This is the final chapter in the story of Dr. John E. Wilkison’s fabulous collection of gold U.S. Pattern Coins.  In this installment, we’ll take a look at the four 1907-dated Patterns in the good Doctor’s collection, all of which were designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens.  They rank as some of the most popular of all U.S. coinage designs.  In particular, the 1907 Indian Head $20 pattern is the flagship coin for the PCGS CoinFacts site and it is quite possibly the most valuable, collectible U.S. coin in existence. 1907 $10 Indian, Wire Edge, With Periods, Judd 1901 (formerly Judd ..read more

This is one of the more exciting installments of this series because it centers around Dr. John E. Wilkison’s “Stellas” of 1879 and 1879. It includes not only all four year/style combinations of the $4 Stellas but the Quintuple Stella of 1879, as well. These are among the most famous and instantly recognizable of all U.S. gold patterns. 1879 $4 Flowing Hair “Stella”, Judd 1635, Pollock 1833, Gold, Reeded Edge PCGS PR67DCAM This was not the Wilkison coin, but is included here as a representative example of the type A little-known (or perhaps forgotten) fact about the Wilkison Collection is tha ..read more

This installment of the Dr. John E. Wilkison Collection includes his gold Pattern coins dated from 1873 to 1876 inclusive. 1873 $5 Judd 1337, Pollock 1481, Gold, Reeded EdgePCGS PR66DCAM Pedigree: Waldo C. Newcomer Collection – B.G. Johnson, sold privately on 7/19/1940 for $800 – F.C.C. Boyd Collection – Dr. J. Hewitt Judd Collection, traded in 1962 – Dr. John E. Wilkison Collection – Paramount International Coin Corp., sold privately on 4/9/1976 (as part of the intact Wilkison Collection) – A-Mark, 1978 – Bob R. Simpson Collection This was the only gold Pattern coin of 1873.  Two exampl ..read more

The Unique Six-Piece Set of gold “Amazonian” Pattern Coins One of the unique, Amazonian Gold Pattern Coins from the Dr. John E. Wilkison Collection The six-piece set of 1872 gold Amazonian pattern coins was one of the highlights of the Dr. Wilkison Collection.  Indeed, it is one of America’s greatest numismatic treasures.  The name “Amazonian”, as it refers to the gold pattern coins, is a bit of a misnomer, as Liberty only appears as an Amazon warrior on the the 1872 Quarter Dollar (Judd 1195 to 1997), Half Dollar (Judd 1200 to Judd 1202), and Silver Dollar (Judd 1205 to Judd 1207 ..read more

In this installment, we’ll explore the 1860’s-dated gold patterns owned by Dr. Wilkison.  Include in this list are: 1960 $5 Judd 271; 1865 $20 Judd 452, and 1868 $10 Judd 661. 1860 $5 Gold Pattern, Judd 271, Pollock 319, Gold, Reeded Edge PCGS PR64+DCAM 31672893 Judd 271 is unusual in that the diameter is the same as a $10 gold piece, but to keep the weight the same as a regular $5 gold piece, the planchet was rolled out much thinner than normal.  Another unusual aspect of Judd 271 is that the V in FIVE is actually an inverted A.  Judd 271 is represented by only two e ..read more

In the last installment, we looked at Dr. Wilkison’s two J-135’s. What did not show up on his inventory listing, but which has been attributed to him, is a blank planchet for an annular gold coin of the weight of .965 grains (or 14.89 grains). This weight conforms closely to some of the known J-135 Half Dollar patterns, but it is too light to be a J-136, J-137, J-169, or J-145 (the other annular gold patterns. The pedigree on this mysterious coin is shown under Pollock-162 (his Item D, expanded here) as: Dr. John E. Wilkison (per Pollock) – D.M.X. Fretwell Estate (d) – Robert L. Hugh ..read more

In this installment, I continue our journey through the amazing collection of U.S. Gold Pattern Coins built by Dr. John E. Wilkison. PCGS MS62 1849 $1 Gold Pattern, Judd 115, Pollock 130, Gold, Plain Edge Gold Dollars were not included as part of the American coinage scheme until 1849. When contemplating the new denomination, a concern was the size of the coin. If made of the normal weight, the diameter of a gold dollar was only 14.3 millimeters — the smallest of any coins then in use in America. A coin so small could be lost easily, so experiments were made to enlarge the diameter of the coin ..read more

In September 1973, Paramount International Coin Corporation (under the auspices of the noted gold coin expert, David Akers) purchased the collection of Dr. John E. Wilkison of Springfield, Tennessee. The collection consisted of 47 gold U.S. Pattern coins, 35 of which were different, and eight pieces that were unique. Dr. Wilkison built his collection over the period from 1942 to 1973, purchasing coins from the likes of dealers Charlie Green (who represented Dr. Wilkison at the 1954 sale of the King Farouk collection) and Abe Kosoff (who provided several major rarities and helped broker a ..read more

Recently, I purchased a twenty-six foot Ranger sailboat and renamed her “Makaleka.” “What does this have to do with numismatics?” you ask. Well, Makaleka is the Hawaiian version of my wife, Maggie’s, name. This got me thinking of Hawaii and, being a numismatist, that got me thinking of Hawaiian coins. To mimic the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game, my boat is three degrees from Hawaiian coins: 1) my boat is named Makaleka; 2) Makaleka is Hawaiian; and 3) Hawaii has coins. There are three places to learn about Hawaiian coins. The first is the “Redbook” (more properly called “A Guidebook of Unit ..read more

James A. Stack, Sr. was a collector of substantial means and discrimination who was active in numismatics from the late 1930s until his death in 1951. He acquired many rarities and “finest known” coins by taking full advantage of the opportunities presented to him as great collections came onto the market. He owned an 1894-S Dime, a 1798 Small Eagle $5, an 1870-S Silver Dollar, an 1838-O Half Dollar, and hundreds of other U.S. coins including condition-rarities, pattern coins, early Proof coins, and Pioneer gold. Portions of his collection were sold over a 20 year period beginning in 1975 ..read more