Flowing Hair Dollar
Encyclopedia
The Flowing Hair dollar was the first dollar coin issued by the United States federal government. The coin was minted in 1794 and 1795; its size and weight were based on the Spanish dollar
, which was popular in trade throughout the Americas.
In 1791, following a study by Alexander Hamilton
, Congress passed a joint resolution
calling for the establishment of a national mint. Later that year, in his third State of the Union address
, President George Washington
urged Congress to provide for a mint, which was officially authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. Despite the authorization, silver and gold coins were not struck until 1794. The Flowing Hair dollar, designed by Robert Scot
, was initially produced in 1794, and again in 1795. In October 1795 the design was replaced by the Draped Bust dollar.
In May 2005, a specimen striking from the 1794 production was sold in a private sale for $7.85 million, more than any other coin in history.
coins (popularly known as Spanish dollar
s or pieces of eight).
In 1789, the United States Constitution
, which granted Congress the power "to coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures", was ratified and came into force. The following year, Congress began deliberating on the state of the nation's monetary system and coinage. On January 28, 1791, Treasury Secretary
Alexander Hamilton
presented a report to Congress detailing the findings of a study he had conducted on the monetary system and the potential of a United States mint. As part of his study, Hamilton had a series of assay
tests of Spanish dollars performed, as that was the coin upon which the United States monetary system would be based. After viewing the results, the secretary recommended that the silver content of the United States dollar be based on the average silver content of the reales tested. Hamilton's recommendation was that the dollar should contain 371.25 grains of silver and have a gross weight of 416 grains, the balance being copper. On March 3, 1791, after reviewing Hamilton's report, Congress passed a joint resolution
authorizing a federal mint; the resolution, however, gave no specifics or appropriations.
, delivered on October 25, 1791, in Philadelphia, President George Washington
urged members of Congress to put the joint resolution approved earlier that year into immediate effect:
In response, the Senate
appointed a committee chaired by Robert Morris to draft the necessary specifications and legislation that would officially create a federal mint and coinage. The committee presented a bill before Congress on December 21, 1791, which stated in part that the new dollar coin (which was to form the basis of the United States monetary system) should contain 371 grains of silver and a total weight of 416 grains, as Hamilton had earlier recommended. The new silver coins were to be struck in an alloy containing 1,485 parts out of 1,664 (about 89.24 percent) fine silver, with the remainder copper, intended to equal the silver in Spanish dollars. However, an assay of the Spanish dollars was in error—they were in fact 65/72 silver (about 90.28 percent) with the remainder copper.
One provision in Morris' legislation called for President Washington to be depicted on the obverse
side of every coin struck by the new mint. The bill passed the Senate after debate, but it was altered in the House of Representatives
to instead call for the head of an allegorical figure representing Liberty
to appear. Upon returning to the Senate, the upper house insisted on its version of the design provision. The House rejected the provision for the second time and passed another version of the bill, after which the Senate concurred. The law, known as the Coinage Act of 1792, was signed into law on April 2, 1792, by President Washington. The Act provided for the creation of the United States Mint
, and appropriated money to meet the cost of construction of an appropriate facility, and for salaries for employees and officials. The denominations sanctioned under the Act were half cent
s, cents, half disme
s, disme
s, quarter dollar
s, half dollar
s, dollars, quarter eagle
s, half eagle
s and eagle
s. On July 31, 1792, the foundation stone of the Philadelphia Mint was laid by newly appointed Mint Director David Rittenhouse
. Machinery and personnel began occupying the new building by September 1792, and production began on cents in February 1793. In the first year of production at the Mint, only copper coins were minted, as the prospective assayer could not raise the required $10,000 surety to officially assume the position; the 1792 Coinage Act stated that both the chief coiner and assayer were to "become bound to the United States of America, with one or more sureties to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury, in the sum of ten thousand dollars". Later that year, Secretary of State
Thomas Jefferson
appealed to Congress that the amount of the bonds be lowered. On March 3, 1794, Congress lowered the bonds to $5,000 and $1,000 for chief coiner and assayer, respectively.
began preparing designs for the silver dollar. Scot's initial design depicted a bust of Liberty, while his reverse featured an eagle, both required by the 1792 Coinage Act. Scot's design closely followed his design for the cent, but with the Phrygian cap
removed. Government officials later instructed Scot to include a wreath around the eagle and to move the denomination from the reverse face to the edge of the coin. After receiving approval, Scot began engraving the hubs for the new silver dollar. Extra care was taken during the engraving of this denomination, because the dollar would be the largest American coin, and would thus receive the most scrutiny from foreign nations. The lettering was executed by Frederick Geiger, who had worked as a typographer for various books and newspapers. After the dies were created, several copper test pieces
were struck. Officials decided to add fifteen stars around the periphery, representing the fifteen states that had ratified the Constitution to that point, to the right-facing Liberty on the obverse.
Before the coins could be struck, the edge lettering and devices had to be impressed on the edge of the planchet
s. This action was performed with a device known as Castaing machine; the machine stamped the edge with the words "Hundred Cents One Dollar or Unit" along with ornamentation. As production was inexact, many planchets intended for silver dollars were overweight. This was remedied by filing the face of the planchets; for this reason, the coins vary in weight more dramatically than later issues, which were minted with more precise equipment.
The first silver dollars were struck on October 15, 1794. The silver used for the 1794 dollar coins came from part of a large quantity of French billon
coins deposited by the Bank of Maryland; as they were of a lower fineness than required, refining was necessary. In total, 1,758 acceptable silver dollars were produced in 1794. Those which were deemed unsuitable for circulation were either melted or restruck in 1795. The 1,758 coins that were officially delivered by Chief Coiner Henry Voight, though acceptable, struck poorly due to the press that was used during early production at the Mint, which was a man-powered screw press
intended for use on coins no larger than a half dollar.
All acceptable 1794 dollars were paid to Rittenhouse. In an attempt to help circulate the coins, Rittenhouse spent many of the new coins and traded them for foreign coins in an effort to market the new products of the Mint. Others were distributed to VIPs and distinguished visitors to the Mint. After the initial production, Rittenhouse ordered all dollar coin production to end until Mint personnel could build a more powerful press that would be capable of better striking the coins. The New Hampshire Gazette wrote of the new dollar coins on December 2, 1794,
The new coinage press was completed in early 1795, and the first group of dollars, totalling 3,810 coins, was delivered on May 6. The coins struck on May 8 may have borne a 1794 date. A number of 1795 dollars (along with one 1794 issue) are known to have been struck with a silver plug set into the center, measuring approximately 8 millimetre (0.31496062992126 in). It is believed that this was done to correct the weight of underweight planchets. The total mintage for the second and final year of production is estimated at 160,295. In total, 203,033 silver dollars were struck in 1795, but it is unknown exactly how many of those were of the Flowing Hair type, as the Draped Bust
dollar succeeded it in October 1795; the Draped Bust dollar was designed by portraitist Gilbert Stuart
at the behest of Rittenhouse's successor as Mint Director, Henry DeSaussure.
, notating the special conditions under which it was struck. The coin, which had previously been owned by Colonel E.H.R. Green
, was sold by Steven L. Contursi, president of Rare Coin Wholesalers, to the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation of California. Contursi said that the coin was a "national treasure" and that he was proud to have been its "custodian" since 2003. Martin Logies, representative of the foundation that purchased the coin, said that of all the rarities he had seen, he believed that one was the "single most important of all".
Spanish dollar
The Spanish dollar is a silver coin, of approximately 38 mm diameter, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497. Its purpose was to correspond to the German thaler...
, which was popular in trade throughout the Americas.
In 1791, following a study by Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
, Congress passed a joint resolution
Joint resolution
In the United States Congress, a joint resolution is a legislative measure that requires approval by the Senate and the House and is presented to the President for his/her approval or disapproval, in exactly the same case as a bill....
calling for the establishment of a national mint. Later that year, in his third State of the Union address
State of the Union Address
The State of the Union is an annual address presented by the President of the United States to the United States Congress. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the president to outline his legislative agenda and his national priorities.The practice arises...
, President George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
urged Congress to provide for a mint, which was officially authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. Despite the authorization, silver and gold coins were not struck until 1794. The Flowing Hair dollar, designed by Robert Scot
Robert Scot
Robert Scot was the first Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from its inception in 1793 until his death in 1823. He was succeeded by William Kneass.-Early life:...
, was initially produced in 1794, and again in 1795. In October 1795 the design was replaced by the Draped Bust dollar.
In May 2005, a specimen striking from the 1794 production was sold in a private sale for $7.85 million, more than any other coin in history.
Background
Beginning in the 1780s, a number of prominent Americans called for the establishment of a central mint to supply the United States with official coinage; all such proposals failed due in large part to lack of funds and opposition from individuals and groups who preferred that coins be struck by the individual states. Since there were no federal coins issued, the needs of the states were fulfilled by a variety of domestic and foreign coins and tokens, including Spanish eight-realSpanish real
The real was a unit of currency in Spain for several centuries after the mid-14th century, but changed in value relative to other units introduced...
coins (popularly known as Spanish dollar
Spanish dollar
The Spanish dollar is a silver coin, of approximately 38 mm diameter, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497. Its purpose was to correspond to the German thaler...
s or pieces of eight).
In 1789, the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
, which granted Congress the power "to coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures", was ratified and came into force. The following year, Congress began deliberating on the state of the nation's monetary system and coinage. On January 28, 1791, Treasury Secretary
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
presented a report to Congress detailing the findings of a study he had conducted on the monetary system and the potential of a United States mint. As part of his study, Hamilton had a series of assay
Metallurgical assay
A metallurgical assay is a compositional analysis of an ore, metal, or alloy.Some assay methods are suitable for raw materials; others are more appropriate for finished goods. Raw precious metals are assayed by an assay office...
tests of Spanish dollars performed, as that was the coin upon which the United States monetary system would be based. After viewing the results, the secretary recommended that the silver content of the United States dollar be based on the average silver content of the reales tested. Hamilton's recommendation was that the dollar should contain 371.25 grains of silver and have a gross weight of 416 grains, the balance being copper. On March 3, 1791, after reviewing Hamilton's report, Congress passed a joint resolution
Joint resolution
In the United States Congress, a joint resolution is a legislative measure that requires approval by the Senate and the House and is presented to the President for his/her approval or disapproval, in exactly the same case as a bill....
authorizing a federal mint; the resolution, however, gave no specifics or appropriations.
Establishment of the Mint
In his third annual address to Congress, later known as the State of the Union addressState of the Union Address
The State of the Union is an annual address presented by the President of the United States to the United States Congress. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the president to outline his legislative agenda and his national priorities.The practice arises...
, delivered on October 25, 1791, in Philadelphia, President George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
urged members of Congress to put the joint resolution approved earlier that year into immediate effect:
The disorders in the existing currency, and especially the scarcity of small change, a scarcity so peculiarly distressing to the poorer classes, strongly recommend the carrying into immediate effect the resolution already entered into concerning the establishment of a mint. Measures have been taken pursuant to that resolution for procuring some of the most necessary artists, together with the requisite apparatus.
In response, the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
appointed a committee chaired by Robert Morris to draft the necessary specifications and legislation that would officially create a federal mint and coinage. The committee presented a bill before Congress on December 21, 1791, which stated in part that the new dollar coin (which was to form the basis of the United States monetary system) should contain 371 grains of silver and a total weight of 416 grains, as Hamilton had earlier recommended. The new silver coins were to be struck in an alloy containing 1,485 parts out of 1,664 (about 89.24 percent) fine silver, with the remainder copper, intended to equal the silver in Spanish dollars. However, an assay of the Spanish dollars was in error—they were in fact 65/72 silver (about 90.28 percent) with the remainder copper.
Obverse and reverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...
side of every coin struck by the new mint. The bill passed the Senate after debate, but it was altered in the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
to instead call for the head of an allegorical figure representing Liberty
Liberty (goddess)
Goddesses named for and representing the concept Liberty have existed in many cultures, including classical examples dating from the Roman Empire and some national symbols such as the British "Britannia" or the Irish "Kathleen Ni Houlihan"....
to appear. Upon returning to the Senate, the upper house insisted on its version of the design provision. The House rejected the provision for the second time and passed another version of the bill, after which the Senate concurred. The law, known as the Coinage Act of 1792, was signed into law on April 2, 1792, by President Washington. The Act provided for the creation of the United States Mint
United States Mint
The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...
, and appropriated money to meet the cost of construction of an appropriate facility, and for salaries for employees and officials. The denominations sanctioned under the Act were half cent
Half cent (United States coin)
First authorized on April 2, 1792 , the half cent coin was produced in the United States from 1793-1857. The half-cent piece was made of 100% copper. It was slightly smaller than a modern U.S. quarter. Diameters are: 22 mm , 23.5 mm and 23 mm ., Coinage was discontinued by the Act...
s, cents, half disme
Half dime
The half dime, or half disme, was a silver coin, valued at five cents, formerly minted in the United States.Some numismatists consider the denomination to be the first coin minted by the United States Mint under the Coinage Act of 1792, with production beginning on or about July 1792...
s, disme
Dime (United States coin)
The dime is a coin 10 cents, one tenth of a United States dollar, labeled formally as "one dime". The denomination was first authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. The dime is the smallest in diameter and is the thinnest of all U.S...
s, quarter dollar
Quarter (United States coin)
A quarter dollar, commonly shortened to quarter, is a coin worth ¼ of a United States dollar, or 25 cents. The quarter has been produced since 1796. The choice of 25¢ as a denomination, as opposed to 20¢ which is more common in other parts of the world, originated with the practice of dividing...
s, half dollar
Half dollar (United States coin)
Half dollar coins have been produced nearly every year since the inception of the United States Mint in 1794. Sometimes referred to as the fifty-cent piece, the only U.S. coin that has been minted more consistently is the cent.-Circulation:...
s, dollars, quarter eagle
Quarter Eagle
The quarter eagle was a coin issued by the United States with a denomination of two hundred and fifty cents, or two dollars and fifty cents. It was given its name in the Coinage Act of 1792, as a derivation from the US ten-dollar eagle coin...
s, half eagle
Half Eagle
The Half Eagle is a United States coin that was produced for circulation from 1795 to 1929 and in commemorative and bullion coins since the 1980s. Composed almost entirely of gold, it has a face value of five dollars...
s and eagle
Eagle (United States coin)
The eagle is a base-unit of denomination issued only for gold coinage by the United States Mint. It has been obsolete as a circulating denomination since 1933. The eagle was the largest of the four main decimal base-units of denomination used for circulating coinage in the United States prior to...
s. On July 31, 1792, the foundation stone of the Philadelphia Mint was laid by newly appointed Mint Director David Rittenhouse
David Rittenhouse
David Rittenhouse was a renowned American astronomer, inventor, clockmaker, mathematician, surveyor, scientific instrument craftsman and public official...
. Machinery and personnel began occupying the new building by September 1792, and production began on cents in February 1793. In the first year of production at the Mint, only copper coins were minted, as the prospective assayer could not raise the required $10,000 surety to officially assume the position; the 1792 Coinage Act stated that both the chief coiner and assayer were to "become bound to the United States of America, with one or more sureties to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury, in the sum of ten thousand dollars". Later that year, Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
appealed to Congress that the amount of the bonds be lowered. On March 3, 1794, Congress lowered the bonds to $5,000 and $1,000 for chief coiner and assayer, respectively.
Design creation
Early in 1794, engraver Robert ScotRobert Scot
Robert Scot was the first Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from its inception in 1793 until his death in 1823. He was succeeded by William Kneass.-Early life:...
began preparing designs for the silver dollar. Scot's initial design depicted a bust of Liberty, while his reverse featured an eagle, both required by the 1792 Coinage Act. Scot's design closely followed his design for the cent, but with the Phrygian cap
Phrygian cap
The Phrygian cap is a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward, associated in antiquity with the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia. In the western provinces of the Roman Empire it came to signify freedom and the pursuit of liberty, perhaps through a confusion with the pileus,...
removed. Government officials later instructed Scot to include a wreath around the eagle and to move the denomination from the reverse face to the edge of the coin. After receiving approval, Scot began engraving the hubs for the new silver dollar. Extra care was taken during the engraving of this denomination, because the dollar would be the largest American coin, and would thus receive the most scrutiny from foreign nations. The lettering was executed by Frederick Geiger, who had worked as a typographer for various books and newspapers. After the dies were created, several copper test pieces
Pattern coin
A pattern coin is a coin which has not been approved for release, produced for the purpose of evaluating a proposed coin design. They are often off-metal strikes, to proof standard or piedforts...
were struck. Officials decided to add fifteen stars around the periphery, representing the fifteen states that had ratified the Constitution to that point, to the right-facing Liberty on the obverse.
Minting
Now that mintage of the silver denominations could begin, the Mint began seeking depositors to bring in silver and gold bullion to be coined. After receiving several deposits, assayer Albion Cox notified Rittenhouse of his beliefs that the .892 standard approved for silver coinage was difficult to produce and that it would darken if put into circulation. Instead, Cox recommended that the purity be modified to .900 fine, but also that the weight be kept at 416 grains. This meant that the new alloy was contrary to statute and that all depositors would be overcharged for their silver bullion deposits, as there was a higher silver content in the coins than was allowed by the Coinage Act of 1792. The Mint's action in issuing overly fine dollars was approved by Jefferson and Hamilton, who expected Congress to ratify the change. However, Congress refused to do so. The Mint's action cost suppliers of silver about one percent of their deposit; the largest depositor, John Vaughan, reckoned his loss at $2,260. Congress approved his petition for reimbursement in 1800, after several delays.Before the coins could be struck, the edge lettering and devices had to be impressed on the edge of the planchet
Planchet
A planchet is a round metal disk that is ready to be struck as a coin. An older word for planchet is flan. They are also referred to as blanks.-History:The preparation of the flan or planchet has varied over the years...
s. This action was performed with a device known as Castaing machine; the machine stamped the edge with the words "Hundred Cents One Dollar or Unit" along with ornamentation. As production was inexact, many planchets intended for silver dollars were overweight. This was remedied by filing the face of the planchets; for this reason, the coins vary in weight more dramatically than later issues, which were minted with more precise equipment.
The first silver dollars were struck on October 15, 1794. The silver used for the 1794 dollar coins came from part of a large quantity of French billon
Billon (alloy)
Billon is an alloy of a precious metal with a majority base metal content . It is used chiefly for making coins, medals, and token coins.The word comes from the French bille....
coins deposited by the Bank of Maryland; as they were of a lower fineness than required, refining was necessary. In total, 1,758 acceptable silver dollars were produced in 1794. Those which were deemed unsuitable for circulation were either melted or restruck in 1795. The 1,758 coins that were officially delivered by Chief Coiner Henry Voight, though acceptable, struck poorly due to the press that was used during early production at the Mint, which was a man-powered screw press
Screw press
A screw press is a type of machine press in which the ram is driven up and down by a screw. The screw shaft can be driven by a handle, or a wheel. It works by using a coarse screw to convert the rotation of the handle or drive-wheel into a small downward movement of greater force. The overhead...
intended for use on coins no larger than a half dollar.
All acceptable 1794 dollars were paid to Rittenhouse. In an attempt to help circulate the coins, Rittenhouse spent many of the new coins and traded them for foreign coins in an effort to market the new products of the Mint. Others were distributed to VIPs and distinguished visitors to the Mint. After the initial production, Rittenhouse ordered all dollar coin production to end until Mint personnel could build a more powerful press that would be capable of better striking the coins. The New Hampshire Gazette wrote of the new dollar coins on December 2, 1794,
Some of the new dollars now coining at the Mint of the United States have found their way to this town. A correspondent put one in into the editor's hands yesterday. Its weight is equal to that of a Spanish dollar, but the metal appears finer ... The tout ensemble (entire design) has a pleasing effect to a connoisseur, but the touches of the[en] graver are too delicate, and there is a want of that boldness of execution which is necessary to durability and currency.
The new coinage press was completed in early 1795, and the first group of dollars, totalling 3,810 coins, was delivered on May 6. The coins struck on May 8 may have borne a 1794 date. A number of 1795 dollars (along with one 1794 issue) are known to have been struck with a silver plug set into the center, measuring approximately 8 millimetre (0.31496062992126 in). It is believed that this was done to correct the weight of underweight planchets. The total mintage for the second and final year of production is estimated at 160,295. In total, 203,033 silver dollars were struck in 1795, but it is unknown exactly how many of those were of the Flowing Hair type, as the Draped Bust
Draped bust
"Draped Bust" was the name given to a design of United States coins. It appeared on much of the regular-issue copper and silver United States coinage from 1795-1808. The denominations that featured the Draped Bust design included the half cent.-Basic design:...
dollar succeeded it in October 1795; the Draped Bust dollar was designed by portraitist Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Charles Stuart was an American painter from Rhode Island.Gilbert Stuart is widely considered to be one of America's foremost portraitists...
at the behest of Rittenhouse's successor as Mint Director, Henry DeSaussure.
Collecting
Throughout its history, the 1794 dollar has widely been considered one of the rarest and most valuable of all United States coins. In a September 1880 issue of The Coin Journal, the author noted that a good quality specimen of the 1794 dollar was valued at fifty dollars. In the early 1990s, numismatic historian Jack Collins estimated the surviving number of the coins to be between 120 and 130. In 2010, the finest known example, which was among the earliest coins struck and was prepared with special care, was sold in a private treaty sale for $7.85 million, the highest selling price of any coin in history. The dollar was graded Specimen-66 by the Professional Coin Grading ServiceProfessional Coin Grading Service
PCGS is the acronym for Professional Coin Grading Service a third party grading service for grading rare coins. Founded in 1986, and located in Newport Beach, CA., it is a subsidiary of Collector's Universe, Inc. , a company that also buys and sells rare coins and operates a rare comic book...
, notating the special conditions under which it was struck. The coin, which had previously been owned by Colonel E.H.R. Green
Edward Howland Robinson Green
Edward Howland Robinson "Ned" Green , also known as Colonel Green, was an American businessman, the only son of the notorious miser Hetty Green . He was also noted for his stamp and coin collections.-Biography:Edward Green was the first of two children of Hetty and Edward Henry Green...
, was sold by Steven L. Contursi, president of Rare Coin Wholesalers, to the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation of California. Contursi said that the coin was a "national treasure" and that he was proud to have been its "custodian" since 2003. Martin Logies, representative of the foundation that purchased the coin, said that of all the rarities he had seen, he believed that one was the "single most important of all".