Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 63

The Pre-Long Beach Auction of US, World Coins and Currency

Commemorative Gold Coins

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 1874		1922 Grant Dollar, no star. NGC graded MS-62 PQ. Plenty of lustrous eye appeal thus our Premium Quality designation for the grade. Mintage: 5,016 (PCGS # 7458) . Estimated Value $1,300 - 1,400. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $1,553
Lot 1875		1904 Lewis and Clark Dollar. NGC graded MS-65. Well struck and fully lustrous, untoned. A gem example. Due to the market shenanigans by Farran Zerbe relating to the 1903 Louisiana Purchase Exposition gold dollars and the consequent market bust, collectors had very little interest in the subsequent Lewis and Clark gold dollars, as here, issued in Portland, Oregon, with dates of 1904 and 1905. Those that were sold mainly went to the public and were not handled with care. Today the 1904 and 1905 Lewis and Clark dollars are several times rarer in Gem Mint State grades than are the other pairs of commemorative gold dollars -- the 1903 Louisiana Purchase, the 1916 and 1917 McKinley, and the 1922 Grant varieties. Pop 183; 139 finer (PCGS # 7447) . Estimated Value $4,000 - 4,500. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold
Lot 1876		1903 Louisiana Purchase-McKinley Dollar. NGC graded MS-63. Frosty and untoned. Only 17,500 made (PCGS # 7444) . Estimated Value $500 - 550. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $546
Lot 1877		1917 McKinley Dollar. NGC graded MS-66. Lovely reddish-golden surfaces. Booming luster and satiny-fresh appearance. William McKinley was the third American president to be assassinated (Lincoln & Garfield preceded in 1861 and 1881), although an earlier attempt was made to shoot President Andrew Jackson as well. (On that occasion in 1835, when the perpetrator made his move using a pair of flintlock pistols which failed to fire properly, Jackson hit him over the head repeatedly with his walking stick until the miscreant was subdued by others in the entourage. It was dangerous thing to enrage Andrew Jackson!) (PCGS # 7455) . Estimated Value $2,000 - 2,200. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold
Lot 1878		1917 McKinley Dollar. NGC graded MS-65. Lovely shades of golden toning. A beautiful, frosty-gold Gem, there are no unsettling bagmarks on either side. Adding to those results, a word about strike: this piece has all but needle-sharp devices, with gorgeous detail on the portrait and Memorial building (PCGS # 7455) . Estimated Value $1,500 - 1,600. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $1,725
Lot 1879		1917 McKinley Dollar. NGC graded MS-63. Intensely lustrous and untoned. Quite choice for the grade. Mintage: 5,000 (PCGS # 7455) . Estimated Value $600 - 650. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $690
Lot 1880		1915-S Panama-Pacific Dollar. PCGS graded MS-63 CAC Approved. Gorgeous golden toning, well struck on the Canal Worker's features and cap (PCGS # 7449) . Estimated Value $550 - 600. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold
Lot 1881		1915-S Panama-Pacific $2.50. PCGS graded MS-66. Delicate golden-orange mint luster. Only 6,749 minted. Sun-fresh gold, indeed baking with gold satin luster, and fully radiant with a near-perfect strike. The five thematic coins issued for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition stand at the apex of American commemoratives. In all, 60,000 half dollars were coined, of which 34 were kept back for assay. Of the 59,966 pieces available, 27,100 were eventually sold while the remainder 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 set aside for assay, leaving 10,000 available. Of these there were 6,750 sold and the rest were melted. Many new devices were being tested on America's coinage in this decade: matte proofing, rims without denticles, artistic lettering, textured fields, uneven "basining" of the design on the die, and the like. As can be seen, the coins struck for this expo, such as this handsome Quarter Eagle, incorporate some of these changes. Instead of a more traditional motif, the artist depicts Columbia seated on a mythological hippocampus, half-horse, half-sea serpent. The eagle, too, is rendered in a new, more modernistic way not seen before on an American production coin. It was modeled upon a similar eagle seen on one of the rare Pattern issues. Pop 399; 27 finer (PCGS # 7450) . Estimated Value $5,500 - 6,000. Ex Benson Collection. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $6,613
Lot 1882		1915-S Panama-Pacific $2.50. PCGS graded MS-63 CAC Approved. Nice golden toning with frosty luster throughout, though slightly muted on the highest areas (PCGS # 7450) . Estimated Value $3,200 - 3,400. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $3,565
Lot 1883		1915-S Panama-Pacific $50 Round. NGC graded MS-65. Only 483 struck. In 1915 visitors from all over the world converged on a veritable new city that had been built of lath and plaster on the San Francisco shore front. Building upon the tradition established by the 1876 Centennial Exhibition (Philadelphia), 1892-1893 World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago), the 1900 Paris Exposition, the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, and other such events, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition showcased marvels of technology, art, history, and science. After the event ended, nearly everything was torn down. An exception was the Palace of Fine Arts, which, while never intended to be a permanent structure, survived to be used to store fire engines and other municipal equipment. In recent times it has been restored. This building in 1915 was the numismatic focal point of the Exposition. Under its huge dome was Farran Zerbe's Money of the World exhibit and, after the fair's closing, his concession to sell the remaining Panama-Pacific coins by mail order. America's fairs and expos usually revolve around a theme. For 1915, the fair organizers chose as their themes the discovery of the Pacific Ocean (1513) and the aforementioned completion of the Panama Canal (1914) as the dual anchor points for the event. A series of 5 coins was struck for the occasion, including complete sets mounted in metal frames or leather cases sold for $200. Many sales were made to banks and other novices; for this reason, high grade examples, especially of the two $50 gold denominations, are a challenge to find. The larger the denomination, the harder to locate. Some were also carried as souvenir pieces, in fact. When all was said and done, only 483 Round $50 gold pieces were sold. And it can be assumed (though no separate records were kept in this regard) that numerous specimens in the hands of the public were melted after the federal government seized America's gold coins in 1933. We estimate there are 200 or so of the round $50 pieces remaining. Today the five different coins issued in connection with the Panama-Pacific International Exposition stand as the high-water mark of American commemoratives. The $50 round is legendary in U.S. federal coinage, both for its size ($50 or two and one-half ounces of 900 Fine gold) and dimensions. The artistry was by Robert Aitken, noted sculptor and coin designer whose handiwork presents Minerva, goddess of the harvest, wearing a Corinthian plumed helmet. Aitken used a more down-home emblem for his reverse, a "wise" owl perched upon a pine branch. Curiously, the wisdom of owls is much overrated. According to the trainers who worked the various owls in the Harry Potter series of movies, owls are little more than flying sharks - sophisticated eating machines with only enough brains to get along with. They're downright unfriendly and almost impossible to train to do tricks. Nevertheless, Minerva's owl is golden and beautiful, and we'll just say "wise", on this foremost of all U.S. commemorative gold pieces! What a spectacular way to preserve the occasion than by this well struck, satin-gem Mint State 65 certified by America's top-tier grading firm, NGC (Numismatic Guarantee Corporation). Pop 49; 17 in 66, 4 in 67. Estimated Value $110,000 - 120,000. View details and enlarged photos	Realized $115,000
Lot 1884		1915-S Panama-Pacific $50 Octagonal. PCGS graded MS-65 CAC Approved. Rich golden mint bloom color adds to its appeal. A gorgeous Premium Quality example confirmed by CAC. Only 645 struck. One of only a handful of Gem quality examples of this massive coin we offer bidders this time around. A satiny specimen with strong fundamental luster and gleaming fresh surfaces throughout. Boldly struck, too, in fact totally so -- with such strikingly full devices on both side that special mention is merited. Indeed, the design detail 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 VIP's 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 18; 1 in 66 (PCGS # 7452) . Estimated Value $120,000 - 130,000. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $132,250
Lot 1885		Original Box for the 1915-S Panama-Pacafic $50.00 Octagonal. Excellent condition. Box only, no coin. Many sales were made to banks throughout the country. Usually they were of special purple-plush boxed coins or sometimes in sets mounted in copper frames. With the close of the Exposition the rare coin exhibit of the Panama-Pacific fair was moved to the Palace of Fine Arts, where it looked very much at home and continued as a sales agency over the post-Exposition period until May 1, 1916. The Department was continued on a mail order basis, down to November 1, 1916, when, at the request of the Exposition and by authority of the Secretary of the Treasury, most of the coins remaining unsold were returned to the mint and destroyed. (Hence the high melt percentage of the $50 octagonal and round gold pieces, in particular.). Estimated Value $400 - 500. View details and enlarged photo	Realized $1,006