(1828-29) Token HT-409 Brass Goodyear & Sons PA MS(PCGS#77312)

August 2019 ANA U.S. Coins Auction Rosemont, IL

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

413

等级

AU53

价格

42,351

详细说明

Legendary HT-409 Goodyear & Sons One of Just Two Specimen Known The Only Example in Private Hands Pennsylvania--Philadelphia. Undated (1828-1829) Goodyear & Sons. HT-409, Low-Unlisted, W-PA-130-10b. Rarity-8. Brass. Plain Edge. 29.2 mm. AU-53 (PCGS). Medal alignment. A legendary rarity in the Hard Times series, this is one of just two examples of HT-409 positively confirmed to exist, and the only one available for private ownership. Handsome antique brassy-gold surfaces with blushes of olive-gray iridescence. Both sides are satiny and overall smooth with most design elements boldly to sharply defined. A few light obverse scratches are noted for accuracy, as are a couple of shallow digs on the reverse. One of many highly significant, if not also a once-in-a-lifetime bidding opportunities from the Q. David Bowers Collection, we anticipate strong competition when this important rarity crosses the auction block. The significance of this variety has been known to numismatists since the 19th century. Today, only two specimens have been positively confirmed to exist: 1- PCGS AU-53. Ex George P. Hetrich Collection; Presidential Coin and Antique Company, Inc.'s sale of the Charles Litman Collection, December 2004, lot 115; Stephen L. Tanenbaum estate, October 2013; Steve Hayden, November 2013; Q. David Bowers. The present example. According to H. Joseph Levine in his cataloging for the Litman Collection, this piece is not ex Donald Miller, as sometimes reported. 2 - American Numismatic Society Collection. The plate token for the variety in both the 2015 Whitman Guide Book of Hard Times Tokensby Q. David Bowers and the Rulau Hard Times token reference. Historic auction appearances, perhaps earlier offerings of one or more of the specimens listed above, include: A - Ex W. Elliott Woodward's sale of the Levick Collection, 1884. B - Ex Lyman H. Low's sale of the Benjamin Betts Collection, January 1898. Bowers provides some interesting information about this company and its token in his Guide Book of Hard Times Tokens: "A. Goodyear & Son, founded by Amasa J. Goodyear, was in business through 1831 under the management of Amasa's son Charles, though it continued under the same name for some years after Charles gave up the management. Although the token says Sons, the singular, A. Goodyear & Son, is found in contemporary accounts. Whether this token was struck during the Hard Times era has been a matter of discussion. H. Joseph Levine commented: "'The fact that the Goodyear token was crafted with punches [that] first belonged to Richard Trested, does not necessarily mean that it was Richard Trested who did the work. Trested's business was purchased from his widow by Wright and Bale after his death and so it is quite possible, even probable, that they continued using his letter punches. Since the A. Goodyear and Son firm appears in the Philadelphia directories through 1833, it is entirely possible that the token was indeed struck by Wright and Bale, who themselves were in business until October of 1833.' "This is one of the most intricately engraved token in the series." Provenance: Ex George P. Hetrich Collection; Presidential Coin and Antique Company, Inc.'s sale of the Charles Litman Collection, December 2004, lot 115; Stephen L. Tanenbaum estate, October 2013; Steve Hayden, November 2013. Collector tag with attribution and (partially incorrect) provenance notes included.