In 1989, when William Metcalf of the American Numismatic
Society invited me to give a presentation on United States gold coins as part of
the Coinage of the Americas Conference held in New York City, I desired to
illustrate my talk with illustrations of famous American rarities. Elvira
Clain-Stefanelli and Cory Gillilland of the Smithsonian Institution, and their
staff, obliged by furnishing color transparencies of the rarest of the rare in
the National Collection, including a prize 1933 $20 piece which they can legally
hold, even if private collectors can't. Also shown were other treasures,
including the unique pattern 1849 $20 and two varieties, each unique, of the
famous 1877 gold $50 patterns. At one time it was proposed that coins of the
latter denomination be produced for circulation, to be called the "half
union," but the idea never progressed beyond pattern form. However, in
California 1851 and 1852 $50 pieces were produced under the auspices of the
United States government and circulated widely. Years later, in 1915,
commemorative $50 pieces were produced in connection with the Panama-Pacific
International Exposition.
Budget Recommendations: No recommendations here, as
low-grade Saint-Gaudens $20 pieces are apt to be quite unattractive. Consider
what I have to say under the following listing.
Recommendations for the Connoisseur: Start with buying one
of each major type, including the MCMVII (if you can afford it, I highly
recommend owning a specimen of this gorgeous design), the 1907-1908 Arabic
numerals without motto, and the 1908-1933 with motto. I like MS-63 and MS-64
grades. You might want to consider building a date and mintmark set, for most
issues are inexpensive. You may never acquire the rarities of the 1920s, but
still a very nice basic collection can be formed, and it is easy to complete a
set of the early years 1907-1916.
Elite Recommendations: Aspire to build a set in MS-64 to
MS-65 grade. You will be flying with the eagles, financially and otherwise, for
the atmosphere is rarefied, especially when it comes to certain of the
later-date issues!
COMMEMORATIVE COINS
Buying Recommendations
Commemorative Silver Coins
As noted earlier, the first official United States
commemorative coin was really the 1848 CAL. gold quarter eagle, of which 1,389
were minted, but standard reference books do not recognize this, and it is
"proper" to state that the first commemorative coin was the 1892
Columbian silver half dollar. The spectrum of American commemorative coinage is
broad. Each design has its own story, and as there are dozens of different
designs, a recitation of the background of each would make a book in its own
right. Indeed, several authors have written such books, B. Max Mehl, David E.
Bullowa, Anthony Swiatek, Don Taxay, and Walter Breen among them. The
Swiatek-Breen work, The Encyclopedia of U.S. Silver and Gold Commemorative Coins
1892-1989 is a must for every library. My effort, Commemorative Coins of the
United States: A Complete Encyclopedia, was published in 1991. An organization
devoted to the study of the subject, the Society for U.S. Commemorative Coins,
is one of the most enthusiastic groups in numismatics. Membership is highly
recommended and will entitle you to a subscription to The Commemorative Trail.
