Mint Mark Mania

Many collectors today will be surprised to learn that 19th century American numismatists generally paid little attention to mint marks.  The typical collectors put together date runs, often proofs, and an 1873 proof Seated dollar was just as good as an uncirculated example of the same year from the Carson City Mint. This all changed in 1893 with the publication of Augustus Heaton’s A Treatise on the Coinage of the United States Branch Mints (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/512404).  Heaton’s motivation to delve into mint marks is explained in the preface of the work – “The writer, a few years since, after enriching his almost complete collection of silver and minor issues of the parent institution [Philadelphia Mint] with all attainable varieties, became much interested in gathering United States coinage bearing the letters to which he has referred. The attraction of his pursuit grew with each piece acquired, each series completed, and each unknown variety found, until his modern dates quite divided his consideration with the old.” Here we see the timeless quality of a numismatist – the desire to explore the unknown and to document the findings. Not to mention that an interesting collection can be assembled in the course of the work! These characteristics are all operative today, and any number of authors are systematically researching die varieties and documenting discoveries in a variety of formats.Heaton’s work was first announced in the Numismatist in May, 1893 (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/512969, p. 90). A book on a new collecting topic is a fine thing, but the corresponding market won’t gain traction without collectors and dealers rallying around the concept. Edouard Frossard’s sale of the Friesner collection in June 1894 (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=510789&AuctionId=511389) was well-timed in this regard. The cataloger remarked in the preface “Mr. Friesner made the collecting of the Silver Coins of the Branch Mints of New Orleans, San Francisco, and Carson City a specialty. His arrangement of the Coins under these sub-heads has been preserved , and forms a happy innovation in classification, which will no doubt be appreciated by the many Collectors interested in the subject.” In creating the catalog, Frossard arranged offerings by mint mark rather than strictly by denomination as is the custom today. Frossard’s novel approach was copied by other catalogers well into the 20th century. Among the Liberty Seated delicacies in the Carson City group (p. 29) were an 1873-CC dollar (realized $9.25), 1870-CC quarter (realized $4.00) and an 1872-CC dime (realized $0.60). An 1838-O half dollar, by this time more appreciated than the relatively recent Carson City coinage, hammered at $113.  (Lest the reader consider this is a “bargain,” a few strokes on the calculator reveal a 7% annual return on the investment, assuming a value of $500,000 today.  This is substantially lower than the return on the stock market over the same period.)While Frossard the dealer did his part to promote the branch mint concept, two collectors fueled the fire.  One was Heaton himself.  The July 1894 Numismatist commented “the mint marks of the Friesner collection formed the most profitable part of the sale. Heaton’s Treatise on the Coinage of the Branch Mints is the only guide to this line of coin study and indispensable to American collections.….[Heaton] obtained at the Friesner sale the 1838-O mint half-dollar and the 1842-O quarter-dollar, paying for the former $113.00. He only needs now, we believe, the 1873-S dollar and C.C. 1873 dime without arrows to complete his series of mint marks.”  The Numismatist also printed this tidbit – “J. M. Clapp also obtained a long line of prizes at the Friesner sale.  He has lately taken up the collection of gold as well as silver mint marks.”  The Clapp name needs little introduction, as advanced collectors all know that the Clapp coins formed the lion’s share of the spectacular branch Mint silver in the Eliasberg collection, sold by Bowers & Merena in 1996 and 1997.With two high-powered collectors and a prominent dealer on board, the stage was set, and today we can hardly imagine collecting U.S. coins without serious consideration of mint marks.  The only mystery remaining is the disposition of the Heaton coins. Heaton was a president of the New York Numismatic Club, a position generally associated with significant collections. Two Heaton consignments are found in Thomas Elder sales of February and June 1926 (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=23&AuctionId=513413 and https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=23&AuctionId=513415) but the material is minimal and not pertinent to this discussion. David Stone and Mark Van Winkle note in their recent monograph on the 1838-O half dollar that the Heaton collection sold intact to the Baltimore collection Waldo Newcomer. While a few coins survive with the Heaton pedigree (the 1838-O half dollar sold at the 2008 Central States sale), it is a pity that today’s market lacks a more available supply of branch Mint coins that can be traced to this foundational collection.