1776 HK-853a, Bashlow Restrike Dollar

Coin Details

Auction Record

$176 MS65RD 02-07-2021 David Lawrence RC

Description

Cataloged as HK-853a, this Continental Dollar restrike carries the legendary FUGIO sundial and linked-rings design attributed to Benjamin Franklin. The Continental Currency Dollar of 1776 is one of the most iconic pieces in early American numismatics. Its obverse features a sundial with the sun's rays, the Latin motto FUGIO ('I fly,' referring to time), and MIND YOUR BUSINESS — a rebus attributed to Benjamin Franklin meaning 'time flies, so attend to your affairs.' The reverse displays thirteen linked rings, each bearing a colony's name, surrounding AMERICAN CONGRESS and WE ARE ONE. Dies were cut by Elisha Gallaudet, a New York engraver, who struck the pieces using a makeshift private mint in Freehold, New Jersey. The original was produced in pewter, brass, and silver, though no contemporaneous authorization from the Continental Congress has been found. After completing production, Bashlow donated the dies to the Smithsonian Institution, ensuring that mintage figures could never increase. Prof. Montroville W. Dickeson produced Continental Dollar copies during the 1876 United States Centennial celebration in Philadelphia. Thomas K. DeLorey's planchet analysis corrected the earlier attribution of these pieces to Thomas L. Elder. Dickeson struck pieces primarily in white metal (hundreds) and copper (a few handfuls), with limited production in silver (only 50 according to John W. Haseltine), plus gold, pewter, and lead variants. These Centennial restrikes are cataloged as HK-852 through HK-856. The HK numbering system groups so-called dollars broadly by type: exposition and commemorative pieces in the lower numbers, with monetary, miscellaneous, and later additions in higher ranges. Lettered suffixes (a, b, c, d) typically indicate variant compositions or die states of the same basic design, while entries above HK-900 include pieces added in later catalog supplements.

Rarity Notes

Bashlow restrikes from 1962 are more available than the 18th-century originals but still collected actively. Various compositions exist, with silver examples being most valued.

Cross References

HK-853a; PCGS #643598