"A featured lot in the upcoming 25th Anniversary auction sale of rare and out of print numismatic literature conducted by George Frederick Kolbe/Fine Numismatic Books discloses, for the first time, the true origin of the "Berg Specimen" of the 1804 dollar. The sale, featuring the fifth and concluding part of the Harry Bass library, closes on March 10, 2001, twenty-five years and ten days after the firm held its first auction sale of rare and out of print numismatic literature on February 28, 1976.

In "The Fantastic 1804 Dollar," Newman and Bressett wrote that "O. H. Berg is said to have obtained this dollar in 1875 from Messrs. Koch & Co., of Vienna." And in Q. David Bowers recent work on 1804 silver dollars, he writes that the pedigree for the coin "is conjectural before circa 1875." That is no longer true.

Present in the March 10th final Bass sale is Captain John Haseltine's personal copy of his March 30, 1876 "Centennial Coin and Curiosity Sale." Strange as it may seem today, the presence of an 1804 dollar in the sale is not mentioned in the catalogue title or introduction, and Haseltine devoted only four lines of text to its description. In the catalogue, Haseltine records all of the absentee bids and the bidders' names. Several absentee bidders placed bids on the 1804 dollar but Haseltine's handwritten notes in the catalogue indicate that it ended up being purchased by Haseltine for $395.00 on behalf of O. H. Berg. This new information also corrects conjecture concerning the origin of the Amon Carter 1804 silver dollar sold by Stack's in 1984.

In all, the March 10, 2001 Bass sale features 1117 lots, estimated to bring over $100,000.00, mostly pertaining to American numismatics, including many seldom seen works on American coins, medals, tokens, and paper money. Catalogues may be obtained by sending $10.00 to the firm [$5.00 to NBS members]. The catalogue is also available at the firm's web site: http://www.numislit.com/"

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