Q. David Bowers
1.Mint Cabinet Specimen, Impaired Proof
• Chief Coiner Adam Eckfeldt, who presented it to the following. (Coin in his possession circa 1834:1838)
• Mint Cabinet, Specimen 1838. This coin, illustrated in the 1842, book by Jacob R. Eckfeldt and William E. Dubois, A Manual of Gold and Silver Coins of All Nations; Struck Within the Past Century; was the first notice collectors 'saw in print that an 1804:dated dollar existed, although fanciful pictures of such pieces had been published in cambists (exchange rate publications) earlier. (1838 to date)
• National Coin Collection (Mint Cabinet), Smithsonian Institution.
415.2 grains. Edge lettering crushed, like two of the 1802s. Proof, cleaned on several occasions. Nicks and friction spots.
2. The Stickney Specimen, Impaired Proof
•Adam Eckfeldt (C. 1834:1838)
•Mint Cabinet Collection, as a duplicate. (1838-1843)
•Matthew Adams Stickney Collection, acquired from the Mint on May 9, 1843, by trading a gold IMMUNE COLUMBIA for it. Stickney kept it until his death, after which it descended to his daughter. (1843-1894)
•Stickney's daughter. (1894:1907)
•Henry Chapman's sale of the Stickney Collection, June 25-29, 1907, Lot 849, $3,600.00. Sold to the following. (1907)
• Col. James Ellsworth. (1907-1923)
·Wayte Raymond and John Work Garrett (bought the Ellsworth Collection privately; Garrett kept the coins he needed, not including the 1804 dollar). Raymond sold the 1804 dollar to the following in Match 1923.(1923)
•William Cutler Atwater, (1923"1946)
•R Max Mehl's sale of the Atwater Collection, June 1946, Lot 213, $10,500.00. (1946)
• Louis E. Eliasberg (1946-1976)
• Louis E. Eliasberg estate (1976 to date)
415.3 grains. Edge lettering crushed. Proof, cleaned and with rubbing.
3. King of Siam Specimen (in set), Proof-65
•Adam Eckfeldt/Mint, November 1834, in cased set of Proof coins dated 1834, plus the 1804 dollar and 1804 "restrike" (from new dies) $10 gold, to the following. At some point, the half dime and possibly an early-style quarter eagle were lost from the set.(There is an opening approximately the size of a quarter eagle in the box; it may have been the case that the set originally contained two coins of this denomination, a specimen of the pre-August 1, 1834 style with motto in addition to the Classic Head quarter eagle now in the set. Carl Carlson has suggested that a small medal depicting President Andrew Jackson (Julian PR-33 variety) may have been used instead of a second quarter eagle.) (1834-1836)
• State Dept., April 4, 1836, gift to King Ph'ra Naga Klao of Siam (in cased Proof set of 1834). (1836-?)
• King Mongkut, died in 1868. The set descended to his 15-year-old son, who gave it to the following (in cased Proof set of 1834). (?-1868)
• King Chulalongkorn, who is believed to have given it to the following (in cased Proof set of 1834). (1868-?)
• Anna Leonowens. Passed to the following. Anna was of course known as Anna of Siam (whose reminiscences were published in Margaret Landon's book, Anna and the King of Siam, in 1944; later made into a musical stage play, The King and It? (Pedigree information courtesy of David Enders Tripp, letter to the author, July 24, 1992.) Sold by the ladies to the following. (c. 1950s) (in cased Proof set of 1834). (c. after 1868-1950s)
• Believed to have been descended through the Leonowens family (in cased Proof set of 1834). Brought to Spink & Son, Ltd., 5 King Street, St. James, London, England, by two older ladies, who showed it to Donald Crowther, then of the Spink staff. The ladies are believed to have been descendants of Anna Leonowens, governess to Chulalongkorn at the court of Rama IV (Mongkut). The half dime was missing from the set.
• David Spink personally; not the property of the firm bearing his family name, Spink & Son, Ltd. David Spink first informed the numismatic fraternity of this coin's existence in a talk given at the 1962 ANA Convention in Detroit (in cased Proof set of 1834). (1950s-1979)
• Lester Merkin, who as agent for David Spink, was paid a reported $1 million for the cased Proof set of 1834 in August 1979 by the following (when a photograph of the set was taken in the early 1960s for publication, an 1834 half dime was temporarily inserted). Sold to the following. (1979)
• Elvin I. Unterman, Garrison, New York, (in cased Proof set of 1834). Exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution, 1983. Offered with other material in the Bowers and Merena King of Siam Sale, October 14, 1987, Lot 2209. The set was reserved by the consignor at $2 million; reserve not met. A large, full-color poster was issued depicting the 1804 dollar. The set was consigned at fixed price to the following in May 1989. (1979-1989)
• Stack's, as agent for the owner. Sold to the following on October 18, 1989, for a "figure well in excess of $2 million." (1989)
• The Rarities Group (Martin Paul) and Continental Rarity Coin Fund I (Greg Holloway) (in cased Proof set of 1834). (1989-1990)
• Superior Galleries' Father Flanagan Boy's Town Sale, May 1990, Lot 3364. Set graded by PCGS, including the 1834 half cent, Proof-66 RB; 1834 cent, Proof-66 BN; 1834 dime, Proof-67; 1834 quarter dollar, Proof-65; 1834 half dollar, Proof-65; 1804-dated silver dollar, Proof-65; 1834 $2.50 gold, Proof-64; 1834 $5 gold, Proof-64; 1804 "restrike" $10 gold, Proof-63. Sold for $2,900,000 + 10% buyer's fee (in cased Proof set of 1834). Ira Goldberg, of Superior Galleries, commented as follows:" (Pedigree information courtesy of David Enders Tripp, letter to the author, July 24, 1992.) "On the King of Siam specimen set we made a guarantee of $2,750,000, meaning if the set failed to sell we guaranteed to buy it. It sold for $2,900,000. plus the 10% buyer's fee." (1990)
• Iraj Sayeh (Los Angeles investor and coin dealer) and Terry Brand (Los Angeles industrialist) (in cased Proof set of 1834). Consigned to the following. (1990 to 1993)
• Superior Galleries auction of January 31 and February 1, 1993. Lot 1196. Offered without pre-sale reserve, but the consignors were given the opportunity to bid on the lot. Sold to the following for $1,650,000 plus 10%.
• Dwight Manley, Spectrum Numismatics, Newport Beach, California.
415.5 grains. Edge lettering crushed. Proof-65.