LORD ST. OSWALD 1794 DOLLAR OFFERED

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V20 2017 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 20, Number 19, May 7, 2017, Article 18

Bibliophiles will appreciate the significance of the pictured auction catalogs, which document the provenance of this legendary coin. A marvelous high-grade example set aside shortly after its striking, it's a prize for any collection of U.S. coins. Here's a Stack's Bowers blog article published May 4, 2017 by James McCarthy. -Editor

Stack’s Bowers Galleries is delighted to present an important highlight of our August 2017 ANA World’s Fair of Money auction in Denver, Colorado -- the incredible Lord St. Oswald-Norweb 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar. This MS-64 (PCGS) example was last offered at public auction in the firm’s sale of the Norweb Collection in November 1988.

This incredible specimen has a fascinating but familiar story coming just two years after the sale of its sibling, the MS-66+ (PCGS) Lord St. Oswald-Ostheimer example, in our D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part II sale. In that May 2015 auction, the Pogue counterpart realized an astounding $4,993,750, including the buyer’s premium.

These two 1794 silver dollars remained together for the first 170 years of their existence, until they were offered as part of the Lord St. Oswald cabinet by Christie’s in 1964. The pair had been obtained by English gentleman farmer William Strickland on his tour of the young United States from September 20, 1794 to July 29, 1795. During his visit, Strickland journeyed throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic, even meeting with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and with then-President George Washington at Mt. Vernon. The two 1794 silver dollars were among a diverse group of 84 federal and pre-federal coins presumably gathered during his 10 months in America. Centuries later, those two souvenirs would immortalize the legacy of William Strickland and his descendants through the Lord St. Oswald provenance.

The near-Gem Lord St. Oswald-Norweb specimen is among the finest survivors of America’s first silver dollar coinage and is one of the great treasures of U.S. numismatics. The surfaces are impeccably preserved and lustrous, with just gentle traces of planchet adjustment at the obverse border. The coin exhibits strong peripheral definition for the issue, with considerable pronouncement to the left obverse stars and corresponding legend on the reverse. Ranked as fourth finest in the Condition Census and third finest among Mint State examples seen by PCGS, this is a significant world-class rarity.