Q. David Bowers
Although Zerbe cited no specific Mint records, he related the following:
Of the 10 specimens recorded as struck, two of them have not been located; of the other eight specimens, Mr.1\.M. Smith has selfishly guarded one for many years; another collector, unnamed, did likewise, and six were the property of one man [presumably, William Idler was intended; however, it is thought that Idler had all 10 coins]. Not many months ago these six came into possession of Captain John W. Haseltine, and then, for the first time, it was a published fact, with the coin in evidence, that 1884 trade dollars existed.
Haseltine offered the first piece to a dealer for $40, but the offer was declined. None was sold until later, at which time the price was $150; Toward the end of the disposal of the group of six, a price of $400 was realized. An example of the 1884. trade dollar appeared in one of Ben G. Green's sales and fetched $280. The seven specimens sold by Captain Haseltine were distributed among three collectors.
Zerbe's articles in The Numismatist at the time= and he wrote many times for publication-were typically a mixture of numismatic enthusiasm, guess-work, gossip and information obtained from others and not checked, and promotion. He was not a serious student of numismatics in the research sense, although he appreciated the thousands of varied items he had in his Money of the World exhibit.
Virgil M. Brand: Information of a more factual nature comes to us from the meticulous records kept by Virgil M. Brand." This well-known Chicago collector owned five specimens, purchased as listed below. These are given provisional designations A through E, with the hope that someday they can be reconciled with the 10 specific specimens given later under the registry of extant 1884 trade 'dollars:
• Brand Specimen A: $50 from Stephen K. Nagy (partner with Capt, John W. Haseltine in various numismatic deals) on July 1, 1907. This was before the existence of the 1884 trade dollars was made publicly known. Surely, Brand would have bought more had he been given the opportunity. I can only surmise that he was allowed to buy just one coin at the time, and at a price which surely represented a bat-gain:
• Brand Specimen B: $150 from Capt. John W. Haseltine on September 17, 1908.
One can speculate that out of idle curiosity Brand might have consigned this coin, with no intention of selling it, to Ben G, Green's 44th Sale, which took place on November 27, 1908. This is the coin mentioned by Zerbe in the article quoted above.
This conjecture has some logic to it, for Green was located in Chicago and was a close acquaintance of Brand. As all other specimens were being marketed out of Philadelphia at the time, why would Haseltine or Nagy have sent one to Chicago, when they could have more easily consigned a coin locally to S.H. Chapman or Henry Chapman? Green's catalogue description follows:
"Trade Dollar 1884 Brilliant Proof. Of excessive rarity, and its existence appears to have been entirely unknown to collectors until quite recently. From the best obtainable information there were not over 10 specimens struck, and five of these are said to have been destroyed. If this is correct, there are only five left and hence of greater rarity than the 1804 dollar. The Mint Cabinet does not contain one of these pieces, and it has never been offered before at auction."
The preceding coin is said to have sold for $280. It is also possible that Haseltine and Nagy consigned an 1884 trade dollar to Green with the expectation that it would bring a high price, possibly to a reserve bid, thus impressing their Chicago customer, Brand, and confirming that the ones he bought the month before for $150 were indeed bargains. As incredible as it may seem to the present day reader, it was about this time that certain dealers in Europe are believed to have created "auction sales" specifically to attract bids from Brand, who was far and away the world's largest coin buyer. (More information can be found in the present author's book, Virgil Brand: The Man and His Era, 1983 )
• Brand Specimen C: $150 from Capt. John W. Haseltine on October 12, 1908. This or the following (Specimen D) was Brand's inventory No. 44965 and was given to Virgil's brother Armin in the split of Virgil's estate. By September 6, 1938 the coin had been sold through Burdette G. Johnson as agent. (Information concerning the specific date of sale and the buyer may be in the Brand papers in the American Numismatic Society.)
• Brand Specimen D: $150 from Capt. John W. Haseltine on October 12, 1908 (yes, a second specimen on the same day!).
• Brand Specimen E: $260 from B. Max Mehl's sale of the Henry O. Granberg Collection, July 16, 1919. This coin was described by Mehl as follows:
"The Exceedingly Rare 1884 Trade Dollar: 1884 Beautiful brilliant Proof, perfect in every respect. Only 10 specimens coined! Exceedingly rare. One of the rarest of all U.S. coins. Outside of my sales I believe that only one other specimen has been offered at auction in the past 12 years. The specimen in my sale of the [B.W.] Smith Collection in 1915 brought $525.00."
How each of these five pieces fits into the registry of 1884 trade dollars given below is not known at present. Brand was very secretive during his lifetime, and he did not reveal howmany specimens he had of a given rarity. A hoarder par excellence, each of these 1884 trade dollars was kept by Brand until his death in 1926, after which his estate was disposed of over a long period of years, with Burdette G. Johnson and Henry Chapman selling many items in the 1930s, followed by other disposals by beneficiaries through the 1980s.
B. Max Mehl: Mehl's offering of the Granberg 1884 trade dollar in 1919 saw Brand as the buyer, as noted above. This leaves offerings by Mehl in 1913 and 1915.P. Scott Rubin, consultant to the present volume, believes these are one and the same coin as both illustrations show the same coins. (Although, as P. Scott Rubin has noted, this is not infallible evidence, for Mehl often used "stock photographs" in his catalogues (a common practice at one time). The July 14, 1913 sale of the Henry O. Granberg Collection offered trade dollars of 1884 and 1885. The 1884 is said to have sold for $765, but it may have been unsold and simply recycled into the 1915 sale. The 1913 description follows:
"Lot 391. 1884 Trade dollar. Perfect brilliant Proof. Exceedingly rare. Only 10 specimens reported to have been coined. This is,I believe, the second specimen of this great rarity ever offered at auction. See plate."
The same coin reappeared in Mehl's 35th Sale, the B.W. Smith Collection, sold to mail bids on May 25,1915. The description follows:
"Lot 749. The Exceedingly Rare 1884 Trade Dollar. 1884 magnificent brilliant Proof, sharp and perfect in every respect. Exceedingly rare. Only 10 specimens coined. In point of number coined it is as rare as the dollar of 1804. From the Granberg Sale. See Plate IV."
The coin sold for $525.
Granberg liked 1884 and 1885 trade dollars and had multiple specimens, including one of each exhibited at the 1916 convention of the American Numismatic Association. It is likely that he had at least two 1884s, the one appearing in Mehl's 1913 and 1915 sales, and the other (different, as shown by the catalogue illustration) being that sold to Brand in 1919.