HERITAGE OFFERS EDWARD ROEHRS COLLECTION OF U.S. REGULATED GOLD This
announcement is taken from the Heritage Auctions Coin News email
published yesterday (Saturday, June 5, 2010). -Editor
We
are proud to present the intriguing Edward Roehrs Collection
of U.S. Regulated Gold, including 73 different
examples, at the Official World Coin Auction of the Boston
ANA World's Fair of Money, August 8-16, 2010.
One of the most fascinating and important
episodes in America's coinage history occurred in the early
national period. Ephraim Brasher's "EB" counterstamp,
so well known thanks to the famous Brasher doubloons, was
part of a much wider process in Confederation-era New York.
Various jewelers were authorized to weigh and correct coin
weights to ensure that the important trade with West Indies
used foreign gold coins at their full value.
Thus, we find the counterstamps of Regulators
Ephraim Brasher, John Burger, Joseph Richardson, Robert
Cruikshank, Myer Myers, and Daniel Van Voorhis, on host
coins from several countries, especially punches applied
to gold plugs inserted to raise weight/gold content, including
Brazil, Portugal, and England. Plus, this collection will
include newly discovered goldsmiths whose products will
be offered publicly for the first time.
This ingenious solution, using well-known
goldsmiths to mark or plug coins, became widespread throughout
the West Indies and it has been within collections of that
specialty that many of these important American artifacts
have long hid from view. The usual rules of numismatic value
do not apply to these "Regulated" coins. Their
enhanced value is created by actions that would reduce the
value of other coins, such as drilling, plugging, and counterstamping.
Indeed, these dynamic processes enrich their history and
value, then the history of any individual regulated coin
is further amended by actions taking place after regulation.
Regulated
gold coins were typically
found only in the most advanced collections formed in the
early 20th century (and often very few examples) such as
Garrett, Eliasberg, Ten Eyck, Ford, Roper, Brand, Jackman,
and Newcomer. The few surviving examples often come with
impressive pedigrees.
This catalog, with new research on smiths, weight standards,
and provenance, will become a textbook in a field that
has suffered from a lack of information. Reserve your
copy now, and plan to participate in one of the most important
specialized offerings of early American coins ever held.
France: Louis XV Louis
d'or aux lunettes 1735-R. Orleans mint. EB mark in oval
for Ephraim Brasher.
Brazil: Jose I 6400 reis 1758-R. Rio mint.
EB mark in oval for Ephraim Brasher, F+G mark in oval for
Lewis Fueter and G.
England: George III guinea 1775. Script
JB monogram for John Burger.
Brazil: Joao V 12800 reis 1730-M. Minas
Gerais mint. IR mark for Joseph Richardson, Jr.
Chile: Carlos III 8 escudos 1775 DA. Santiago
mint. EB in oval for Ephraim Brasher.
Brazil: Jose I 6400 reis 1771-R. Rio mint.
MM mark for Myer Myers.
Portugal: Joao V 6400 reis 1739. Lisbon
mint. EB mark for Ephraim Brasher. F&G mark for Lewis
Fueter and G.
Brazil: Joao V 6400 reis 1739-B. Bahia
mint. F&G mark of Lewis Fueter and G.
Brazil: Jose I 6400 reis 1756-R. Rio mint.
Marked RH for Richard Humphreys.
Brazil: Jose I 6400 reis 1753-B. Bahia
mint. DV for Daniel Van Voorhis.
Brazil: Joao V 6400 reis 1737-B. Bahia
mint. TP for Thomas Pons, Boston
73 different examples! What a marvelous collection,
and a challenge to put together. I doubt one could see this
many examples of these coins in one place anywhere else. This
catalog sounds like a "keeper". But where did the
term "regulated gold" come from? I don't recall
seeing it before.