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THE 1866 NO MOTTO SEATED LIBERTY DOLLAR

With only two examples known to collectors today, the 1866 NoMotto Seated Liberty dollar is so rare that most collectors tend tooverlook the issue.When discussing the rarest and most valuable U.S. coins, theconversation usually focuses on more famous issues, like the1804 dollar (15 examples known), the 1913 Liberty nickel (fivespecimens extant) or the 1894-S Barber dime (nine survivorsknown). The much more elusive 1866 No Motto dollar is seldom mentioned, as its public offerings occur so infrequently that thecoin remains out-of-sight and out-of-mind for most collectors. Itsavailability is further diminished because one of the two knownspecimens is impounded in the National Numismatic Collectionat the Smithsonian Institution, where no collector will everacquire it.

Against this backdrop of relative anonymity, Heritage Auctionsis offering the only available example of this overlooked rarityin its April 2021 catalog of Important Selections from the BobR. Simpson Collection, Part V. Hopefully, this high-visibilityappearance will increase collector interest in the 1866 No Mottodollar, one of the rarest issues in American coinage.

'TRANSITIONAL' PATTERNS
The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added to the design of theregular-issue Seated Liberty dollar, half dollar and quarter in1866. At some point, early pattern specialist Robert CoultonDavis obtained a set of the three silver denominations dated 1866that were struck without the motto. The coins were reportedly"transitional" patterns, struck before the design change tookplace, but most numismatists agree they were actuallyfantasy pieces, struck specifically for sale to Davis.Interestingly, Dick Osburn and Brian Cushinghave identified the obverse die as the sameone used to strike some proof With MottoSeated Liberty dollars in 1866 (the OCP2 variety). Similarly, they identify thereverse die as the same one used tostrike some extremely rare proof 1865Seated Liberty dollars (the OC-P1variety). The dies appear to be inthe same state during all these uses.Since both obverse and reverse dieswere on hand in the Mint in 1866, itis possible that the 1866 No Mottodollars were actually struck thatyear, but most numismatists believethey were struck later, in the 1869-1870 time frame.

Chief Coiner Archibald LoudonSnowden was probably the man whostruck the 1866 No Motto coins for Davis.He seems to have liked the idea so much that he struck a second example of the dollar for himself. Snowdenacquired a massive collection of patterns and other rarities duringhis service at the Mint, which lasted for decades. He was able topurchase the coins by exchanging an equivalent value in coinsor bullion for them, a practice that remained legal for Mintemployees until the 1930s.

R.C. Davis retained his set of No Motto coins for manyyears, but the set was split up after his death in 1888. Thecoins followed different paths until Willis duPont succeeded inrejoining them all in 1961. The set was stolen, along with the restof duPont's collection, in a daring armed robbery in 1967. Allthree coins were eventually recovered and returned to duPont,with the dollar being the last to surface in 2004. Afterward, theset was exhibited at the ANA Money Museum for an extendedperiod before being donated to the National NumismaticCollection in 2014.

Snowden's dollar has an equally interesting history. Snowdenheld on to his hoard of rarities until long after he retired, but hebegan selling off some of his coins in the early 20th century. Hismost notable transaction involved the two 1877 fifty-dollar HalfUnion patterns in gold, which he sold to prominent collectorWilliam H. Woodin for the unheard-of price of $20,000, throughJohn W. Haseltine and Stephen Nagy. The public became awareof this transaction, due to some articles Edgar Adams publishedin The Numismatist, and a strong feeling developed that thecoins should never have been released from government holdings.After much legal maneuvering, Woodin agreed to return the HalfUnions to the Mint, Snowden kept the money, but surrenderedhis hoard of numismatic treasures to Woodin in exchange. Inthis manner, Woodin acquired examples of more than half thepatterns listed in the Adams-Woodin pattern reference that waspublished in 1913, several 1884 Trade dollars, all five 1885 Tradedollars and many other rarities, including Snowden's 1866 NoMotto dollar.

FAMOUS COLLECTIONS
Like many collectors over the years, William Woodin seems tohave underrated the 1866 No Motto dollar, as he soon sold it toH.O. Granberg, along with the No Motto quarter and half dollarhe had acquired earlier. The new set was exhibited at the 1914ANS Exhibition and later passed through the famous collectionsof F.C.C. Boyd, "Colonel" Green and King Farouk, beforebeing split up again (the quarter and half dollar were eventuallyacquired by duPont, to reconstitute the set). The Snowden dollar then appeared in a string of Stack's auctions in the 1960s, andwas finally featured in lot 31 of the Kennywood Collection(American Numismatic Rarities, 1/2005), which realized asubstantial $1,207,500. The coin has been in Bob Simpson'sremarkable collection ever since.

Designated Judd-540 in the leading pattern reference, the1866 No Motto Seated Liberty dollar is a sought-after prize foradvanced collectors of patterns and Seated Liberty dollars alike.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
QUIZ ANSWER: ROBERT COULTON DAVIS(https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n10a08.html)