We recently purchased the DeCoppet Collection of early silver dollars in competitive bidding against nearly every name dealer. - James Kelly, Kellys Coins and Chatter, April 1955As richly original as any dollar in the Pogue Collection, this coin has the provenance to match its exemplary toning and superb visual appeal. The surfaces glow with old color, ranging from deep pewter gray to blue and gray that recall the Sultan of Muscat-Pogue 1804 dollar. The luster is strong, radiant from lightly reflective fields. Firmly struck details are seen on both sides, with softness in just the first three obverse stars and a few of the stars in the reverse cluster. Scattered marks and handling require scrutiny to find, including batches of shallow scrapes left of and above 17 of the date, a dull mark under B of LIBERTY, and trivial nicks on Libertys exposed shoulder. Some toning specks reside in the recesses of the shield. A series of well hidden remnants of planchet adjustment blend into the reverse periphery from 9:00 to 11:00, mostly affecting STATES and the clouds below.Andre DeCoppet (sometimes rendered deCoppet) was among the wealthiest American collectors of his era. A Wall Street securities trader, DeCoppet specialized in "odd-lots," transactions of fewer than 100 shares. Born in 1892, the year after his father founded the firm of DeCoppet and Doremus, Andre joined the firm upon the death of his father in 1916, just a year after graduating Princeton. When he died in 1953, Princeton became the recipient of the collection for which DeCoppet is most renowned: a world-class assemblage of American historical manuscripts that focused on the founding fathers and the era of the American Revolution.DeCoppets attraction to this era of history apparently inspired his interest in numismatics as well, as he formed a collection of 390 early dollars dated 1794 to 1803. DeCoppet apparently dabbled in other areas; his collection of English gold coins was sold by Tom Warfields Associated Coin Company in 1955, and DeCoppet may have acquired a group of early quarters from the Col. E.H.R. Green estate from Abe Kosoff. His numismatic legacy rests on his early dollars, however, which were purchased by James Kelly from his estate in early 1955.An article in The Asylum of Winter 2007 by W. David Perkins called DeCoppets collection "more likely an accumulation or hoard than a die variety collection," which may be unfair given the extraordinary level of connoisseurship he showed in gathering his collection of early American manuscripts. Perkins rested this contention largely upon the fact that the coins came to Kelly unattributed by die variety, a service accomplished by specialist Frank Sterling after Kellys acquisition. Given the passage of time between DeCoppets death and the sale of his coins, they could have well been separated from identifying envelopes or cabinet drawers, packed away by unappreciative family members or trustees, or involved in some similar misadventure. The lack of rare die varieties does suggest these were not his main interest.Perkins article also included a reminiscence from Randolph Zander recalling "the huge accumulation of choice gold and crowns belonging to a Mr. de Coppet, a prominent dealer in odd lots on Wall Street." DeCoppets eye for quality evidently led him to select this coin from among the pieces from the Col. E.H.R. Green estate sold by B.G. Johnson in the early 1940s. Upon DeCoppets passing, James Kelly sang the praises of its "beautiful, lustrously toned surface," noting it was "from the Colonel Green Collection and one of the finest specimens known." When New Netherlands Coin Company sold it the following year, Walter Breen noted "Libertys head almost cameo like" against "a magnificent, mirror surface blue, rose, and steel." T. James Clarke, one of the top connoisseurs of his era, called this coin "finest known." The Amon Carter coin offers competition, but this remains one of the prettiest and most evocative Heraldic Eagle dollars in this collection.