Theodore Roosevelt becomes the 26th president after the sudden death of President William McKinley. Britain’s Queen Victoria dies, ending a reign that lasted for more than 60 years. The first Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm. A large Van Gogh retrospective in Paris creates a sensation, and Pablo Picasso has his first major exhibit at a Paris gallery. Willie Anderson wins the first of his four U.S. Open titles, and Cy Young wins his 300th career game. The luxury department store Nordstrom opens its first location in Seattle.
AMERICANA
In 1901, the outlaws known as “Butch” Cassidy and Sundance Kid fled America for Argentina after robbing a train in Montana. A reward broadside issued that year for the “Wild Bunch Gang” (detail shown) by the Pinkerton National Detective Agency sold for $14,340 at a May 2011 Heritage auction.
U.S. COINS
Barber coinage was designed by U.S. Bureau of the Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber and minted between 1892 and 1916. The 1901-S has been called the “King of all Barber Quarters” because of its low mintage and low survival rate. This sample, graded MS67 PCGS, realized $258,500 at a June 2014 Heritage auction.
RARE BOOKS
Leo Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace is a masterpiece of world literature. A 1889 edition of the book, inscribed by the Russian author in 1901, sold for $22,500 at a March 2018 Heritage auction.
TIMEPIECES
Gold Trip Minute Repeater, Two Train Tandem Wind pocket watches were introduced by Patek Philippe in 1900, with fewer than 30 examples known today. This example, manufactured in 1901, sold for $47,500 at a June 2017 Heritage auction.
This article appears in the Fall 2019 edition of The Intelligent Collector magazine. Click here to subscribe to the print edition.