The Redfield Hoard was a historic grouping of Morgan silver dollars, the pedigree of which can be found on Paramount holders. These coins carry a large premium in the secondary market.
After the passing of multi-millionaire LaVere Redfield, the Paramount International Coin Corporation purchased 407,596 combined Morgan and Peace dollars–351,259 of which were Uncirculated–that were discovered in a hidden vault behind a fake wall in Redfield’s basement. On top of the pile of dollars was a note left by Redfield, which read, “Do not show this to the IRS” (Redfield was a convicted tax cheat).
The most common bags of Morgan dollars contained the dates 1881-S, 1880-S, 1879-S, 1878-S, 1882-S, 1896, 1898, 1897, 1897-S, and 1890-S. Large quantities of bags of Peace dollars consisting of 1922-S, 1923-S, 1926-S, and 1935-S were also bought, with smaller quantities of other S-Mint Peace dollar dates: 1928-S, 1927-S, 1925-S, and 1924-S.
The hoard contained half a bag of Uncirculated 1883-S Morgan dollars, most in BU to Choice BU. These are a condition rarity, as are most coins that circulated in the 19th century. There were approximately 5,000 1891-S dollars, as well.
The hoard weighed over 12 tons.
Purchased by A-Mark on January 27, 1976 for a sum of $7.3 million USD (Q. David Bowers was the underbidder at $7.2 million, although he did not personally see the hoard prior to bidding). Altogether, the hoard weighed 12 tons.
Dealers Joel Rettew and Robert Hughes, among others, distributed coins from the hoard.
The firm A-Mark sold the last tranche of the hoard, containing 6,000+ dollar coins, to Blanchard & Company for an undisclosed sum in the fall of 1988.
In the video segment above, recorded at the November 18, 1988, meeting of the National Silver Dollar Roundtable (NSDR), SilverTowne’s Leon Hendrickson discusses his experiences as a coin dealer and shares details about his involvement with the dispersal of the Redfield Hoard.
At the same meeting, dealer Mike Fuljenz also discussed Blanchard’s purchase of the last of the Redfield dollar hoard from A-Mark Coins, as seen in the CoinWeek video immediately above.
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