Q. David Bowers
2. Dunham Specimen. Proof-66
• Mint official, possibly Col, A, Loudon Snowden
• William Idler
• Capt. John W, Haseltine and Stephen K. Nagy
• Unknown intermediaries.
• William Forrester Dunham, Chicago. Sold with collection to the following in 1939. .
• B. Max Mehl into his inventory, although few people knew this).
• B. Max Mehl's 1941 mail bid sale of the William Forrester Dunham Collection, Lot 1150, $315. "Beautiful perfect brilliant Proof."
• Floyd T. Starr, Philadelphia numismatist.
• Floyd T. Starr estate, Philadelphia.
• Stack's sale of the Floyd T. Starr Collection, October 20-22, 1992, Lot 844. "Gem brilliant Proof. Finest of 10 known. Incredible iridescent blue, purple, rose, and pale golden brown on obverse; pale rose, golden brown, and gray toning on the reverse. Both surfaces fully brilliant everywhere. One or two minor darker toning spots on both sides. Linear planchet flaw in right obverse field beside 11th star." Sold for $176,000 to Jay Parino. It was subsequently graded Proof-66 by NGC.
3. Atwater Specimen. Proof-65
• Mint official, possibly Col. A. Loudon Snowden
• William Idler
• Capt. John W. Haseltine and Stephen K. Nagy
• Unknown intermediaries
• B. Max Mehl's 1946 mail bid sale of the William Cutler Atwater Collection, Lot 377, $800. "A perfect brilliant Proof, just as perfect as the day it was minted."
• Louis E. Eliasberg
• Louis E. Eliasberg estate
4. Newcomer Specimen. Proof-64
• Mint official, possibly Col. A. Loudon Snowden
• William Idler
• Capt. John W. Haseltine and Stephen K. Nagy
• Unknown intermediaries
•Waldo C. Newcomer (Baltimore collector). Consigned at fixed price to the following.
• B. Max Mehl (1931). Possibly not sold.
• Consigned from the Newcomer Collection to J.C. Morgenthau & Co. (the auction affiliate of Scott Stamp & Coin Co., Inc., New York City; Wayte Raymond, numismatic manager). Sold in its 384th Sale, May 9, 1935, Lot 431, described as follows: "1884 Trade Dollar. Brilliant Proof. Of thevery greatest rarity. Not over 10 specimens are known and we believe never before offered at auction.(Morgenthau's cataloguer must not have had much experience! By this time, the 1884 had appeared in at least eight earlier auction catalogues.) An opportunity to secure this coin may not occur again for many years." $350. Possibly sold to the following.
• Col. E.H.R. Green (Massachusetts and other addresses; heir, investor, and playboy). This ownership attribution not certain.
• Burdette G.Johnson (St. Louis dealer) c. 1943
• B. Max Mehl's mail bid sale of the Jack V. Roe Collection,June 12, 1945, Lot 627, $665
• Jerome Kern Collection, B. Max Mehl sale, May 1950, Lot 896, $760. "A perfect brilliant Proof gem."
• Amon Carter, Sr. & Jr. Collection, Stack's, January 1984, Lot 440, $45,100. "Choice brilliant Proof, iridescent toning about its periphery."
5. Farouk Specimen. Proof-62
• Mint official, possibly Col. A. Loudon Snowden
• William Idler
• Capt. John W. Haseltine and Stephen K. Nagy
• Unknown intermediaries
• King Farouk of Egypt
• Palace Collections of Egypt sale, 1954, Lot 1679, $984 (£325 Egyptian + 5% surcharge x $2.8825 per pound). Catalogued as follows by A.H. Baldwin & Sons, Ltd.: "Proof. Extremely fine, extremely rare."
• Ambassador and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb, Cleveland, Ohio.
• Bowers and Merena Galleries' sale of the Norweb Collection, March 1988, Lot 1847, $57,200. "Proof 60 to 63. 420.8 grains. A lovely specimen! Sharply struck and brilliant with very faint traces of golden toning. The fields are mirrorlike and the cameo devices are satiny. This example would be worth a much higher grade if not for the presence of some light hairlines on both surfaces."
• American Coin Portfolios (Dan Drykerman, California professional numismatist, who also bought the Norweb 1885 trade dollar). Sold to the following.
• Private New York collection
• Bowers and Merena Galleries, Inc. by private treaty, March 20, 1992
• Private New England Collection, private treaty, March 23,1992. Weight: 420.8 grains.
6. Neil Specimen. Proof-63
• Mint official, possibly Col. A. Loudon Snowden
• William Idler
• Capt. John W. Haseltine and Stephen K. Nagy
• Virgil M. Brand
• Col. Edward H.R. Green
• B. Max Mehl's mail bid sale of the Will W. Neil Collection, June 17,1947. Lot 296, $551
• Stack's sale of the Robert C. Pelletreau Collection, March 1959. Lot 1054, $3,300. "A beautiful BRILLIANT PROOF with raised borders, sharp stars, and sharply defined eagle."
• Jerry Cohen (California dealer), who offered it for $3,800.
• Exhibited at Stack's bourse table, 1974 ANA Convention.
• Julian Leidman (Maryland dealer), Mike Brownlee (Texas dealer), and Hugh Sconyers (California dealer) in partnership.(Per interview with Julian Leidman, March 13, 1992, and telephone conversation of September 14, 1992.) Sold almost immediately afterward at the 1974 ANA Convention with an 1885 for $180,000 to the following.
• Jim Halperin (Massachusetts dealer). Offered in fixed price lists of New England Rare Coin Galleries, December 1974 and February 1975, for $75,000.
• New England Rare Coin Auctions sale of November 9, 1975, Lot 630, $39,000. Sale held with the New England Numismatic Association Convention. "A choice, beautifully toned specimen ... Glittering Choice Proof."
• Mulford B. Simons (Pennsylvania dealer)
• Larry Hanks sale of April 1985, Lot 351, $55,000. "Choice original Proof-63+... This specimen is acknowledged by most numismatic experts to be among the three finest known of the ten (or less specimens minted. What is so nice about this coin is its total originality. It has never been dipped, cleaned, or plated which has been the fate of most surviving 1884 trade dollars. It is also virtually hairline-free! Both the obverse and reverse are spectacularly toned in shapes of golds, greens, and olive iridescence. It has a full strike and blazing mirror surfaces. The reverse is Gem Proof 65+. The obverse would also rate this classification, save for two (the only two) hairlines in the right obverse field and an odd toning streak in the left obverse field."
• Auction '89, Rarcoa, Lot 327, $77,000. "CHOICE BRILLIANT PROOF, whose full brilliance is draped with lovely light toning. It has been examined by NGC and graded Proof-Gx."
• Jay Parino, who consigned it to the following.
• Auction '90, Superior, Lot 1163, not sold. I "NGC graded Proof-63. Lovely cameo contrast between highly frosted devices-Liberty, the eagle, the stars and lettering and a miles deep mirror field. Adding to this marvelous effect is the appearance of those fields, as they've acquired pleasing 'oldsilver' toning with golden highlights (especially noticeable on the reverse). And because this is a Proof-63 it has few hairlines. Those present are so light and widely scattered as to be for all intents and purposes, irivisible... "Reacquired by the consignor.