Tuesday, May 5, 2009

DOLLAR SELLS FOR $2.3 MILLION

The 1804 Adams-Carter silver dollarOne of the rarest American coins, the 1804 Adams-Carter silver dollar named for two previous owners of the coin, brought $2.3 million at a Heritage Galleries auction last week. Because of the recession, the coin sold for a half-million dollars less than it would have brought last year, according to the New Jersey dealer who bought it. The 15 known 1804 silver dollars were not struck that year. The first eight were made in 1834 as gifts to foreign heads of state. Another was struck in 1857, and six more were made later--perhaps illegally by a U.S. Mint employee.

Email comment from C.G. about the Siam jewelry mentioned in the April 15 and 22 Kovels Komments: "Siamese jewelry has been made since the 1930s. It comes in at least 12 different colors." Now we're wondering if anyone can prove when Siam jewelry was first made. We have seen the 1930s, '40s, and '60s given as the decade when the jewelry was introduced. We know it was available in the 1960s.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

My sisters and I have Siam bracelets, black or dark gray and silver, that my father bought for us in Japan during the early 1950's, so it is at least that old.

Anonymous said...

This jewelry was available in the px (post exchange) in Germany in the early 50's. I have some of my mother's: a pin, bracelet, earrings. I believe the technique is called "niello."

Anonymous said...

My mother also lived in Japan during the early 1950s and purchased her Siam jewelry during that time period.

Anonymous said...

My mother lived in Japan in the early 1950s and purchased her Siam jewelry during that time period. I believe she may have purchased hers through a px as well.

ontheroadtoruin said...

My father brought the "Siam" jewelry back from his tour of duty in Japan in 1946 and again in the early 50's.
I have never seen any except the black and silver.

Anonymous said...

I would go to Disney World in Florida in the late 1970's to buy Siam silver earrings. Nothing antique, just vintage.

Anonymous said...

regarding 'siam' jewelry: we traveled through Siagon in 1955 and bought it then. I too have never seen or heard of it in any colours other than black and silver.

Anonymous said...

I have a several pieces of this jewellery which my parents purchased when they were stationed in the Pacific in the late
'40s - early '50s, but BEFORE the start of the Korean War.

Anonymous said...

In my aunt's engagement picture from the early '50s, she's wearing a pair of Siam earrings that I own now. Most of mine and my friends' "family" pieces came back to the US after WWII and during the Korean War with military family members serving overseas. So, it DEFINITELY didn't start in the 1960s.

Judi A. said...

My husband brought me many pieces: earrings, pendants, pins, different kinds of bracelets which he purchased in Bangkok, Thailand, where he took his R&R from duty in VietNam in 1967. Included was a necklace made up of 5 pieces connected by small silver rings, and the pieces are quite a bright green. All of the other items are the typical dark charcoal, almost black, and silver. All are very beautiful and intricately made. He was fortunate that he had a former college roommate that was a native there and his wife took him around to the shops to purchase things and did the negotiating of price for him. At that time, men rarely did any shopping of that kind and the shop owners loved to see an American GI come through the door!