Stack’s Bowers Galleries is delighted to feature the incredible Lord St. Oswald-Norweb 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar as part of their August 2017 ANA World’s Fair of Money Auction in Denver, Colorado. This MS-64 (PCGS) example was last offered at public auction in the firm’s sale of the Norweb Collection in November 1988.
This incredible specimen has a fascinating but familiar story coming just two years after the sale of its sibling, the MS-66+ (PCGS) Lord St. Oswald-Ostheimer example, in the Stack’s Bowers Galleries D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part II sale. In that May 2015 auction, the Pogue counterpart realized an astounding $4,993,750, including the buyer’s premium.
These two 1794 silver dollars remained together for the first 170 years of their existence, until they were offered as part of the Lord St. Oswald cabinet by Christie’s in 1964. The pair had been obtained by English gentleman farmer William Strickland on his tour of the young United States from September 20, 1794 to July 29, 1795. During his visit, Strickland journeyed throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic, even meeting with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and with then-President George Washington at Mount Vernon. The two 1794 silver dollars were among a diverse group of 84 federal and pre-federal coins gathered during his 10 months in America. Centuries later, those two souvenirs would immortalize the legacy of William Strickland and his descendants through the Lord St. Oswald provenance.
The near-Gem Lord St. Oswald-Norweb specimen is among the finest survivors of America’s first silver dollar coinage and is one of the great treasures of U.S. numismatics. The surfaces are impeccably preserved and lustrous, with just gentle traces of planchet adjustment at the obverse border. The coin exhibits strong peripheral definition for the issue, with considerable pronouncement to the left obverse stars and corresponding legend on the reverse. Ranked as fourth finest in the Condition Census and third finest among Mint State examples seen by PCGS, this is a significant world-class rarity.
Over the years, Stack’s Bowers Galleries has handled the very finest 1794 dollars extant, including having sold every known Mint State example at least once over the past three decades. The Specimen-66 (PCGS) Carter-Cardinal-Morelan 1794 silver dollar, sold by the firm in January 2013, set the record for the highest auction price realized for any coin at over $10 million. Stack’s Bowers Galleries is pleased to once again have the opportunity to present the Lord St. Oswald-Norweb specimen in their auction of the ANA World’s Fair of Money this August in Denver, Colorado. Visit www.StacksBowers.com or call 1-800-458-4646 for more details.
