| In the late 19th Century there was an imbalance between the value of silver in a silver dollar vs. the value of gold in a gold dollar. While both coins had a face value of one dollar, the value of the metal content was significantly different in that the gold in a dollar was worth roughly double than the silver in a silver dollar. The So-Called Bryan Dollars were produced to illustrate this concept. Some of the 1896 dated Bryan Dollars are much larger than a typical silver dollar of the time to show the size of silver dollar that would be necessary to equal the value of the gold in the gold dollar. There are several varieties of Bryan Dollars, all of which are popular amongst collectors of So-Called Dollars and political exonumia. The example offered here is the scarce type made by Tiffany & Co. and is struck from 776 3/4 grains of .900 fine coin silver and is listed as HK-777 in the Hibler-Kappen reference on So-Called Dollars. This 1896 dated HK-777 Bryan Dollar has been graded MS62 by NGC and is encapsulated in one of their oversize holders. Although the piece is dated July 1896, the NGC label indicates this piece is one of the 1910 restrikes, although it is difficult to confirm that with certainty as the holder design hides the edge markings of the medal. It appears that the edge of this medal is marked “Tiffany & Co., Sterling” as the NGC label also mentions along with their classification of the piece as the S-2 variety. This is the only example of that variety graded by NGC to date, regardless of grade, seemingly illustrating the rarity of the piece. The piece is a very well preserved example of the type and has wonderful colorful toning which is mostly hidden until reflected into a light. The images provide do not show the color well so I have included a video which does a better job. It is hard to see why the grade of the piece was limited to MS62 as there are no major hits, marks or other apparent flaws which would otherwise limit the grade. A beautiful mint state example of the relatively scarce HK-777 Bryan Dollar.
Because of the difficulty in capturing the overall look of the coin in a single image, I have also included a short high-definition video of the coin towards the bottom of this listing in an attempt to give you a better idea of what this coin will look like in hand. Please note that you may need to adjust the video quality to 1080p and may need to increase the size of the video to full screen in order to see the coin in maximum detail.
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