A Lord Saint Oswald specimen of the 1794 dollar, Graded MS-66+ by PCGS and considered one of the finest 1794 dollars known sold for US$4,993,750 (Including Buyer’s Premium) in The D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part II sale presented by auctioneers Stacks Bowers Galleries and Sotheby’s in New York City on 30 September 2015.
The coin was acquired in Philadelphia after its mintage by British author and House of Lords member William Strickland. After nearly 170 years stored in his family’s coin cabinet, in 1964, the 1794 Flowing Hair dollar appeared in a London Christie’s auction as “the property of Major the Lord St. Oswald, M.C.” The title belonged to a 48-year-old member of the House of Lords named Rowland Denys Guy Winn. The coins sold with his name had descended through his family for generations, housed in a beautiful 18th century coin cabinet made by Thomas Chippendale himself for the family estate, known as Nostell Priory, in Yorkshire.
The coin was acquired for a bid of £4000 by an American woman, Jacque C. Ostheimer and placed into the Ostheimer Collection. Mrs. Ostheimer looked at both 1794 dollars from the Lord St. Oswald consignment and adjudged this the superior one, noting in her catalog that it had the “best strike.” She called it “gem.”
In January 2013, a superb Gem Specimen example 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar sold for USD$10,016,875 in Stack’s Bowers Cardinal Collection auction.
Another top seller in the sale a 1795 Capped Bust Right Eagle, also known as the Garrett Eagle. It fetched US$2,585,000 including buyer premium. The 1795 Capped Bust Right Eagle. Bass Dannreuther-4. Rarity-5. 13 Leaves. Graded Mint State-66+ by PCGS is the largest denomination authorized by the Mint Act of 1792 and the finest known example of the first $10 gold coin.
The remaining Pogue coin auctions are scheduled for 2016, on Feb. 18, May 19 and Sep. 22.
