Kolbe & Fanning
Auction 165 3 Dec 2022
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The Baltimore Hoard
Fuller, Perry W. CATALOG. AUCTION SALE OF UNITED STATES GOLD UNEARTHED IN BALTIMORE MARYLAND BY THEODORE JONES AND HENRY GROB, MINORS. Baltimore, May 2, 1935. 8vo, original printed gray card covers. 16 pages; 438 lots. Near fine. Scarce. The story is the stuff of legends: over $11,000 in face value of U.S. gold coins from $1 to $20, dated 1834-1856 and apparently buried at about the time of the Civil War, were unearthed by Jones and Grob in the cellar of a building in Baltimore on August 31, 1934. Poorly catalogued (condition, though apparently generally excellent, was described only as "fine" or "very fine" and no branch mint-marks are noted for the nearly 3000 1849-1856 gold dollars in the sale), the hoard brought slightly under $20,000, most lots selling for little above bullion value. Only four coins were deemed worth of a note on rarity: a "very fine" 1856-O $20 is termed VERY RARE; a "very fine" 1849-O $10 is called RARE; inexplicably, a "fine scratch on date" 1841 $5 is termed VERY RARE; and a "Fine" 1847-O $5 is called RARE. Twenty-seven 1838-1855 Charlotte half eagles and twenty Dahlonega half eagles, nearly all "Very Fine," were included. Leonard Augsburger's Treasure in the Cellar tells the story of this remarkable hoard and its discovery. While Augsburger notes that 3000 copies of the catalogue were printed, only a small number have survived.
Estimate: 100 USD
Fuller, Perry W. CATALOG. AUCTION SALE OF UNITED STATES GOLD UNEARTHED IN BALTIMORE MARYLAND BY THEODORE JONES AND HENRY GROB, MINORS. Baltimore, May 2, 1935. 8vo, original printed gray card covers. 16 pages; 438 lots. Near fine. Scarce. The story is the stuff of legends: over $11,000 in face value of U.S. gold coins from $1 to $20, dated 1834-1856 and apparently buried at about the time of the Civil War, were unearthed by Jones and Grob in the cellar of a building in Baltimore on August 31, 1934. Poorly catalogued (condition, though apparently generally excellent, was described only as "fine" or "very fine" and no branch mint-marks are noted for the nearly 3000 1849-1856 gold dollars in the sale), the hoard brought slightly under $20,000, most lots selling for little above bullion value. Only four coins were deemed worth of a note on rarity: a "very fine" 1856-O $20 is termed VERY RARE; a "very fine" 1849-O $10 is called RARE; inexplicably, a "fine scratch on date" 1841 $5 is termed VERY RARE; and a "Fine" 1847-O $5 is called RARE. Twenty-seven 1838-1855 Charlotte half eagles and twenty Dahlonega half eagles, nearly all "Very Fine," were included. Leonard Augsburger's Treasure in the Cellar tells the story of this remarkable hoard and its discovery. While Augsburger notes that 3000 copies of the catalogue were printed, only a small number have survived.
Estimate: 100 USD