LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 (ANA) Signature Coin Auction #444  / 

2777

Circa 1859 Dickeson "1805 Half Eagle Restrike"

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:900.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
Circa 1859 Dickeson 1805 Half Eagle Restrike
<B>Circa 1859 Dickeson "1805 Half Eagle Restrike" MS60 Minor Corrosion Uncertified.</B></I> Pollock-6130. High R.7 or R.8. 26.0 mm, 90.3 grains. Struck in copper with a plain edge. Glossy olive-brown surfaces have a few darker stains and spots. An out-of-round planchet and crude rim filing are associated with the actual production of this unusual piece, explained further below. On USPatterns.com, Saul Teichman reports that three or fewer examples of this "strange concoction" are known.<BR> Created from the combination of a federal half eagle obverse in a rusted and dilapidated state, with the "Eagle on Shield" (sometimes Eagle on Rock) die made famous by Dr. Montroville Dickeson. The obverse die is that found on 1805 half eagle varieties BD-1 and BD-2, with all of the die cracks found on the latest state of BD-2. The reverse is from the die most famous for Dickeson's tokens that are muled with a different die inscribed "Trial Piece Designed for United States Cent. 1792." Today, we believe that the Eagle on Shield die is actually a rejected or discarded embossing die intended to stamp or emboss revenue paper.<BR> Dr. Montroville Dickeson was most active in numismatics during the middle 19th century. Most of the so-called "Restrikes" that he produced, probably in conjunction with Joseph Mickley, are believed made at about the time of the Civil War, beginning about 1859 and continuing to the mid-1860s. Dickeson authored <I>The American Numismatical Manual</B></I> in three editions, 1859, 1860, and 1865. A physician educated at the University of Pennsylvania, Montroville's interest in numismatics was secondary behind his primary study of American Indians.<BR> Since the so-called 1792 Dickeson cents, produced at about the same time as this piece, are much larger in diameter, approximately 30 mm. Examination of this piece indicates that a larger planchet was struck by a press containing both dies. Once produced, the flan was apparently trimmed by hand to the approximate diameter of the half eagle obverse. The edge shows clear signs that it was trimmed to the smaller diameter, and the slightly out-of-round shape indicates a hand operation. Nearly all of the obverse border show clear file marks that were undoubtedly part of this same process.<BR> The opportunity to examine unusual numismatic specimens is one of the great joys of auction cataloging. Dickeson's "1805 half eagle restrike" offered here is a piece that could potentially offer weeks, months, or even years of numismatic pleasure and scholarship. We are delighted to offer it to the current generation of numismatic students.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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