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DOYLE NEW YORK'S AUCTION OF COINS, MEDALS AND BANK NOTES FROM THE ESTATE OF SAMUEL MILLS DAMON TOTALS $3,884,000 Highlights of the March 23, 2006 Sale Included a US 1876 Proof Set that Fetched $548,000 and an 1880 Kingdom of Hawaii Bank Note that Sold for $268,000 On Thursday, March 23, 2006, Doyle New York auctioned Coins, Medals and Bank Notes from the Estate of Samuel Mills Damon of Honolulu, Hawaii. With a full salesroom competing against bidders on the telephone and the Internet, the auction total went well over the pre-sale estimate of $1.4 - 1.9 million to reach $3,884,000. In a safe deposit vault for many decades, the Damon Collection featured numerous United States, Hawaiian and World rarities and previously unrecorded items. The highly anticipated sale of the Damon Collection offered collectors, dealers and curators from around the world the exciting opportunity to bid on items from this remarkably diverse collection, which was assembled at a time when Hawaii was one of the globe's busiest ports of call. The Collection included almost 700 lots in a wide range of values, offering treasures for both the seasoned buyer and the new collector. The quality of the Collection, combined with its freshness to the market and the distinguished Damon provenance, made the auction a truly historic event in international numismatic circles. SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS SAMUEL
MILLS DAMON
AUCTION
A SELECTION OF AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS |
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| UNITED STATES PRIVATE AND TERRITORIAL |
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| HAWAIIAN COINS, BANK NOTE AND MEDALS |
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The Damon Collection featured a fine selection of Hawaiian items highlighted by an important 1880 Kingdom of Hawaii $10 bill, Serial Number 1, believed to be one of only two or three known uncancelled examples. Also noteworthy were a group of eight 1883 Silver dollars -- five graded MS 66, two MS 67, and a landmark MS 68. Other offerings include tokens, scrip and two highly prized 1850 Hawaiian Agricultural Society medals. |
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| WORLD COINS |
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| MEDALS |
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Samuel Mills Damon was a historical figure of great importance in Hawaii. He was the son of Samuel Chenery Damon and Julia Sherman Mills. On September 1, 1841, Samuel Chenery Damon was ordained as a minister in Holden, Massachusetts, and on October 6, 1841, he married Julia Sherman Mills. He was sent to Honolulu by the American's Seaman's Friend Society to act as Chaplain in Honolulu, where the couple arrived in 1842. He was an extraordinarily active missionary and was based in a port, which by the 1840s was being visited by more American ships than any other foreign port in the world. Their son, Samuel Mills Damon, was born in Honolulu on March 13, 1845. THE START OF A PROMISING CAREER Samuel Mills Damon was educated at Punahou Preparatory School and Punahou Academy in Honolulu. On September 5, 1872, he married Harriet M. Baldwin. By 1869, he was busy as a clerk in the store of W.N. Ladd & Co. Mr. Ladd died in 1869, and after the store was sold in 1870, Samuel wrote to his brother, Frank, saying, "Mr. C. R. Bishop (Charles Reed Bishop) asked me to make no settled engagements till I had seen him again. Last Saturday he called at the store and wished me to come down in a week and commence operations in the bank. Many of my best friends think it is a most excellent commencement and for my part I am highly pleased." This was the beginning of Samuel's association with the Bishop Bank, which ultimately led to his sole ownership of the Bank. BISHOP & COMPANY Charles Reed Bishop was also an important figure in Hawaii's history. He did much to aid the developing economic institutions in Hawaii and played a very active part in the government of the islands. Despite his many business ventures, he managed to serve Kings Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V, Lunalilo and Kalakaua in a variety of positions. He was made a member of the House of Nobles, joined the Privy Council, became Collector of General Customs, and helped organize the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society. On the morning of August 17, 1858, Charles Reed Bishop and William A. Aldrich opened the Bank of Bishop & Company in a corner of the office of Alexander J. Cartwright. Mr. Cartwright was a very prominent businessman who was later acknowledged as the "father of modern baseball." During the first year, Messrs. Bishop and Aldrich comprised the entire staff. Coins from all over the world came into the new bank "slugs" of gold, Spanish coppers and silver pieces, French gold coins from the era of Napoleon I, English sovereigns and plebeian copper, coins from Peru, Chile, Italy, India and China many of them brought in the pockets of sailors from ports of call around the globe. Mr. Aldrich sold his interest in the Bank of Bishop & Co. to William Chapman Ralston, then cashier of the Bank of California, who subsequently sold his interest to Mr. Bishop. Having purchased Mr. Ralston's interest, Mr. Bishop was the sole owner of the bank for two years until May 1, 1875, when he entered into a partnership with John H. Paty, who had been an employee since 1859 and became a part owner of the bank. By the time Paty was admitted to partnership, sugar had come to occupy the place of first importance in island industry and trade, taking the place of whaling. From its establishment, the Bank of Bishop & Co. was so ably managed that it created a confidence which the public never had cause to regret. Only once was the bank threatened with even partial withdrawal of public confidence. One Sunday morning in 1875, a report reached Honolulu that the Bank of California had failed. Relations of the bank of Bishop & Co. with the San Francisco bank were well known. As it was, a small crowd of depositors gathered in front of the bank and began clamoring for their money. Word was sent to Mr. Damon who had just returned that morning from Maui, and he went down to the bank at once. Although it was a Sunday he ordered the bank open and posted a notice that any depositor wishing his money would be paid forthwith. He called the leader of the crowd into the bank and insisted on paying him the amount of his deposit, although when the money was being counted, the depositor begged to be allowed to leave it in the bank. No one else called for his deposit, but all that day, Mr. Damon stood at his post prepared to pay anyone who wished his money. When Monday morning came, there was no run, and public confidence was restored. Samuel Mills Damon became a partner of Messrs. Bishop and Paty on September 1, 1881. The co-partnership of Bishop, Paty and Damon lasted until August 31, 1892, at which time Mr. Paty withdrew. After the death of his wife, Bernice Pauahi Bishop, in 1884, Mr. Bishop seemed to lose interest in public affairs and expressed an interest to spend the rest of his life in California. He liquidated most of his property and left Hawaii shortly after the end of the monarchy on January 17, 1893. The CO-partnership agreement between Mr. Bishop and Mr. Damon was cancelled on May 31, 1895, and on the following day, Mr. Damon became the sole owner of Bishop & Co., which had been in operation for 37 years. RELATIONSHIP WITH HAWAIIAN MONARCHY A man of keen financial ability, Samuel was a member of King Kalakaua's Privy Council in 1884 and appointed as Minister of Finance during the reign of King Kalakaua. For three separate incumbencies between 1889 to 1900 under the monarchy, the provisional government, and the republic, he administered the financial affairs of Hawaii as Finance Minister ably and wisely. During his time as Minister of Finance, bank employees remember him driving up to the bank in the morning, tying his horse to the hitching post, looking over the morning mail, and then going to his government office where he often spent the rest of the day looking after the finances of the government. A secretary in the government office remembered him as "a man of great gentleness and charm of manners." On August 17, 1899, an Advertiser reporter wrote "The finances of the government of Hawaii today are in better condition than ever before and so is the business of Bishop & Co., the credit being due to the man who controlled them both." Queen Liliuokalani was a bright and determined woman who was the last monarch of Hawaii. On January 17, 1893, the monarchy came to an end. Samuel was a reluctant adversary of the Queen, and it is believed he tried to make the loss of the throne as smooth and painless as possible. As a member of the fourteen member advisory council of the provisional government, Samuel was in a position of considerable power. Some members of the council were not well disposed toward Liliuokalani, and later, the former Queen wrote in her diary, "I attribute the leniency of the (Advisory) Council to his (Samuel Mills Damon) interposition with them." Several years following the end of the monarchy, Samuel was sent to London in 1897 to represent the former Queen at the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. RELATIONSHIP TO BERNICE PAUAHI BISHOP Bernice Pauahi Bishop was the great-grand daughter of King Kamehameha I, the chief who united the main Hawaiian islands. At the outset, Bernice Pauahi Bishop held title to certain royal family lands, but upon the passing of her cousin, Princess Ruth Keelikolani, in 1883, her holdings increased over tenfold. These lands included the Ahupua`a of Moanalua. On October 16, 1884, "Moanalua Gardens", as Samuel preferred to call them, were bequeathed to him by Bernice Pauahi Bishop after he had for years managed her estate at her request. This ancient land division ran from the mountains to the sea. Over the years, Samuel also purchased adjacent lands. At Moanalua, Samuel built his home, a golf course, racetrack and a polo field. The gardens included an extraordinary variety of plants and trees. His home became renowned as a place of hospitality. Characterized by a Salt Lake in the hills, "Moana Lua" or "Two Oceans" was a beautiful tract of land, an Ahupua`a stretching from the mountains to the sea. During the anxious days of the end of the monarchy, Moanalua Gardens brought great relaxation to one who sorely needed the late afternoon free from banking and political stress. Friends and strangers alike were welcome visitors in these Gardens, to wander about under the great shade trees and, by permission, to visit the lath house or glass conservatories. Samuel was an executor and trustee of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate from 1884-1887 and 1898-1909. Also worthy of note was Samuel's keen interest in the City of Refuge or Pu`uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park at Kealakekua Bay on Hawaii. It was a sacred place where "kapu" breakers, defeated warriors or criminals could seek refuge if they could get within the massive wall marking the boundary of the sanctuary. By 1902, more than 80 years after abandonment of Pu`uhonua, the great wall lay in ruins. Archeological evidence indicates that several hundred feet of the west end of the wall were destroyed by tidal waves. The Estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop owned these lands. Samuel Mills Damon, as a trustee of the Bishop Estate, commenced repairing this structure at his own expense, which eventually lead to the significant restoration efforts achieved to date. OTHER INTERESTS AND HONORS Among the other interests of Samuel Mills Damon were memberships in the Société de Beaux Arts, Paris; Royal Society of Arts, London; The Hawaiian Historical Society; Pacific Club (Honolulu); the Order of Kalakaua, Knights Grand Officer Insignia (Hawaii); the Order of Kapiolani, Companion Insignia (Hawaii); the Order of Golden Treasure (Japan); Knight Order of Christ (Portugal); and the Queen Victoria Jubilee Medal (England). LEGACY FOR THE FUTURE In February 1914, Mr. Damon took ill and was incapacitated for business. He did not recover from this illness, and he died at his residence on his estate at Moanalua on July 1, 1924. His land holdings and other assets were placed in trust to be managed by the Trustees of the Estate of Samuel Mills Damon. The Bank of Bishop & Company later merged with several other banks, and with subsequent name changes, resulted in the name, BancWest. BancWest is a partnership of two dynamic financial institutions, First Hawaiian Bank and Bank of the West. With assets of more than $50 billion, BancWest currently serves more than 3 million households and businesses in seventeen States, Guam and Saipan. In 2001, the Estate sold its entire ownership interest in BancWest. The Estate of Samuel Mills Damon, until recently, was Hawaii's fourth largest private landowner. In 2003, the Estate sold its prime industrial and commercial land on the Island on Oah`u, two walnut ranches in California, and approximately 116,000 acres on the Island of Hawaii. On November 9, 2004, Joan Damon Haig, the last living grandchild of Samuel Mills Damon, died marking the termination and eventual dissolution of the Estate of Samuel Mills Damon. Currently, the Estate holds various real and personal property that are pending disposition. Among them are the coin collection slated for auction through Doyle New York in early 2006, a majestic cattle ranch on the Island of Hawaii, and the beautiful lands in Moanalua, including the Moanalua Gardens which is open to the public. While the Estate of Samuel Mills Damon will soon come to an end, the legacy of this extraordinary man will live on.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We wish to acknowledge the following references, which were used to compile the above biography of Samuel Mills Damon. BancWest
Website Charles
Reed Bishop Man of Hawaii Hawaiian
Royal Orders History
Makers of Hawaii KSBE
Website The First Trustees National
Baseball Hall of Fame Website National
Park Service Website - Puuhonua o Honaunau City of Refuge Samuel
Chenery Damon Seaman's
Chaplain Story
of The Bank of Bishop & Co. Now Bishop First National Bank of Honolulu Tides
of Commerce Photograph of Samuel Mills Damon reproduced by kind permission of the Mission Houses Museum. http://www.missionhouses.org |
