Camel Girl – 1 Troy Ounce .999 Fine Silver Round
Explore the Famous Circus Sideshow Acts collection
Ella Harper’s portrait survives from a time when a small printed card could carry a performer’s name far beyond the circus grounds. Known professionally as the Camel Girl, she is remembered here in Intaglio Mint’s Famous Circus Sideshow Acts collection, with a portrait rendered in one troy ounce of .999 fine silver.
A Story Preserved on a Pitch Card
Harper appeared with W. H. Harris’s Nickel Plate Circus in 1886. A surviving pitch card from that year explains the unusual position of her knees and the way she moved on her hands and feet. The stage name used by her promoters referred to that appearance; Ella Harper was the person behind the billing.
The same card contains a particularly revealing detail. Its first-person account says that she had spent four years traveling in show business and intended to leave the profession, attend school, and prepare for different work. That statement adds a human ambition to an image too often presented only as a curiosity.
Photographic souvenirs were an important part of nineteenth-century entertainment. They let audiences take a performer’s likeness home, while preserving names and appearances long after a particular show had moved on. This silver portrait offers another way to encounter that history, with attention to the individual as well as the publicity surrounding her.
Obverse Design
The obverse features the familiar image of Ella Harper, with “CAMEL GIRL” above. The historical stage name identifies the subject while the portrait remains the central element of the design.
Reverse Design
The reverse displays “FAMOUS CIRCUS SIDESHOW ACTS” over a circus-tent background. A hallmark follows the lower circumference, uniting the piece with the rest of Intaglio Mint’s sideshow collection.
Specifications
- Weight: 1.00 troy ounce
- Thickness: 3.10 mm
- Purity: .999 fine silver
- Edge: Reeded
- Diameter: 39 mm
- Finish: Brilliant Uncirculated
