1826 HK-1000, Erie Canal Dollar

Coin Details

Auction Record

$30,000 MS63 08-19-2018 Heritage Auctions

Description

This 1826 Erie Canal commemorative (HK-1000) is a piece cataloged in the monetary section of the Hibler-Kappen so-called dollar reference. The Erie Canal, completed on October 26, 1825, was the transformative 363-mile waterway connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean across New York State. Governor DeWitt Clinton celebrated with the 'Wedding of the Waters' ceremony, pouring a keg of Lake Erie water into New York Harbor. The canal reduced shipping costs by over 90 percent, transformed New York City into America's dominant commercial port, and opened the continental interior to settlement and trade. The Hibler-Kappen catalog, first published in 1963 by Harold E. Hibler and Charles V. Kappen as 'So-Called Dollars: An Illustrated Standard Catalog,' provides the systematic numbering system (HK numbers) used to identify and classify hundreds of American medals approximately the size of a silver dollar. The catalog has been revised and expanded in subsequent editions, with Jeff Shevlin's contributions significantly expanding the known census.

Rarity Notes

This 1826 so-called dollar is generally scarce in the numismatic market. Examples are collected by specialists in so-called dollars and American medallic art.

Cross References

HK-1000; PCGS #643756