Q. David Bowers
4. The Watters Specimen, Proof-65 (?)
• Adam Eckfeldt, November 1834, to the following (in cased Proof set of 1834). (1834-1835)
• State Dept., October 1, 1835, Ima, Sayyid Sa'id of Muscat" (in cased Proof set of 1834). (1835-?)
• Private collections (in cased Proof set of 1834). (?-?)
• C.A. Watters, Liverpool, England. Ebenezer Locke Mason, Jr., American coin dealer, claimed that Watters saw it in the window of a pawnshop and bought it for 12 shillings; this and several other comments, some contradictory, have since been discredited. By this time the coins were no longer in their original presentation case. (before 1879-1917) • Glendining & Co. sale of the Watters estate, June 14, 1917, Lot 227 (now with partial Proof set of 1834 containing the half dime, quarter, half dollar, and dollar, and possibly also the half cent, cent, and dime offered separately in the same sale, mixed with groups of other coins under Lots 240, 246, 250, 254, 278, and 283; no mention of presentation case). Sold to the following for £330 ($1,603.80) (1917)
• Henry Chapman, who sold it for $2,500.00 on June 20, 1918, to the following. (1917-1918)
• Virgil Brand (by now, a single coin no longer kept with a case or other coins from the set). (1918-1926)
• Virgil Brand estate. David Enders Tripp provided this information:' "On Virgil Brand's death the estate remained somewhat in limbo for a number of years. After having been appraised by both Burdette G. Johnson and Henry Chapman, the division was ultimately made. According to my notes, the 1804dollar 'was part of the group called 'Rarities,' and his brother Armin drew group 'B' (which also included the 1822 half eagle). The 1804 dollar became officially his on November 1, 1933." (1926-1933)
• Armin W. Brand. Apparently traded to the following (Charles E. Green, trading as R. Green, advertising in The Numismatist, said the coin came from Horace Brand). See following listing. (1933-?)
• Horace Louis Philip Brand. Brand, the oilier brother of Virgil M. Brand, advertised in' The Numismatist and elsewhere, and claimed at one time to sell to "dealers only," although this was not a fixed policy, In April 1942 the coin was advertised in The Numismatist by R. Green, who did so on behalf of Horace Brand, as evidenced by the text: "This great rarity, now a part of Mr. Horace L. Brand's collection, was purchased by his brother, Virgil M. Brand .... This is perhaps the finest condition of any piece known, light blue, evenly colored, a perfect Proof." Sold to the following. (?-1945)
• Charles E. Green, Chicago dealer who sold it for $5,000.00 to the following. An announcement to this effect appeared on page 1293 of The Numismatist, November 1945. (1945)
•C.F. Childs. (1945-1955)
•C.F. Childs estate (Chicago). (1955 to date) 416.7 grains. Edge lettering crushed. Blue-toned Choice Proof. Proof-65.
5. Dexter Specimen, Proof-63 (counterstamped)
•Adam Eckfeldt. (1834-?)
•Unknown intermediaries. (?-?)
•Brothers S. Hudson Chapman and Henry Chapman, Jr., Philadelphia coin dealers, who apparently "laundered" the coin by sending it to Germany to be included in the following sale."
• Adolph Weyl sale held in Berlin, Germany, October 13, 1884, Lot 159, $216.00. Sold to the following. (1884)
• S. Hudson and Henry Chapman (Chapman brothers). (1884-1885)
• Chapman brothers' sale of May 14-15, 1885, Lot 354, $1,000.00. Purchased by the following as agent for Dexter. The coin opened at $500, jumped to $600, and rose in $5 and $10 increments to the final price, at which the audience broke into applause and stamped their feet. "In superb Extremely Fine condition, with beautiful surface, as fine as, if not the finest of seven known." (1885)
• J.W. Scott, Scott Stamp & Coin Company. Purchased as agent for the following: (1885)
• James Vila Dexter (life dates: 1834-1899), Denver, Colorado. Apparently, Dexter stamped his initial D on a cloud below 0 (of OF) on the reverse, the second cloud from the right. (1885-1899)
• Dexter estate. (1899-1903)
• Roland G. Parvin, executor of the Dexter estate. Sold for a reported $2,000.00 (Lyman H. Low claimed the price was $1,500) to the following on November 5,1903,(1903)
• H.G. Brown, Portland, Oregon. At the time, this coin was the subject of much discussion in The Numismatist, (1903. 1904)
• Lyman H. Low's sale of Part I of the Brown Collection, October 11, 1904, Lot 431, $1,100.00. "Extremely Fine, with a brilliant, prooflike surface, and unimpaired since its last public appearance at an auction sale in Philadelphia, in May 1885, where it was purchased by order of J.V. Dexter." Sold to the following, who traveled from Chicago to New York to buy the piece. (1904).
Appropriate to the preceding, Low printed the following on the inside front cover of a subsequent auction catalogue dated May 19, 1904: "1804 DOLLAR.
"So much has been said about the last 1804 dollar, which changed hands in January last, and so many articles have appeared in newspapers and periodicals concerning it, that I feel inclined to tell the part I took in it.
"The dollar 'was first offered in a sale in Berlin, held by the late Adolph Weyl, and was purchased on an order from this country. It shortly afterwards appeared in Philadelphia (in 1886) and was purchased by Mr. J.B. Dexter, of Denver; Colo. Mr. Dexter died a few years ago and his widow sold it to Mr. Parvin. This gentleman had much correspondence with various parties who desired to purchase it, but until Mr. H.G. Brown of Portland, Oregon, communicated with him on the subject, no serious negotiations were entered into. The piece was finally forwarded to Mr. Brown, who was allowed 60 days for consideration and opportunity to verify its pedigree, and to become assured of its genuineness. Mr. Brown forwarded the coin to me for my critical opinion. I found the coin had all the peculiarities of this particular and excessively rare issue of 1804, and I also recognized it as the identical one which was purchased by Mr. Dexter, and as the No. 12 of the 13 specimens known, of which Mr. Jno. A,. Nexsen printed in the Journal of Numismatics a most carefully prepared list, and to whom I had the pleasure of showing the piece.
"LYMAN H. LOW"
• William Forrester Dunham, Chicago. Sold with his entire collection to the following in 1939. (1904-1939).
• B. Max Mehl (purchased for his inventory, although few people knew this). (1939-1941)
• B. Max Mehl's sale of the Dunham Collection, June 3, 1941, Lot 1058, $4,250.00. "A brilliant semi-proof, with an even, beautiful iridescent medium purple surface." (1941)
• Charles M. Williams, Cincinnati, Ohio. (1941-1950)
• Abe Kosoff and Sol Kaplan, sold for a reported $10,000.00 by private treaty in 1950 on behalf of Williams to the following. (1950)
• Harold Bareford. (1950-1981)
• Stack's sale of the Bareford Collection, October 22-23, 1981, Lot 424, $280,000.00. "Brilliant Proof. Second or third finest preserved specimen." Sold to the following. (1981)
• Rarcoa (Ed Milas), Chicago, Illinois. Sold to the following for $425,000.00. in 1985.1 (1981-1985) •Leon Hendrickson and George Weingart. (1985-1989)
• Rarcoa's section of Auction '89, July 7, 1989, Lot 247, $990,000.00. "Choice brilliant Proof, toned a beautiful purple iridescent color." (1989)
• American Rare Coin Fund Limited Partnership (Hugh Sconyers, manager). (1989 to date)
415.8 grains. Edge lettering crushed. Brilliant Proof, dipped; D counters tamped on cloud on reverse similar to the "D" found on Dexter's hard times tokens.