This is perhaps the most legendary and most discussed 1795 Flowing Hair dollar extant, a coin that received celebratory commentary from numismatic insiders and realized a million-dollar price at a small Philadelphia auction. Considered a special or specimen strike by many cognoscenti, this dollar has been considered something of a companion coin to the Garrett-Pogue 1795 Draped Bust dollar, graded Specimen-66 by PCGS, the only 1795 dollar of any type to be certified as a Specimen by PCGS. This coin displays fully detailed devices standing out from reflective surfaces in bold contrast, fields spectacularly bathed in violaceous and chalybeous toning, framed with pale champagne gold around peripheral elements. From boldly delineated denticles to bold central devices, all major details stand out in relief, including each individual star center. On the reverse, the eagle's feathers are crisp, showing each shaft and curve, and his head likewise shows details of the eye and beak that are rarely found so well struck. His breast is a bit soft, showing traces of light adjustment marks in the region. Light vestiges of adjustment marks are seen above much of the reverse legend, affecting neither lettering nor denticles in a measurable way, yielding to very square and firmly struck rims. No significant adjustment marks are seen on the obverse. Both sides are free from major contact marks, with just a couple of minor contact points in the central right obverse field and lower left obverse field, and only trivial hairlines under well-lit magnified scrutiny. With its deep, rich toning, subtly blended from rim to centers, this dollar presents exquisite visual appeal along with unparalleled technical excellence. The die state is typical, before lapping removed a tiny extraneous piece from right of the left ribbon end on the reverse.
Coins like this, clearly struck so carefully, upon planchets whose reflectivity suggests special pre-striking preparation, have long been accorded particular respect and premium values. Aside from being the finest known 1795 Flowing Hair dollar, many connoisseurs consider this a specimen strike, a "master coin" produced with much the same intent and preparation as Proof coins of a later era. There is no set of standards for such determinations, nor is there a single arbiter, but when this specimen was sold in 2005, most experienced numismatists left lot viewing astonished and in near-uniform agreement that this coin was something truly special.
It was sold in a little publicized sale held in Center City Philadelphia in 2005 by the estimable Catherine Bullowa, then 85 years old and in her 52nd year in the coin business. The last 56 lots were headlined "these are some of my favorite things," described as "the ones that spoke to me, and in some cases, sang to me." Mrs. Bullowa had "been the loving keeper of these pieces for some 50 to 60 years," she recalled in a 2013 interview, adding that this dollar had been acquired from a collector in 1965 as part of a larger cabinet. Selling the remainder of the collection over time, she never parted with this dollar until the now-legendary 2005 auction. Recalling the moment it sold for a seven-figure sum, Mrs. Bullowa said "I was ready to faint. I didn’t even know how to write a million! But Ron Guth was the auctioneer and he helped me." The catalog was written by her friend Anthony Terranova, a renowned New York City dealer, who described this coin's "prooflike surfaces with deep mirror effect" and called it "very similar to Amon Carter’s 1794 dollar," the Specimen-66 (PCGS) Cardinal Collection example that holds the record for most valuable coin ever sold.
This coin was the highlight of an auction that recalled the Philadelphia auctions of a century ago, an event that is still talked about by the numismatists who were present. Since that time, no 1795 dollar has ever been graded higher than MS-65+, leaving this, alone, atop the PCGS Population Report. David Hall has singled it out on the PCGS CoinFacts site as “the finest known example,” an opinion that will provoke no disagreement from those who have had the opportunity to hold it in-hand.
PCGS# 6852. NGC ID: 24WZ.
Publications: Bowers, Q. David. The Encyclopedia of United States Silver Dollars 1794-1804, 2013, p. 89.
Provenance: Catherine Bullowa Collection, by purchase, 1965; Catherine Bullowa's (Coinhunter) sale of December 2005, lot 393.
