George Cook Collection Coming Up For Sale

Definitely an impressive collection, and quite a few levels beyond my own. According to the notice, the main part will be auctioned Aug. 13-17 at the ANA in Chicago, the rest by Heritage in September.

What an incredible collection, and the backstory is even more amazing. Thank you for posting the link. Cook's collection is the equivalent of the Louis Eliasberg collection of United States coins. Neither feat will ever be approached again.

Great collection!

I don't know if this is also the case for Canadian decimal coins, but for colonial tokens, I have the impression that half of the top 10 collection sales over the past century have taken place over the past decade.

The nice stuff is out of my budget, but I am curious how it works when a Canadian collection is auctioned in the US. Do you have to pay GST+PST coming back into Canada? If that is the case you are probably better to leave in a Safety Deposit Box in the US especially if it is a 200,000-300,000 coin. Are there any special reporting requirements for this kind of thing?

The other interesting fact regarding this sale is if there are a reserve or not, regarding taxes and other fees on Heritage after a couple items purchased at recent FUN sale you can add around 70% to winning price to land in Ontario

I was very saddened to learn of the passing of George Cook who purchased some key rarities from our collection including the famous 1911 dollar.
The history of the 1911 dollar always fascinated me. The 1911 Silver dollar fell victim to the politics of the day in 1911. Sir Wilfred Laurier's government had just signed a free trade agreement with the United States that was considered a very anti-monarchy course of action by the opposition led by Robert Borden (subsequently he was elected Prime Minister). To put the times of the day in 1911 in context the grandparents of the ruling generation of 1911 may well have fought in the brief but brutal war against the newly independent then radical United States in 1812. So support of the Monarchy and the United States were still a very passionate issue for many at the time.
Laurier's minister of finance William Fielding went as far as to have "Dei Gratia" removed as an inscription from 1911 coinage not wanting to acknowledge that George V was there by the "Grace of God". He likely viewed a lead sample of the 1911 silver dollar (found in an Ottawa govt supply room in 1977) and instead of having The Royal Mint in England redo the obverse die he simply decided not to put the coin in production. Instead the lower denominations remained "Godless" that year where the dies were likely redone locally.