CHARLES BARBER LETTER ON ANTHONY PAQUET DIES

 

Anthony Paquet Dies

Anthony C. Paquet was Assistant Engraver of the U.S. Mint from 1857 to 1864 and engraved approximately 30 medals in the U.S. Mint medal series (catalogued by Julian), in addition to working on federal coinage. Paquet's 1861 $20 double eagle is a legendary U.S. rarity, with an example recently sold by Heritage at this year's ANA Convention for $7.2 million.

The Paquet family evidently left certain dies behind, and Charles Barber wrote to Philadelphia Mint Superintendent A. Loudon Snowden on August 27, 1883, I have examined the dies left here by the Paquet family, and respectfully report that I consider them valueless. In the case of the Trade Dollar, we have the hubs made from these dies. Therefore can make any number required. The others are old experimental dies and therefore of no value now.

Whether the old experimental dies included the famous tall letters 1861 $20 reverse die is a matter for conjecture, but what is certain is that today's collectors would place for more value on the Paquet dies than did the engraver Charles Barber.

Image: 1861 $20 Pacquet MS67 PCGS CAC, ex. Heritage Auctions ANA 8/2020, lot 3471, realized $7.2 million, images courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

Link to Charles Barber letter on Newman Portal:
https://archive.org/details/paquetdiesarevalueless18830827/page/n1/mode/2up

 

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