In the first two parts of this story about the Dr. Conway A. Bolt Collection, I described the type of collector he was and how influential he was in the numismatic world while he was collecting.
Dr. Bolt’s had a comprehensive collection of United States coins, from the colonial issues through the federal issues, somewhat complete by date and with the mints well represented.
I described the gold coins from the $1 through the $5 half eagle earlier and now I will explore the various dates and rarities of the U.S. eagle (10 gold). Starting with 1795 Dr. Bolt had one of each date through 1804. Among Liberty Head issues, he had a representative date run, complete from 1838 to 1907 with many mintmarks included, highlighted by 1838, 1859-O, 1869, and 1877, as well as a run of Indian Head eagles, featuring a lovely Mint State 1930-S.
His double eagles, ($20 gold) were well represented, starting with 1850, but not complete with all dates and mints. The rarer pieces he had were l866-S No Motto, 1881, 1885, 1886, 1887 (Brilliant Proof), 1891 (Brilliant Proof), and 1892, In the Saint-Gaudens series he had both the Wire Rim and Flat Rim MCMVII, 1921, 1929, 1930-S, 1931 and 1932.
Among silver issues (as this is how Dr. Bolt wanted them arranged in the catalog) were the half dollars. He had a full set of Proofs from 1858 to 1891, mostly in outstanding condition. Then came the Barber series, 1892 to 1915, also in choice Brilliant Proof. Naturally, as his was a more modern collection, there was a full set of commemorative silver pieces, as well as a set of commemorative gold dollars and quarter eagles and a full set of the Panama Pacific issues, including the round and octagonal $50 slugs.
Dr. Bolt also had an attractive group of silver dollars. He possessed the early Liberty Seated issues, mostly in Mint State, and from 1859 to 1873 he had the Proofs. His Morgan dollars were in Proof, and complete but for the 1895. In the trade dollar series from 1873-1883, he had all the Proofs except 1876, which was Mint State.
His paper money collection was a comprehensive representation of the early large size issues — Demand Notes, Legal Tender Notes, Silver Certificates, Treasury Notes, National Bank Notes, Federal Reserve Bank Notes, Federal Reserve Notes, and National Gold Bank Notes. Within some of the series he had a few uncut sheets. He also had a large representative collection of the Fractional Currency issues.
Dr, Bolt did not stop here. He had a great passion for pioneer and territorial gold pieces, many of which were minted and later found near his home state. He also was excited about the pattern coins of the United States
His was a collector’s collection; he added to and built up each series as he attempted completion, He took his coins with him to various coin clubs near his home and tried to attend as many ANA Conventions as he could. He gave talks, lectures and advice to beginning and advanced collectors. His hobby was his love and he enjoyed discussing it with all who would listen.
As Dr. Bolt’s collections of pioneer and territorial coins and U.S. patterns were so interesting, I will write about them in later parts of this story.
