Q. David Bowers
1. Although much time was spent surveying nineteenth and early twentieth-century catalogues of the Chapman brothers, Ed. Frossard, William Hesslein, Lyman H. Low, W. Elliot Woodward, and others, and although a number of these are represented in this book in the section on historical prices, most of these have been omitted from the survey. The reason is that most sales were not attributed by die varieties. Most were not illustrated. Those few that were illustrated, usually depicted only the key issues such as 1794. If plated coins (which could be attributed by the photographs) had been included, this would have skewed the data toward rarities and high-grade coins, and would have included no common issues (1795 BB-21, for example) in low grades. Similarly, the vast majority of B. Max Mehl catalogues did not attribute the early dollars. Even worse, Mehl used "stock" illustrations in some catalogues; the coin being sold was not the one illustrated.
2. Catalogues that were not readily accessible to Mark Borckardt when the research was conducted were not surveyed.
3. Numerous minor offerings of silver dollars, including just a few coins, were not surveyed. (It is anticipated that some of these will be included in any future edition of this book.)
The following catalogues were included in the Borckardt survey:
Apostrophe Auctions (annual summer sales held by Paramount (later, David Akers), Rarcoa, Stack's, and Superior combined). All auctions 1979-1990. (12 catalogues)
Bebee's May 1953 advertisement in The Numismatist. (1) Bolender Sale #183, his own collection, 1952. (1)
Bowers and Merena Galleries. All auctions 1983 to September 1992. (67)
Bowers and Ruddy Galleries. All auctions 1972-1982. (63) Chapman brothers. Haines Collection, October 1888. (1) Frossard, Ed. Sale of March 1898. (1)
Heritage Numismatic Auctions. 1986 Midwinter Sale; 1988 sales numbered 2, 3, 4, and 5; 1989 sales 2, 4, and 5; 1990 sales 1 and 2. (10)
Ivy, Steve. All public auctions except October 1977, February 1979, May 1979, and August 1983. (24)
Kagin's Numismatic Auction. All sales 1970-1988 except February 1988. (60)
Kelly, James F. DeCoppet Collection, April 1955. (1) McIntire Auctions. Gengerke nos.;' 9, 10, 12, 16, 17, 19, 20,21, 22, 23, and 24. (11)
Mehl, B. Max. Sales of March 1925, April 1929, June 1947.
Most other Mehl sales did not attribute the dollars. (3)
Merkin, Lester. All sales except March 1967 (Green catalogue), April 1972, September 1973, December 1973, and August 1976. (26)
Mid-American Rare Coin Auctions. All through 1992 except May 1984, September 1984, May 1985, and January 1986. (19)
New Netherlands Coin Company. All numbered sales from 34 through 66 except 36, 37, and 62. (30)
Numismatic Gallery. World's Greatest Collection, 1945; sale of June 1950. (2)
Pine Tree Auctions. Nos.:(Numbers are those assigned by Martin Gengerke in his study, American Numismatic Auctions.) 3, 6, 7, 9,10, 12, 15, 16, 19,21, 27,32. (12)
Schulman, Hans M.F. Herdegen Collection, December 1973. (1)
Stack's. All sales 1960 to October 1992 except April 1989, October 16, 1989, October 17,1990, December 1990, January 1991, April 1991, June 1991, October 1991, and June 1992. (273)
Superior Stamp & Coin Co. All sales through August 1992. (83)
Total catalogues surveyed: 701.
Composed nearly entirely of auction data (with the sole exception of a 1953 retail advertisement by Bebee's), the Borckardt population survey includes only coins that were deemed sufficiently important to their owners and/or various professional firms to be included in an auction sale and to be attributed to Haseltine or Bolender numbers.
Many common varieties in lower grades were never consigned to auctions, or were consigned but not deemed sufficiently valuable to warrant attribution. Thus, the results are skewed in favor of dates or varieties considered to be rare and valuable, especially 1794 dollars (which are valuable in any grade) and 1797 dollars (considered by many to be the second most valuable date after 1794). Such pieces are over-represented in the survey, while commoner issues as 1795 Flowing Hair, 1798, 1799, and 1800 are under-represented. Indeed, 1794 is by far the most over-represented coin among early dollar auction listings.
High-grade dollars of any and all dates are valuable. Thus, higher grade coins, especially those in categories of AU and Mint State, are over-represented, while coins graded Fair, Abt. Good, Good, and Very Good are severely under-represented.