A most unusual offering in the Sydney F. Martin Collection was a copy of a 1776-dated Continental dollar by Professor Montroville Wilson Dickeson, overstruck on an 1876 Coronet $20 gold double eagle. Graded Mint State 64 by Professional Coin Grading Service, it is listed as HK-852b in the “so-called dollar” reference and the 1876 date and bottom of Liberty’s portrait from the host coin are visible.

Dickeson first published the American Numismatic Manual in 1859 and produced copies of the 1776-dated Continental dollar, reportedly to sell as souvenirs for the Centennial Exposition of 1876, though perhaps they were made earlier. Most of these Dickeson copies are struck in copper or white metal, with only around 50 known in silver and just a few in gold.

This seems to be the sole impression with a discernible host coin and Stack’s Bowers called it, “A leading rarity in the so-called dollar discipline, and a specimen that will also appeal to advanced collectors of Continental dollars,” before selling it for $30,000.

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