Atlanta, August 18, 1997 - Templeton Reid gold is one of the greatest
rarities in American coinage. Buckhead investment coin firm, Hancock and
Harwell, is pleased to announce the acquisition and sale of a complete
Templeton Reid gold coin set comprised of a $2.50, $5 and the "finest
known" $10 piece. The transaction amounts to more than $750,000. The
set will become part of the private Duke’s Creek Collection of Georgia
gold coins.
Templeton Reid is one of the greatest rarities in American
coinage. In 1830, Milledgeville resident Templeton Reid started a mint
in Gainesville, Georgia, and produced the first privately-issued
circulating gold coins in our nation’s history. Since there was no
Federal mint in the area, the United States government allowed this
practice as legal tender. This was due, in part, to the inadequate
amount of currency in circulation. The mint operated less than three
months.
Current population statistics list only 24 known examples of the $2.50
or Quarter Eagle Gold coin, and six examples each of the $5 Half Eagles
and $10 Eagles. There are
only two known Templeton Reid gold sets in the world outside the
Smithsonian, and of the two, this is the finest set. Hancock and
Harwell partner Jack Hancock, an expert in grading Southern gold coins,
has rated the $2.50, $5 and $10 gold pieces in the collection from ‘extremely fine’ to ‘almost uncirculated." The $5 and the incredible $10 coin are both from the Virgil Brand Collection that sold
in 1984.
Hancock and Harwell’s websites (raregold.com and dahlonegagold.com) were
an integral part of this transaction as they introduced the seller to
the buyer. Checking out valuable coins on a personal computer may sound
futuristic, but it happens daily for thousands of collectors around the
world. "The Web has been a boon for the serious collector or investor,
as information on hard-to-find items like this Templeton Reid collection
are at your fingertips." says Bob Harwell, partner of Hancock and
Harwell.
Hancock and Harwell have over a twenty year history in the investment
coin and brokerage business. Their clients include novice and
sophisticated collectors and investors, as well as museums. The firm
specializes in rare Georgia coinage with its most recent coup being the
acquisition and sale of the finest known Mint State-63 1861-D Half Eagle
struck at the Dahlonega, Georgia mint by Confederate soldiers during the
Civil War.
