So-Called Dollar Discussions
HK-756 Dr. Elisha Kent Kane
I must admit, prior to collecting so-called dollars, I didn't know the history of the Grinnell Arctic Expeditions. I knew that explorers had attempted exploration of the North Pole, and world history suggests that native peoples likely had traveled that far north... but having lived in Western Pennsylvania, I thought Kane might be related to the Kane hospitals in that area. As for arctic expeditions, it was likely only a matter of time before modern people traveled there (... to find Santa of course). In any event, the story of Elisha Kent Kane is a fascinating one... with some really interesting books on amazon.com on the subject. I will not recount them here, but as Christmas approaches (time time of year of my posting on Jeff's website), I thought i'd post a photo... seems like this piece might be a double die. I'm sure someone like Jeff owns the top grade (MS-64?) in NGC, but these are some reasonable NGC slabbed pieces. If you own one of these, feel free to add on photos. Regardless, I do like the book "Lost to Time" by Sandler... if you like some interesting stories of forgotten history, including Kane.
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A white metal piece HK-757
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I noticed the marking "Key F" under the bust on the obverse of the Elisha Kent Kane (HK-756/7) piece, and I traced it to William H. Key. The following link details who this die sinker & engraver was: http://www.neocollect.com/coll/403/?page=3 William H. Key was a die sinker and engraver, born in Brooklyn NY, who learned engraving from his father, Frederick C. Key. Both son and father worked in Philadelphia (1854-1860) as F.C. Key & Son. William H. Key engraved the HK-756/7 pieces. William worked productively for the US Mint for many years (1864-1885). This cool F.C. Key storecard also confirms Key made HK-756 and HK-757.
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