Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 51

Pre-Long Beach Coin and Currency Auction

Commemorative Gold Coins

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 1756		1922 Grant Gold Dollar, no star. PCGS graded MS-64. Intensely lustrous with a hint of delicate golden toning. It is refreshing to be able to offer bidders such a conservatively graded Grant gold dollar. Only 5,016 struck (PCGS # 7458) . Estimated Value $2,600 - 2,700. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold
Lot 1757		1915-S Panama-Pacific Gold $2.50. NGC graded MS-65. A well struck frosty mint gem. The 1915-S Panama-Pacific Exposition was held at a time in our history when the art world was casting aside the constraints of its previous Victorian ways. Many new devices were being tested on America's coinage: matte proofing, rims without denticles, artistic lettering, textured fields, and the like. As can be seen, the coins struck for this expo, such as this handsome gem BU Quarter Eagle, incorporate some of these changes. Instead of a more traditional design, the artist proposed an unusual motif of Columbia seated on a mythological hippocampus, half-horse, half-sea serpent. The eagle, too, was rendered in a new style not seen before on an American production coin. It was modeled upon a similar eagle from one of the rare Pattern issues. Estimated Value $5,000 - 5,500. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $5,750
Lot 1758		1915-S Panama-Pacific Gold $50 Round. NGC graded MS-65. A wonderful untoned gem example that is intensely lustrous throughout. One of only 483 minted. As nice an example we have ever seen. The Pan-Pac $50 round is one of the most incredible coins ever conceived and offered for sale; it is replete with symbolism, though the symbolic connotations are lost on modern day collectors for the most part. Stuck on the dawn of America's involvement in the European "Great War," the Greek helmet is lifted back on Minerva's head in a ready but not fully combative pose, similar to the helmeted head seen on the famous Corinthian staters of ancient times featuring Pegasus the flying horse. The owl on the reverse signifies watchfulness. This is a resolutely gorgeous Gem example, then, and one of the few full MS65s we think deserves a "Premium Quality listing. When was the last time you dreamed of owning a solid Gem $50 Round of this type. Now is your chance. The surface is immaculate, which is only to be expected. The luster envelops all areas with a smooth, bright, satiny embrace. This coin has clearly been well preserved since the day it was sold to a fortunate collector back in nineteen-and-fifteen. Extremely desirable in such Gem condition. Estimated Value $110,000 - 120,000. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $120,750
Lot 1759		1915-S Panama-Pacific Gold $50 Round. PCGS graded MS-65. A splendid gem example with lovely original golden toning on both sides. Only 483 struck. The goddess Minerva or Athena wears the crested helmet found on numerous depictions of her in ancient Greek coinage; it is pushed back off her face, to signify peaceful intentions. According to the Breen-Swiatek history of these important $50 coins, "We have not found the exact Greek coin used as prototype of this head, though the crested helmet is of the Athenian type, and there are numerous silver coins of Velia and Corinth showing her in this type of helmet, sometimes wreathed as here, often with other devices on it. Most such types have a long tailpiece to the crest, which is omitted here." On her shield is MCMXV (1915), only the second use of Roman numerals for date in United States coinage history up to that time (the first was the various types of Saint-Gaudens double eagles of 1907). Why Athena or Minerva? She was the goddess of wisdom, skill, agriculture, horticulture, spinning and weaving, crop rotation, among other things, and she taught her followers to grow and use olives, whose oil was long indispensable in cooking and providing light by night. All these were important in early California.Pop 9; none finer (PCGS # 7451) . Estimated Value $110,000 - 120,000. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold
Lot 1760		1915-S Panama-Pacific Gold $50 Round. PCGS graded MS-62. Nice gold toning. Glistening fields rise and fall with original golden mint bloom, an almost velvet-like surfacing the result of the way the die engraver was able to depict the artist Aiken's intentions. Against this are set serious, mark-free design elements. A solidly graded, MS62 quality specimen, this coin displays impressive striking detail for such a large coin (it weighs 2-1/2 ounces). This is also to say that the strike is full, including those stylized leaves on Minerva's helmet and the plume above which makes this the most unusual gold piece ever minted by the U.S. government up to that time. The round format $50 is considerable scarcer than the octagonal $50. Pop 69. (PCGS # 7451) . Estimated Value $60,000 - 63,000. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold
Lot 1761		1915-S Panama-Pacific Gold $50 Octagonal. PCGS graded MS-65 PQ. Only 645 pieces minted. A choice example with lovely golden toning. A crisply original coin beaming with a wonderful glow from the fields and devices. Our observation of the luster ends, but pertaining to the devices, this coin was struck with methodical precision throughout. Minerva, a Roman god on the obverse, wears a Corinthian style plumed helmet for this depiction. She is paired with an owl-themed reverse perched on a pine branch surrounded by pine cones. In the eight corners of the octagon the designer, Robert Aitken, set dolphins as counterpoints to the intricately fashioned ring and dot-dot-dash inner borders surrounding the legend PANAMA-PACIFIC EXPOSITION SAN FRANCISCO. In our Ohringer Part II September 2008 Auction Lot #1327 a PCGS MS65 example realized $161,000 after spirited bidding. Pop 17; 1 finer in 66 (PCGS # 7452) . Estimated Value $120,000 - 130,000. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold
Lot 1762		1915-S Panama-Pacific Gold $50 Octagonal. PCGS graded MS-65 PQ. A stunning gem example exhibiting lovely original golden mint bloom colors on both sides. Only 645 struck of the octagonal variety. An absolutely lovely exaample and thus our Premium Quality designation. One of several examples of this massive coin we offer bidders this time around. A satiny specimen with strong fundamental luster and superlative surfaces throughout. Nicely struck, too, in fact totally so -- with such strikingly full devices on both side that special mention is merited. Indeed, the strike of the present coin easily rivals that of a higher-grade specimen. During preparations for the Panama-Pacific Exposition's opening, the Philadelphia Mint shipped a 14-ton hydraulic press to the fairgrounds for the specific purpose of striking these large $50 gold pieces. (Research has not been able to ascertain how they managed it: probably the press went disassembled by ship.) On June 15, the first octagonal pieces were struck at a ceremony which attracted Vips from all over the country. This had been arranged by Farran Zerbe, then possibly the best known numismatist in the country. Zerbe had the political influence to have himself put in charge of the Exposition's Coin and Medal Department, which was named in the authorizing act as responsible for distributing the commemorative coins. Zerbe set up his own collection (over 20,000 specimens after he included additions) in a trellised display area of the Palace of Liberal Arts on the Exposition grounds labeling it Zerbe's Unique Money of the World. It became one of the more popular displays, and the Panama-Pacific Commemorative coins, each with its own story appended, were probably seen by several million visitors between the Exposition's opening February 20 and its close on December 4, 1915. Pop 17; 1 in 66. (PCGS # 7452) . Estimated Value $110,000 - 120,000. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold
Lot 1763		1915-S Panama-Pacific Gold $50 Octagonal. NGC graded MS-65. Only 645 pieces struck. A hint of light gold tone. Frosty. Velvety to satin-like fields almost stagger under the weight of its highly lustrous golden elegance and color. At best, it is not easy to find such luster on one of these mighty gold pieces, the largest ever minted up to that time by the United States of America. So too crisp definition on the main devices counts for a lot. Mathematically exact standards are seen everywhere in the artistic design. The choice of both round and octagonal formats for this commemorative, which (as usual with public opinion) also came in for criticism at the time, consciously reflected the use of both Humbert octagonal $50 coins and Wass-Molitor round fifties as a major part of California's circulating medium in the 1850s. Pop 40; 10 finer, 6 in 66, 4 in 67 (PCGS # 7452) . Estimated Value $100,000 - 110,000. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $115,000
Lot 1764		1915-S Panama-Pacific Gold $50 Octagonal. PCGS graded MS-64. Lovely golden toning. A very choice satiny specimen, boldly struck on the key devices and showing the stylized leafy motif of a wreath on Minerva's helmet (a high point on the design). Only 645 struck. On June 15, 1915, the first octagonal pieces were struck. During the months of June, July and August, the remaining gold fifties were coined. According to Arlie Slabaugh, after the first 62 round fifties were coined, the dies broke in striking the 63rd -- as did the remaining pairs of dies then on hand. Coinage had to be delayed until more dies arrived from Philadelphia. The authorizing act specified 3,000 fifties: 1,500 each of the octagonal and round types. Sales went well enough to convince the authorities to strike the entire authorization, with 9 extras reserved for assay of the octagonal type, 10 extras of the round. However, the high prices of these coins severely limited the numbers to be sold. According to Exposition price lists, a single $50 coin could be had for $100, but this price entitled the buyer to the half dollar, dollar and quarter eagle free of additional charge. Pop 118; 17 in 65, 1 in 66 (PCGS # 7452) . Estimated Value $65,000 - 70,000. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $77,050
Lot 1765		1915-S Panama-Pacific Gold $50 Octagonal. PCGS graded MS-64. Only 645 minted. Nice original toning. A simply outstanding MS64 example, the glossy golden surfaces gyrate to-and-fro with full, textured luster these are famous for. Far in advance of most, this was struck with systematic exactness including (not excepting) all the key areas in the center such as helmet leaves, the hair curls, and the breast feathers on the owl. It took the Mint's 14-ton hydraulic press to coin such a big coin. During preparations for the Exposition's opening, the Philadelphia Mint shipped this press to the fairgrounds for the specific purpose of striking these pieces. According to the Breen-Swiatek book on this series, "On June 15, the first octagonal pieces were struck, at a ceremony which attracted VIps from all over the country. This had been arranged by Farran Zerbe, then possibly the best known numismatist in the United States. Zerbe had enough political clout to have himself put in charge of the Exposition's Coin and Medal Department, which was named in the authorizing act as responsible for receiving and distributing the commemorative coins…" Pop 118; 18 finer, 17 in 65, 1 in 66 (PCGS # 7452) . Estimated Value $65,000 - 70,000. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $78,200
Lot 1766		1915-S. Panama Pacific Set in the original Box of issue. Consists of: Half Dollar, $1.00 gold, $2.50 gold, $50.00 Round, $50.00 Octagon. The 5-piece set grades AU to Mint State. Always in great demand as the most desirable commemorative set of American coinage. Today the five different coins issued in connection with the Panama-Pacific International Exposition stand as the high-water mark among American commemoratives. Sixty thousand commemorative half dollars were coined, of which 34 were reserved for assay. Of the 59,966 pieces available, 27,100 were sold and 32,866 were destroyed later at the Mint. 25,034 gold dollars were coined, of which 34 were used for assay and the balance all sold. 10,017 $2.50 gold pieces were struck, of which 17 were used for assay, leaving 10,000 available. Of these 10,000 there were 6,750 sold and the rest, 3,250 pieces, were melted. There were 1,509 of the octagonal $50 pieces made, of which nine were used for assay, 646 were actually sold and 854 went to the melting pot. There were 1,510 round $50 pieces including 10 for assay. Just 483 were sold. 1,017 were melted. The striking of the first octagonal $50 gold piece, the largest coin ever authorized by the government, and the first minted since 1852 of any other shape than circular, was made a notable occasion at the mint. Estimated Value $75,000 - 85,000. View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 1767		1926 Sesquicentennial Gold $2.50. NGC graded MS-64. Well struck, brilliant and untoned. Sharp image of Liberty holding the Torch of Freedom in association with a representation of Independence Hall in Philadelphia depicted on the reverse. The coin was designed by John R. Sinnock, who is also responsible for the Roosevelt dime and Franklin Half dollar motifs. Estimated Value $1,100 - 1,200. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $1,495
Lot 1768		1926 Sesquicentennial Gold $2.50. NGC graded MS-64. A very choice coin for the grade with only a few scattered marks on the standing figure. Lustrous golden color. Estimated Value $1,100 - 1,200. View details and enlarged photos	Unsold
Lot 1769		1926 Sesquicentennial Gold $2.50. NGC graded MS-64. A very choice exmple. This is a lovely, healthy-glowing Sesqui, whose full-color obverse and reverse being essentially untoned, beams with frosty luster. Estimated Value $1,100 - 1,200. View details	Realized $1,064