Danish West Indies (1850) 50 cents
This specimen was lot 22323 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (Newport Beach, CA, January 2021), where it sold for $57,600. The catalog description[1] noted,
"DANISH WEST INDIES. Danish West Indies - USA. 50 Cents, ND (1850). Frederik VII. NGC MS-62. Authorized by local degcree June 1850 by Governor Peder Hasen. Incuse crowned script FR VII monogram on an 1848 USA Seated Half Dollar. The countermark on the obverse is deeply applied and lustrous with bold crisp design features exhibiting minor signs of being struck multiple times for a strong application of the punch. An EXTRMELY RARE type with only about 4-5 known examples for this host date with an excellent provenance going back to 1887. An absolutely stunning representative of this mid-19th century West Indies issue sure to see spirited bidding from advanced collectors actively looking for old pedigrees. As documented by Somod and as the accepted information on of these seldom-encountered issues, the below cited examples housed in the Danish Royal Collection have been used for comparison since they have been in the possession of Danish officials since the date of issuance.
"Governor of the Danish West Indies Peder Hansen buys in the US at d'herrer Finlay & Co. $ 7,700, - in small coins consisting of half and quarter dollars and 10, 5 and 1 cents. Of this, before September 28, 1850, he sent a nominal $ 1,140 in circulation, of which the half and a quarter dollars are counter-marked. On 28 September 1850, the Government of the Caribbean submits to the Colonial Central Board of Copenhagen two coins with a registered royal name digit. In 1856 the coins are in the colonial office. (National Archives, Copenhagen, West Indian Journal 1850 no. 1006 and 1856 no. 1033.)"
The two coins in the Danish Royal Collection are:
1) USA 1/2 dollar 1849
2) USA 1/4 dollar 1849
Ex: Brunn Rasumssen (2/78) Lot # 652. Ex: Representative Chr. Helming Collection (Copenhagen 4/52) Lot # 76. Ex: O. Blom Carlsen Collection (Copenhagen 1938) Lot # 67. Ex: L. E. Bruun Collection Duplicates (Copenhagen 1925) Lot # 4374. Ex: C. Bech, Slagelse Collection (Copenhagen 1906) Lot # 1423. Ex: Alfred Benzon, died 1884, Collection (Copenhagen 1887) Lot # 3305. Plated in the Numismatist Vol. XLI No. 1 January 1928 "The Coinage of the Danish West Indies, or Virgin Islands" by O.B. Carlsen, Chicago Ill. Pg. 10 No. 8 (plate Coin)."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: host coin 13.36 g, 0.900 fine silver, 30.6 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-27; Somod-Fig. 27 (plate coin); H-24.
- Byrne, Ray, Coins and Tokens of the Caribees, Decatur, IL: Jess Peters, Inc., 1975.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Siegs Møntcatalog 2016: Danmark med Omrader, 48 ed., Frederikssund, Siegs Forlag ApS, 2015.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The January 2021 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Oro del Nuevo Mundo and Matt Orsini Collections, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2020.
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