Offered is an outstanding and exceedingly rare Gem Mint State example of the historic 1776 Continental dollar. Predominantly satiny in texture, the surfaces also reveal modest semi-reflective tendencies under a light. The strike is expertly centered with all design elements boldly defined, and many sharply so.
Subtle olive highlights enhance otherwise silver gray patina. Both sides are remarkably smooth and as close to pristine as we have seen in a Continental dollar of any type in recent years. One of the most important and desirable offerings in our Rarities Auction, this coin would serve as the focal point in an advanced collection of early Federal era coinage or Americana.The Continental dollar is one of the most desirable of all early American numismatic items. Whenever we offer a high grade example it is a special occasion and even among high grade pieces, only a handful have commanded the MS-65 grade. There are very few instances in American numismatics where you will find the all-important date, 1776, other than on a few obscure and rare copper pieces and some paper money.
The enigmatic and historic 1776-dated Continental dollars as they are known are believed to have been authorized by the Continental Congress. In our (Stacks) October 2003 sale of Part I of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, the cataloger described the Continental pieces as follows:"The 1776 Continental dollars were struck in three different metals: silver, brass, and pewter. The die emission sequences for the 1776 Continental dollars show that they were all struck interchangeably, with brass pieces struck first followed by some pewters, then some more brass ones, then silvers and pewters together, and so on. In other words, the Continental dollars were not trials or patterns or die set-up pieces. The coiners meant them to have some use as coins even if we cannot figure out what that purpose was."Some 239 years after the date on the Continental dollars, we are still on the trail of their full history, although pieces of the puzzle surface on rare occasions. Dave Bowers and a number of others hold to the possibility that these metal coins were substitutes for paper Continental dollars of the same denomination and with certain of the same design elements. However, no congressional authorization has been found, nor have any specific records of mintage location and quantity. One fact we can state with confidence is that all Continental dollars are eagerly sought by collectors. Their value has skyrocketed in recent decades, and we dont foresee any let-up, especially for the small number of Mint State survivors.
As the single finest certified example of the pewter variety with the correct spelling of the word CURRENCY, this remarkable Gem is one of the most desirable Continental dollars available to todays collectors. This coin, the finest graded by either service, is bound to draw bids from every direction when it crosses the block at Sothebys on October 1.
