Sierra Leone 1791 dollar KM-6
This specimen was lot 30710 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Chicago, August 2022), where it sold for $1,200. The catalog description[1] noted, "SIERRA LEONE. Dollar, 1791. Birmingham (Soho) Mint. PCGS Genuine--Cleaned, AU Details. Only lightly handled and moderately cleaned, this example of the always demanded type offers a sharp strike and soft color throughout. Light wear persists across the surfaces, though this remains a presentable example for the collector of world crowns." This type was struck under contract for a chartered company attempting to found a settlement in Sierra Leone for Black freedmen. The initial group of settlers were only a few hundred and the colony did not become properly established until after 1808, when the British Royal Navy began dumping freed captives there from illegal slave ships. The Soho Mint retained the dies and restruck many varieties for collectors, including in copper and gilt copper. This type has "100" above and below the clasped hands; KM 7 shows a "1".
Recorded mintage: 6,560 plus 40 proofs plus various restrikes.
Specification: 0.902 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-6.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The 2022 ANA Auction - Ancients & World Coins - Featuring The Salton Collection Part III, the Augustana Collection and the Robert C. Knepper Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
Link to: