FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 17, 1999
CONTACT: Stephen L. Bobbitt

ANA AUTHENTICATION BUREAU DECLARES RECOVERED UNIQUE DUPONT COIN GENUINE

The 1866 unique, Proof "No Motto" silver quarter dollar, stolen from Willis H. du Pont in a 1967 robbery and recently recovered in Los Angeles, is genuine, according to the American Numismatic Association (ANA) Authentication Bureau.

"This is the fourth coin stolen from Mr. du Pont that the ANA has authenticated," says Edward C. Rochette, executive director of the 29,000-member nonprofit, educational organization for collectors of coins, paper money, tokens and medals. "We personally assisted in the recovery and authentication of his two 1804 Bust dollars - the first one in 1981 and the second in 1994. The latter recovery also included Mr. Du Pont's one-of-a-kind 1850 Stockton' $5 gold piece, which the ANA also authenticated."

The coin was examined by both ANA Money Museum Curator Robert W. Hoge and ANA Authenticator Brian Silliman, who says, "We are confident it is, in fact, the du Pont specimen and not a newly discovered piece."

The du Pont 1866 silver quarter dollar does not have the motto "In God We Trust" on the reverse. The motto was not included on the Seated Liberty quarter at its premiere in 1838, but was added in 1866.

The unique coin, owned by du Pont, was struck by the United States Mint at the request of druggist Robert Coulton Davis, who reputedly provided Mint personnel with laudanum - a solution of opium in alcohol.

Following the previous recoveries of du Pont coins, the ANA has been allowed to display them in its Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 1994 he donated to the ANA his specimen of the 1804 Bust dollar recovered earlier that year. In 1991, Aubrey and Adeline Bebee had donated to the ANA their specimen of the 1804 Bust dollar. Considered the "king of American coins" because they originally were produced as gifts to Asian potentates, the 1804 Bust dollars are valued at more than $1 million each. A privately held specimen sold at auction last August for $4.12 million, the most ever paid for a single coin.

An image of the 1866 unique, Proof "No Motto" silver quarter dollar can be seen (beginning in January) on the ANA's "Virtual Money Museum" at www.money.org.

See the images - Click here