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1826 Erie Canal So-Called Dollar Hibbler Kappen-1 New York. Erie. 1826 So-Called Dollar. Erie Canal

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:10.00 USD Estimated At:NA
1826 Erie Canal So-Called Dollar Hibbler Kappen-1 New York. Erie. 1826 So-Called Dollar. Erie Canal
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1826 Erie Canal So-Called Dollar
Hibbler Kappen-1 New York. Erie. 1826 So-Called Dollar. Erie Canal Completion. HK-1. White Metal. Plain Edge. Medal Turn. MS-62 NGC. Obv: two figures at center, Pan with pipes seated left on cornucopia, Neptune seated right, sea scene beyond, UNON OF ERIE WITH THE ATLANTIC arcs above, R. DEL. W. SC in exergue. Rev: central eagle perched on half-globe above Arms shield of New York, EXCELSIOR on ribbon below, nautical scene with sailing ship in background, C.C. WRIGHT SC / 1826 in exergue, other microscopic lettering below but undecipherable to the writer. This attractive specimen offers the viewer a swirling blend of gray and silver highlights throughout. Evenly struck and aesthetically appealing.


This popular issue, the first of the HK numbers, was a team effort of the time. The medal was issued by the Common Council, City of New York; designed by Archibald Robinson; engraved by Charles Cushing Wright; letter devices by Richard Trested; dies prepared by William Williams; and struck by Maltby Pelletreau. The commission for the canal was formed in 1810 by the New York State Legislature. DeWitt Clinton, who would later become Governor of New York, served for 10 years on the commission without pay. Ground was broken for the project at Troy, New York on the Hudson River, on July 4, 1817. More than eight years later and at $7 million or so in cost – a phenomenal amount of money for the era – the canal was 364 miles in length and stretched from the Hudson River to Lake Erie.


With its 83 locks along the way, the project was alternately called “the greatest engineering feat of modern times,” and “the costliest, most successful project yet undertaken in the New World.” Dubbed “Clinton’s Folly” by many, the canal proved to be one of the most important tools of westward expansion in American History. The formal opening occurred on October 25, 1825, with the vessel Seneca Chief carrying now-governor Clinton from Buffalo to New York City, arriving there on November 4; the parade of ships and boats on the canal and the Hudson River from Buffalo was large, and the flotilla stopped and partied at nearly every little town and hamlet along the way. A total of 51 gold examples were struck, and “several hundred pieces” were struck in silver and White Metal as well. The gold medals were given to dignitaries and heads of state of visiting nations, including one that went to Marquis de Lafayette, and others that went to the three surviving signers of the Declaration of Independence. The silver and White Metal pieces were distributed to celebrants at the New York City celebration.