impressions. Plate. (Both obverse and reverse of this very coin used in book for illustrations on plate I.) Geo. M. Parsons Coll'n. $70.00.
1795 [BB-12] B-11. Flowing Hair. VF. Excessively rare variety, and the only one I have found. Haseltine's specimen was only "Good" and scratched in field, the only one he could find. A specimen listed in an important sale a few years ago as H-11 was purchased by me, but turned out to be H-2,and there was no H-11 in the sale. From the Earle sale, and later in the Schuyler Coll'n. Plate. (Reverse illustrated on plate II in the book on dollars.) $150.00.
1795 [BB-13] B.9. EF, even impressions. Frosty surface around head. Very rare variety. From the Parsons sale by H. Chapman 1914. Plate. (Reverse used for illustration in my book.) $90.00.
1795 [BB-13] B-9a. VF. Very rare. From Col. Green Collection, later in the Gettys Collection. $72.50.
1795 [BB-14] B-4. Flowing Hair. EF, bold and sharp, with some prooflike surface. The edge below date and corresponding edge on reverse show a very slight planchet defect. A splendid example for this scarce variety, from the Col. Green Coll'n., later in the [Loyd B.] Gettys Collection. This piece superior to the one shown on plate in my book, as it was recently purchased to improve my collection. $70.00.
1795 [BB-15] B-8. Flowing Hair type. A little wear on the high parts of hair and eagle, but VF and well-centered even impressions. Excessively rare. From the "World's Greatest Collection" sale. In my 45 years as a collector and dealer, I have seen only two specimens! However I handled one of these four times. Haseltine 'had seen but one, and it was not in his Type-Table sale catalogue of 1881, having been withdrawn from the sale and sold privately. Plate. $165.00.
1795 [BB-20] B-2. Slight wear on high portions of hair, and some adjusting marks on high part of eagle, done at mint in correcting planchet weight. EF, sharp stars. Plate. (This coin illustrated on plate I in the book.) From the Newcomer Collection. $85.00.
1795 [BB-21] B-1. Flowing Hair. EF, considerable lustre, sharp even impression. Plate (refers to the Bolender book on silver dollars, where this identical coin was used for both obverse and reverse plates). From the great Stickney Coll'n later in Schwab Collection. $70.00.
1795 [BB-22] B-10. Flowing Hair. Fine. Purchased from Guttag Bros., New York dealers many years ago. Plate. (Reverse shown on plate II.) $85.00.