Remarkable San Francisco Mint Related Document
December 25, 1857 billhead from the San Francisco Herald. Duplicate copy of US Mint receipt for advertising. Blue-lined paper, 8 1/4" x 5". Very Fine or so. Affixed to this original billhead, which would have been retained by the newspaper, is the original ad, clipped from the paper and glued to the upper left corner. It reads: "MINT NOTICE. TO MINERS, BANKERS AND BULLION DEALERS.- In consequence of the withdrawal of the U.S. Bullion Fund, and in order to make quicker returns to depositors, Gold Bullion will be received at the Branch Mint of the United States, San Francisco, California, and manufactured into UNPARTED BARS, from and after the first day of January, A.D. 1858. The charge for the manufacturing of such bars will be 1-4 of one per cent., and returns made within twenty-four hours. CHAS. H. HEMPSTEAD, Superintendent." This content makes this a natural accessory in a collection including an ingot from the "Ship of Gold," the S.S. Central America, which sank just three months earlier. The handling is minor, just a few light folds and wrinkles, and this would display well. It last appeared in the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection in October 2007...$1495
1931 Prayer for Rain medal by Hermon MacNeil. Society of Medalists No. 3, Alexander 3.4. Bronze oval, 73 x 70 mm. Choice About Uncirculated. Lively olive green patina is deepest around devices. Extremely minor cabinet friction is the only defect. A classic American art medal, one of the few numismatic efforts by the designer of the Standing Liberty Quarter. The medal was based on MacNeil's sculpture entitled "Moqui Prayer for Rain," accomplished ca. 1895. This is perhaps the most popular entry in the Society of Medalists series...$225
Civil War Stirrup with Copper-Nickel Indian Cent Rowel
(ca. 1862) rider's stirrup with Indian cent rowel. Bronze, 5 1/2 inches long. Very Fine / As Found. The rowel is a copper nickel (1860-64) Indian Head cent, and plenty of detail remains on both sides. The spurs are clearly hand cut, while the stirrup itself is finely made, nicely patinated, shows a small decoration atop the rowel. This piece was found in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia; presumably the coin rowel was an emergency replacement for the original rowel, lost sometime during the war (or "the late unpleasantness," as one tour guide I once worked with at Monticello used to call it). I've handled a stirrup with a coin rowel before, a piece that was found out West and used a Seated quarter. This piece, with a coin datable to the Civil War and a provenance that suggests the same, should be desirable to an even wider range of collectors...Hold
(1689-1720) Coin balance scale and box by John Snart, London. Fine. Simply carved from a lightweight wood, darkly toned from years of handling, with a pleasant geometrical design on the lid. The eyehook closures are no longer present, but the hinge is in perfect working order. The inside has three carved spaces, one for the balance and pans, one for small weights on the left, and larger coin weights in the square space on the right. The balance is a little oxidized, the pans show a nice deep brassy gold patina, and some fairly old strings are intact and keep the whole thing in working order. The label is the truly interesting part, with a English royal coat of arms at center and an inscription naming "John Snart, Scale Maker ... in Maiden Lane Over Against Goldsmith's [Halll]" in London. A well researched record at the Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield Consortium places Snart at the end of the 17th century and the dawn of the 18th, making one of his English-made scales a prime target for a Pine Tree shilling or two. I like scales and have gotten to either handle or study a decent number of them, and this one is particularly early. A retained label like this is scarce. I wish it had a set of weights with it, but it would be a fun (and inexpensive) challenge to build a set of contemporary coin weights -- a merchant of the era would have done essentially the same thing. This would display well and could be the beginning of a new collection...$350
1948 Bausch and Lomb silver dollar presentation gift. 1923 Peace dollar in green gilt stamped tan cardboard box with blue velveteen tray. A little beat up, with a dent at the right side, but the box is sound and stiff and without any discoloration or other problem. The dollar was lightly polished over the years, more on obverse and reverse, and has picked up some mottled toning on both sides. Apparently issued for a company hosted gathering in Rochester on August 28, 1948; it was a Saturday. This is admittedly a tchotchke for a Peace dollar aficionado or a Rochester local historian. I think it's pretty cool...$225
Historic Minstrel Show Broadside
"Who Wants a Gold Lever Watch for a QUARTER?"
(ca. 1860). Sharpley's Minstrels broadside. 6 1/2 x 4 3/4" Printed on one side. Very Good. Manuscript inscription on blank verso of Jacob Light of North Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Ragged at the left edge, chunk missing near lower right corner, doodled all over with math notations, mostly in pencil, a few in pen. A number of different troupes toured as some variation of Sharpley's in the 1860s, and most covered territory that could have included southeastern Pennsylvania. This broadside apparently promotes the evenings big giveaway -- a big heavy gold watch that some lucky attendee would buy for just a quarter. If this thing said "two bits" on it, I'd be asking a thousand bucks. As it is, the prominence of QUARTER in the layout makes this pretty interesting numismatically, perhaps as outside-the-box association material with a collection of two reales or Seated quarters. Its interest simply as a minstrel broadside should make it worth...$375
The First Image of a Nova Constellatio Copper
Gentleman's Magazine, October 1786. Very Fine or so, in paper covers as issued, disbound from a larger volume. Plate intact and in excellent condition. This magazine was a popular London magazine of its day, offering literature, news, images, and other tidbits for the upper middle class of the day. This issue also contains a brief description of the piece, noting that "the United States, as appears by the inscription on the front of their coin, have erected the standard of liberty and justice," then snidely notes these two are known "only by name through that vast, once flourishing, continent." How rude. These magazines are scarce today. I have a few in stock; the first order will get the nicest copy...$400
Let's Go Get Some Beers and Watch Handel Rock the House
(1746) Covent Garden Gallery pass. Copper, 33 mm. Beat up and worn. The obverse features the best of William, Duke of Cumberland, the hero of the Battle of Culloden. The reverse shows the faint presence of the only design it ever had: the word GALLERY across the center. This piece shows scattered marks,
some heavy, and a bit of obverse scale that suggest it was likely in the ground at some point. The remainder of the surface is smooth and the overall appeal is decent for such a well-used piece. This pass to London's most famous opera house was in use through the 1750s and into the early 1760s, when a new style of pass was instituted. In 1746, the first gallery cost 5 shillings and the second gallery set visitors back 3 shillings sixpence. Handel debuted new music at Covent Garden in 1746, and David Garrick began his long run on its stage. This piece clearly saw a lot of performance and was palmed and rubbed in a lot of waiting lines and bustling crowds. What it lacks in beauty it more than makes up for with you-are-there history and rarity. Listed in Michael Mitchiner's Jetons, Medalets, and Tokens: British Isles Circa 1558 to 1830, Volume Three. (The plate piece is also quite well worn. )...$225