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The Collectors' Auction 2007
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Please Note: A 15% Buyers' Premium is added to the hammer price of all lots in this sale.

(About The Images)
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-64. 1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-64.
Lot Title: 1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-64.
Description: By August 31, 1901, the 28-year-old laborer had arrived in Buffalo, New York, leaving his family behind in Warrensville, Ohio. He moved into a cramped and filthy apartment above a noisy saloon for $2 a week, which was all he could afford having lost a well-paying job some time before. Indeed, the loss of his job gnawed at him, and his frustration had turned to anger that festered and grew as he saw the inequity of those New Yorkers living on the upper crust in their fancy homes and stylish clothes. Leon had a slim build with a pale complexion and a slight mustache that drooped ruefully, and he began to spend much time in early September wandering through the exhibitions at the nearby World's Fair, roaming the exhibits and presenting a rather odd and frightening appearance. “I had made up my mind that I would have to do something heroic for the cause I loved" he would say in a later interview. On September 5, 1901, he put a plan in motion, buying a .32 caliber Iver-Johnson revolver in downtown Buffalo, not far from the Pan-American Exposition. September 6 was a glorious summer day with brilliant sunshine and a crystal-blue sky, and Leon went to the exposition with the revolver in his pocket. Earlier in the day, President McKinley had visited Niagara Falls, and was scheduled to deliver a speech that afternoon following a reception in the auditorium at the exposition's Temple of Music. At 4:00, the auditorium doors were opened, allowing entrance to the large crowd that had gathered to hear the speech. Thunderous applause accompanied the smiling and sincerely happy President as he entered the auditorium. "Let them come!" said the President expansively to his aides as he strode across the room to greet and mingle with his admirers. McKinley stood in the center of the room, personally shaking hands with each of the visitors as they passed by in single file. At exactly 4:07p.m., while the organ played a Bach sonata, Leon Czolgosz finally reached his turn in line. As President McKinley extended a friendly hand, Czolgosz shoved it aside and whipped out the revolver, which he had draped with a handkerchief and concealed in his pocket. He fired two quick shots at McKinley’s torso, just inches away. The shots rang out and stunned the crowd into silence. For a moment, the President merely stared at Czolgosz in amazement before falling backwards. As the furious crowd jumped on the assailant, McKinley clutched his bleeding chest and said to aids, “Boys, don’t let them hurt him!” Within minutes, the Secret Service had control of the situation, and an ambulance had arrived to remove the stricken President from the scene, his white shirt smeared in blood. Using the emergency room as a surgery room, doctors frantically searched for a bullet lodged in his back (it was discovered that the other bullet had merely grazed a coat button and inflicted no harm). It was not found, and the doctors decided to close the wound in belief that it would heal. Despite an interim during which his health seemed to be returning, internal infection was already setting in, and the President would be dead from gangrene by September 14, 1901, to be succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt. Leon Czolgosz was later found guilty of murder and put to death in the electric chair at Auburn Prison on October 29, 1901. The death of McKinley led to the ascendancy of Theodore Roosevelt to the Presidency, who in turn would usher in the golden era of American coinage. The slain President was honored on the McKinley Memorial gold dollar of 1916-17, and the example offered here is an extraordinary piece that seems much nicer than the modest MS-64 grade. Pale blue iridescence delicately mellows the obverse fields, while the reverse is pristine. Despite a delightful and extremely well-struck appearance, this coin is nonetheless a solemn memento of a dark period in American history. A fascinating coin!
Low Estimate: $1,600.00
High Estimate: $1,800.00
Lot Status: Bidding has been closed for this lot.
Hammered Price: $1,500.00
Price Realized: -
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-64.
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-64.

Price history for items of the same classification:
Lot #AuctionCurrent Bid or Hammer PriceDescription
1050The Midwest Summer Sale 2014 on 07/18/2014$950.00
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-64+ CAC.
LES Set. President McKinley supported the gold standard and it is only fitting that his unjustly shortened life be commemorated by a gold dollar. Both sides of this superior example exhibit warm...
1091The Collectors' Auction 2012 on 10/05/2012$875.00
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-64 CAC.
Delightful peppermint-blue toning kisses McKinley's cheek, and occasionally touches a few of the peripheral letters. Shimmering with luster as always, with only a very few feathery hairlines and...
965The Midwest Summer Sale 2011 on 07/29/2011$1,150.00
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-64.
Blonde-gold with soft obverse features, but better sharpness on the reverse. Hints of attractive peppermint-blue iridescence can just be detected around the Memorial building.
966The Midwest Summer Sale 2011 on 07/29/2011$2,700.00
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-66 (green label).
Marvelous, deep rich golden patina thrives in harmony with fabulous sky-blue toning that borders on sensational. This is a truly special, toned gold dollar! In addition to a superb strike, mint...
967The Midwest Summer Sale 2011 on 07/29/2011$2,500.00
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-66 (green label).
The slightest hint of prooflike character emanates from shimmering fields, surrounding the focal areas with unlimited frosty eye-appeal. Surfaces are immaculate without exception, showing no stains...
752The Collectors' Auction 2010 on 10/15/2010$1,650.00
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-65.
Ravishing luster proclaims the exceptional quality and preservation of the apricot-gold fields, accented by subtle ribbons and pools of lavender-grey iridescence. The beauty of this presentation...
1236The Midwest Summer Sale 2010 on 07/23/2010$950.00
1917 McKinley. NGC MS-64.
Slightly prooflike fields reflect light through accents of gossamer apricot-gold patina, though most of the surface is typically medium golden in hue. A scratch on the cheek combines with a few tiny...
1290The Midwest Summer Sale on 07/24/2009$925.00
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-64 (CAC).
In any grade, the 1917 is the more difficult of the McKinley issues. Wispy contact marks are noted, including a couple of hair thin abrasions on his portrait, but no significant abrasions are...
1104The Midwest Winter Sale 2008 on 02/08/2008$1,050.00
1917 McKinley commemorative gold dollar, NGC MS-63
Fantastic semi-prooflike fields scintillate with beaming gold brilliance and unexpectedly pristine quality. Under most angles, the impression of superb gem quality holds up, but meticulous examination...
1230The Collectors' Auction 2007 on 10/19/2007$625.00
1917 McKinley. NGC MS-62.
This issue radiates a lavish golden gleam with subtle rose highlights from magnificent satinlike surfaces. Some random hairlines are perceived both in front and behind McKinley's profile, which also...
1232The Collectors' Auction 2007 on 10/19/2007$1,600.00
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-64.
Seeming drastically undergraded, so close examination with a loupe is required to discover the diagonal hairlines that resulted in the conservative PCGS assessment of the grade of this gorgeous...
1226The Midwest Summer Sale 2007 on 07/27/2007$825.00
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-63.
A golden brilliancy gleams from this specimen's highly lustrous surfaces that are embellished with orange highlights. Marks perceived with a glass are not prominent, are mainly on the obverse, and...
1227The Midwest Summer Sale 2007 on 07/27/2007$2,000.00
1917 McKinley. NGC MS-65.
A prominent design type that has one-third the mintage of its 1916 counterpart. A visual vibrancy emits from its golden, glistening surfaces. Its lustrous aspect is not plagued by ticks or flecks,...
1115The Midwest Winter Sale 2007 on 02/09/2007$3,300.00
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-66.
This specific piece, from the counterpart year to the 1916 dated issue, radiates a vibrant honey gold aspect. An extremely light sprinkling of microscopic ticks are noted chiefly on the obverse of...
257The Collector's Auction on 10/20/2006$3,700.00
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-66.
With a mintage of one-third of the previous year, this vibrant piece is difficult to obtain nice. It is boldly struck and as appealing as they come. Light toning is spattered about on the surfaces.
309The Midwest Summer Sale 2006 on 07/21/2006$1,800.00
1917 McKinley. NGC MS-64.
The reverse, and even the obverse to a lesser extant, show semi-prooflike qualities. Very clean surfaces for the grade, but would probably need to be a little flashier to earn the MS-65 designation. ...
310The Midwest Summer Sale 2006 on 07/21/2006$2,900.00
1917 McKinley. PCGS MS-65.
The second year for this issue was struck to defray the cost of the McKinley Memorial Building in McKinley's in Niles, Ohio. An orange-rose blush radiates from its glistening surfaces. Nary a tick...

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