David Stone of Heritage Auctions kindly sent me a review copy of the dedicated catalog for the Mickley-Hawn-Queller Class I 1804 Dollar, which the firm sold on August 8, 2013 for $3,877,500 (including buyer's premium).

The 67+ page softcover catalog is a book in itself, "a special expanded version of the lot description... It contains more than two dozen pages of new material, much of it focusing on namesake owner Joseph J. Mickley, including his family, acquaintances, work, and travels. These details, never before gathered in one place, create the fullest portrait yet of one of the most famous U.S. coin collectors of the 19th century."

Consisting of several short chapters contributed by several authors, there is some repetition of a few key facts, but the compendium is quite interesting and useful. I learned several new things about Mickley and the early literature relating to the 1804 dollars. Bibliophiles will enjoy Jon Amato's segment on "American Numismatics in the 1860s and the 1804 dollar" and David Stone's section on "The 1804 Dollar Abroad".

I found George Huber's section on "19th Century Perceptions and Misperceptions About the 1804 Dollar" entertaining. Numismatic research and knowledge about these coins and their collectors has come a long way since the groundbreaking work of Eric Newman, Ken Bressett and others in The Fantastic 1804 Dollar, published in 1962 (not to mention the lengthy treatment by Dave Bowers in The Rare Silver Dollars Dated 1804", published in 1999).

While the authors acknowledge and reference many of their sources within their text, the book lacks the footnotes, endnotes and bibliography I generally look for in any numismatic publication. But I'm very glad to add this to my library, where it will find a home in a growing section of books and monographs concerning this landmark coin and its owners.

A chapter by George Huber titled "Some Views of Joseph Jacob Mickley" covers many aspects of this 19th Century Renaissance Man:

I've selected a couple excerpts for E-Sylum readers.

To read the basic lot description, see:Lot 5699: The Mickley-Hawn-Queller Class IOriginal 1804 Dollar, PR62 PCGS From the Greensboro Collection, Part IV(coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=1188&lotNo=5699&ic=ih-pr-1804dollar-080913)

To read the complete catalog of the 1804 dollar, see:www.heritagestatic.com/c/i/articles/201308/1804-dollar-description.pdf