1787 Brasher adds stops Santa Clara, St. Louis on unique coin's slate

Coin World
Monday March 21, 2005

Two exhibition dates have been added to the tour of the unique 1787 Brasher doubloon with designer's punch mark on the eagle's breast.

In addition to the previously announced exhibitions, the coin will be on display at the Santa Clara Coin, Stamp and Collectibles Expo March 31 to April 5, in California, and at the Central States Numismatic Society convention in St. Louis May 4 to 8.  Steven Contursi, the coin's owner (with Donald Kagin holding a one-third interest), recently announced that the coin would be displayed at coin shows in Long Beach, Calif.; Kansas City, Mo.; New York City; and San Francisco.

Contursi, the president of Rare Coin Wholesalers, in Dana Point, Calif., acquired the coin Jan. 12 in a Heritage Galleries auction in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.  The winning bid, $2,990,000 (including 15 percent buyer's fee), is the third highest price ever paid for a rare coin at a public auction.  Contursi called it "a bargain."

The coin is insured for $6 million for its planned exhibitions.

The coin was hand-struck in 1787 by George Washington's Cherry Street neighbor in New York City, goldsmith and silversmith Ephraim Brasher.

The fabled Brasher doubloon was the subject of a Raymond Chandler novel, The High Window, and a 1947 movie, The Brasher Doubloon, based on that Philip Marlowe detective story. 

The Brasher doubloon and the finest known 1794 Flowing Hair dollar (also owned by Contursi) will be together at the American Numismatic Association conventions April 8 to 10 in Kansas City and July 27 to 31 in San Francisco.

The Brasher coin by itself will be exhibited June 30 and July 1 at the New York Invitational Coin Show.