About a year ago an 1836 Gobrecht dollar came intothe marketplace, eventually landing in the HeritageFUN sale in January 2011. Several months after thedollar was sold, the consignor found further informationon the coin in her mother's effects. The letter,from 1888, revealed that the dollar had been originallytransmitted from a Major Earl to the family ofthe consignor.

Major Earl, it turns out, was a memberof the Andrew Jackson household who effectivelyserved as the "court painter" to the Jacksonfamily. There are other connections between PresidentJackson and numismatics, most notably a Gobrechtdollar presented at auction several years agoby American Numismatic Rarities, believed to havebeen Jackson's personal coin. An attendee at ourmeeting has acted as a go-between me and Heritage,our goal is to reunite the coin with this 1888 letter oftransmittal. More will be posted as the story unfolds.