Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 13

The Benson Collection of U.S. Coins, Part 2

Proof Sets and Misc.

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 2324		1942. This is simply the most stunning toned proof set we've seen. These coins grade Proof-67. Over the generations in the coin business, a lot of proof sets have passed through our doors, but never, never, have we seen one like this. The silver coins are toned with vibrant gold, red and blue shades, the nickel (type I) is fresh and unspotted, with just a hint of nickel blue haze, and the cent shows streaky bronze to red color, again with no spots. Remarkably, each side of the silver coins are toned, not some one side wonder, but both sides are spectacular. The coins themselves are all pristine, with no handling problems whatsoever. We are certain that this set will always attract attention whenever it's displayed, and we doubt that anyone will ever want to part with it again. If toning like this could be manufactured, no doubt many sets would look like this, and obviously, most sets do not even come close. Worth a premium to the lover of toned coins, and certain to please. Toning is a curious phenomenon, basically silver when exposed to the air tarnishes, part of the natural process. Like silverware, or silver serving dishes, the surface discoloration is known as tarnish, and is normally polished away using a soft cloth and some silver polish that contains fine grit (like tiny sand). Close examination of polished silver pieces reveals fine lines, and on coins these are known as hairlines, and these diminish the grade and hence the value of most coins. To locate coins that have never been cleaned is a chore in and of itself, but to find them with spectacular toning is nearly impossible these days, as most were cleaned over the decades by careless collectors. If you want something really special, go after this proof set. Lot of 5 coins. Estimated Value $1,500-UP. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $20,700
Lot 2325		1953. These grade PR-63 to 65. An original proof set which came to us still sealed in the original mint celophane wrappers. The cent has some toning on the upper right, while the silver issues show light toning. Estimated Value $175 - 200. From the Benson collection and probably purchased at the time of issue. View details	Realized $242
Lot 2326		1983-S Prestige Proof Sets (17 sets) and a 1984-S Prestige Proof Set. Some of the sets show slight water damage on the illustrious government packaging, and thus should be briefly inspected. Lot of 18 sets for the dealer. All coins mounted in the original packaging. Lot of 18 sets. Estimated Value $1,100 - 1,200. View details	Realized $920
Lot 2327		1944-D. Date set of the 5 Denver issues. These grade from MS-60 to 64. Most show some toning, while the cent is bright. An original set put away at the time of issue. Lot of 5 coins. Estimated Value $40 - 50. From the Benson collection and purchased from Ira S. Reed in July 1944 for $1.35. View details	Realized $207
Lot 2328		1933 $20 St. Gaudens. MS-60. 69 mm. This was awarded to the New York World-Telegram for their work in 1932 and the award was given at the start of the year 1933. The obverse features a scantily clad pressman operating a screw type printing press surrounded by FOR THE MOST DISINTERESTED AND MERITORIOUS PUBLIC SERVICE RENDERED BY ANY AMERICAN NEWSPAPER DURING THE YEAR 1932--JOSEPH PULITZER MEDAL below, the reverse with a handsome image of Benjamin Franklin with HONORIS CAUSA in the fields, beneath the portrait is AWARDED BY COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TO THE NEW YORK WORLD-TELEGRAM. On the edge the medal states Medallic Art Company, NY, 14 K. Under the terms of Joseph Pulitzer's will, Columbia University awards deserving recipients a Pulitzer certificate and monetary award through its school of Journalism. Prior recipients have included Arthur Schlesinger, Thorton Wilder, Arthur Miller, Brooks Atkinson and Ernest Hemingway. In addition to the individual awards, each year since 1918 a single gold medal is awarded to the newspaper that delivers the most outstanding meritorious public service for the year. This highly coveted award is often the centerpiece of any publishing companies work, and recipients are held in the highest regard and esteem throughout the country. It is reasonable to assume that most of the gold medals awarded over the years would be retained by the recipients, and hence few would ever be available on the public market unless circumstances drastically changed, as they did for New York World Telegram newspaper. Hence, this rare medal became available in the private market. The medal itself has been gently cleaned, and remains generally as issued. The original box of issue is included, which shows extensive wear and is missing part of the edge and clasp. A foremost opportunity for the advanced medal collector to purchase an extremely rare and sought after medal. This medal contains over 4 ½ ounces of gold. Estimated Value $5,000-UP. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $5,750
Lot 2329		1876. Centennial Mint Medal. MS-63. Deeply toned with antique silver tones and slightly prooflike in the fields. Minor weakness on the high points of the design, and some doubling on peripheral letters and numbers. Estimated Value $40 - 50. From the Benson collection and purchased from Ira S. Reed on January 17, 1946 for $4.00. View details	Realized $115
Lot 2330		1900. Bryan Dollar, HK-782. This one grades EF. One of the scarcer varieties, this one states the silver and gold value, and on the reverse notes that it contains 870 grains of silver, worth the equivalent of 1 gold dollar. This particular variety is more scarce than some of the others, being valued at $100 way back in 1963 the Hibler Kaplan book came out. Always in demand. Estimated Value $250 - 300. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $322
Lot 2331		1925. Norse American Medal, Thin. PCGS graded MS-64. Antique gold toning on both sides and very original. We note doubling on the date and the left leg. Estimated Value $75 - 100. From the Benson collection and purchased from Schultz around 1944 for $3.75. View details	Realized $276
Lot 2332		1925. Norse American Medal. Thin. PCGS graded MS-64. For some reason, the thin version of this medal is much harder to find in high grades. PCGS has graded 24 this high, but just 7 higher. Don't miss out if you need a nice on for your collection. Blazing luster and well struck, without any signs of toning. Estimated Value $300 - 350. View details	Realized $334
Lot 2333		1925. Norse American Medal. Thick. PCGS graded MS-64. Flashy and untoned, with ample luster and well struck devices. Always popular and often included in the Commemorative silver collections. Estimated Value $125 - 150. View details	Realized $161
Lot 2334		1925. Norse American Medal, Thick. PCGS graded MS-63. This one has dark toning on the obverse, and antique gray on the reverse. Pretty surfaces and well preserved. Estimated Value $50 - 60. From the Benson collection and purchased from Ira S. Reed on January 26, 1946 for $2.50. View details	Realized $92
Lot 2335		1925. Norse American Medals, Thick and Thin varieties. These grade MS-60 to MS-63. Both have steel gray and colorful peripheral toning. Lot of 2 coins. Estimated Value $200 - 250. View details	Realized $230
Lot 2336		1861 Confederate Cent. Copper Restrike. This one grades Uncirculated. Coined circa 1961-2, this was struck on a thick bronze planchet with a reported mintage of 20,000, and were sold at $2.50 each in 1962. Blazing red with minor touches of PVC which should be removed. Estimated Value $5 - 10. From the Benson collection and likely purchased in 1962. View details	Realized $46
Lot 2337		1837. Feuchtwanger's cent. EF-45. These were struck in 1837 by an eccentric Dentist from New York City, Dr. Lewis Feuchtwanger. They were a proposal to the Philadelphia Mint that would employ his own composition of metal instead of then current copper. The Feuchtwanger composition included copper, nickel, zinc, tin, antimony and other various trace metals, but the proportions varied too much to suit the Mint. Nevertheless, these tokens circulated widely, especially during the hard times of 1837 to 1844, when all Philadelphia Mint coinage was hoarded, and script and tokens such as this were spent as soon as possible. The obverse design of an eagle snagging a snake was popular at the time. Estimated Value $25 - 35. From the Benson collection and purchased from Ira S. Reed on July 21, 1944 for 50¢. View details	Realized $144
Lot 2338		1863. Civil War Token, Grant obverse with Eagle reverse. EF-40. Holed at 12 o'clock on the obverse. Great color and original. Estimated Value $20 - 30. From the Benson collection and purchased from an unknown source. View details	Realized $21
Lot 2339		1933. So Called Dollar, HK-825. Pedley-Ryan Dollar. MS-63. These were struck in 1933 to provide small investors with an opportunity to speculate in the price of silver. After 1932, the minimum investment was a 1,000 silver bar. The Pedley-Ryan company hoped that this would provide an outlet for the large quantity of surplus silver on the market, and provide some price support for the metal, which was trading around 27 cents to the ounce at the time. It is thought that not more than 500 of these were issued on January 7, 1933, and production was halted when these soon started turning up in filling stations where customers used these in lieu of silver dollars, which were the same exact size. We note multiple cuttings on some letters, and an errant D or P below PEDLEY in the field. The silver was obtained from the Denver Mint, and these were sold at 3 to the dollar by the investment house named. Estimated Value $50 - 75. From the Benson collection and purchased from Ira S. Reed on March 9, 1945 for $25.00. View details	Realized $161
Lot 2340		Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corp., 1935. A complete set of ARRC Bingles. Sharpness of MS-60 but all have storage damage. The set includes the one cent, five cent, ten cent, twenty-five cent, fifty cent, one dollar, five dollar and ten dollar tokens. Each is a nice mint state on one side, the other side damaged by a foam-rubber insert in the box they were held in for many years. Struck in 1935-36 and listed in the Guide Book for many years. Inspection recommended as this is a very rare set which is seldom seen. These poor darlings need some loving care! These tokens were issued by the U. S. Government for the use of the colonists of the Mantanuska Valley Colonization Project to supply them with much-needed Federal aid. They were redeemable only at the Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corporation stores. The "Bingles" as they were called, were in use for only about six months during 1935-36, after which they were redeemed for regular U. S. money and supposedly destroyed. They were issued on the basis of family dependents. Each token is the size of the corresponding U. S. coin with the exception of the one-cent piece, which is octagonal. The design is the same on both sides of each denomination. Only 5,000 were struck of the one cent through dime, 3,000 of the quarter, 2,500 of the half dollar and dollar, and 1,000 each of the $5 and $10 tokens. Extremely rare today and seldom offered except when old-time collections cross the auction block. Estimated Value $200 - 300. From the Benson collection and probably purchased in the 1940s. View details	Realized $604
Lot 2341		1940. Fantasy Bawdy House, Brothel Token, "Silver Dollar Hotel". AU-50. This token is a fantasy piece, struck for collectors. Listed on page 273 of the Alpert & Elman book "Tokens and Medals". Uniface, and always entertaining. Estimated Value $20 - 30. From the Benson collection. View details	Realized $29
Lot 2342		B. Max Mehl. The Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia. This lot includes a 1935 edition of Mehl's famous Star Encyclopedia which grades Fine, next is an 1863 $1 Confederate Note from The County of Rockbridge, Lexington, Virginia, issue of February 2, 1863, and states "By Order Of Court" and shows a cute vignette of a canal boat being pulled by a horse on shore and the note grades Very Good, and last but not least is an encased postage stamp of 5¢ with Franklin, the store card belonging to Albert W. Ault, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and states "LOANS ON STAMPS & COINS" with "UNDER STATE SUPERVISION" on the lower rim, the token grades at least Extremely Fine. Kind of a bizarre lot, but that's how it is sometimes. Each piece is interesting and has numismatic value, and the encased postage and Confederate Note could possibly be rare. Lot of 3 things. Estimated Value $50-UP. View details	Realized $98
Lot 2343		A three coin type set of Rarities Mint gold coins. These grade Proof and are still in the original plastic coin holders. Included are a 1 oz. piece; half oz. piece and quarter oz. piece, each coin tucked into a small wooden box of issue. Lot of 3 coins. Estimated Value $450 - 500. View details	Realized $483
Lot 2344		A miscellaneous lot of coins and checks. The first coin is a 1943 Mercury dime, PCGS graded MS64 FB; next is a 1921 Morgan dollar, BU; a 1922 Peace dollar, BU; a 1987 1 oz. silver round, BU; next a group of early checks: The Bodie Bank, two checks, one dated August 29, 1879, the other October 10, 1879; next are two checks both from the Agency Of The Bank of California Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company, one dated November 30, 1874, the other June 7, 1878; A check from The Carson City Savings Bank dated February 23, 1878; and a check from The Carson City Savings Bank draft dated June 20, 1876 and last a BEP reprint circa 1981 of the $20 gold "technicolor" note. A fun lot for the dealer to work through. Lot of 11 items. Estimated Value $100-UP. View details	Realized $150
Lot 2345		A group of slabbed United States type coins. This group has been third party graded and includes an 1835 half cent; 6 different Indian cents, common dates; 5 half dimes; 5 dimes from 1883 to 1943-D; 11 quarters from 1834 to 1930 and 11 half dollars from 1853 to 1946-D. An interesting mixture for the dealer. Slabbed by PCGS, NGC, PCI and SEGS. Lot of 39 coins. Estimated Value $1,000-UP. View details	Realized $1,380
Lot 2346		1847 Hawaiian Cent. PCGS graded MS-63 Brown. This one is nice for the grade, there is a hint of mint red near the devices and the coin is fully struck. We note minor handling marks in the fields, but none are problematic. On the reverse, there are two faded spots, both near the wreath and lettering. Estimated Value $800 - 1,000. From the Benson collection and purchased from an unknown source in the 1940s. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $1,208
Lot 2347		1883 Hawaiian Silver Set. Fine to Very Fine. Includes Dollar, ½ Dollar, ¼ Dollar and 10 Cents. KM-3,5,6,7. All toned, some have been cleaned in the past. Lot of 4 coins. Estimated Value $150-UP. From the Benson collection and purchased from an unknown source probably in the 1940s. View details	Realized $276
Lot 2348		1881 Hawaiian Dollar. PCGS graded MS-63. One of the famous issues during the brief reign of King Kalakaua while the sugar interest (Claus Sprekels) in America was trying to worm his way to more and more power. The need for coinage and currency in the Islands was acute, and once David Kalakaua solidified his power in 1874, he attempted to bring the Territory of Hawaii into the 19th Century. Coinage was ordered, and Mint Engraver Charles Barber executed the dies. For the silver dollar, a total of 500,000 were coined, but most were melted, leaving a net mintage of just 46,348. Of these, most are well circulated, and finding a mint state example usually requires quite a bit of patience. To find a choice example, is quite a treat. This particular coin has mottled smoky gray toning with hints of blue gray and sunset tones near the devices. Boldly struck by the dies, we note strong details on the beard and the shield on the reverse. In their Population Report, PCGS notes only 8 graded this high, with 18 graded higher (best MS-65). Examination of the surfaces shows few signs of contact, and this coin is conservatively graded in our opinion. An important offering and one the specialist will truly enjoy. Estimated Value $4,000 - 5,000. From the Benson collection and purchased from an unknown source in the 1940s. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $9,200