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Sale 42
Lot 3352
1795 $10 Capped Bust. 13 leaves. NGC graded MS-64. T-1. NGC #1776966-022. Very boldly struck and intensely lustrous. A stunning untoned example with great eye appeal and semi reflective surfaces throughout. This remarkable (and remarkably beautiful) early eagle traces to the Freedom Collection sold by the firm of Heritage Auction Galleries. In that earlier sale, a foundation was laid for the coin's heritage by this detailed chronology (from which we quote): "The ten dollar gold pieces, given the name 'eagle,' were the largest gold coins produced by the first U.S. Mint from 1795 through 1804. Like all early gold coins, these pieces did not carry an actual denomination as part of the design. John Dannreuther explains: 'The eagle was the second gold denomination struck by the United States Mint. Calling it a denomination is actually a misnomer. Even though a gold eagle was denominated as a ten-dollar coin, our forefathers traded gold by the tale. [Tale, in this instance, means count or tally, a number of things taken together (i.e., the weight and purity of an individual coin).] The weight and purity were the only things important to merchants and individuals -- money was gold, and gold was money. In most cases, transactions of even a nominal sum had to be settled in gold, especially whenever governments were involved. There really was no need at first for a stated denomination on either gold or silver coins, because it was known that our coins would be under extreme scrutiny and would likely be assayed by foreign mints and others as to their weight and purity.'
"In his new reference, Early U.S. Gold Coin Varieties, Dannreuther provides estimated mintages for every variety, as well as estimates of the number of survivors for each variety. The only thing we know for sure is the number of die marriages known from 1795 through 1804 (32) and the total mintage for that period (132,714 coins including 122 pieces reserved for assay). By using the midpoint of Dannreuther's survival estimates, we can also establish an approximate survival rate for the series of 2.5%."
Such a low survival ratio! Is it any wonder coins like these are the crème de la crème of numismatics in 21st Century America?
1795 BD-1 is believed to be the first variety struck that year. "Quite a few examples survive in Mint State grades," explains the Freedom Collection description, "giving collectors a reasonable chance of obtaining a high-quality example of the Small Eagle reverse design. Many of the Mint State pieces have Prooflike fields, much like this coin does. Although the fields are not deeply mirrored, they are clearly reflective. The surfaces are exceptional and almost totally mark-free with only a few scattered abrasions. Faint adjustment marks are evident at the center of the obverse, and also on some of the obverse dentils. All of the design elements on both sides are sharply struck, suggesting to some the possibility that this may have been some type of presentation piece. This example is a relatively early die state of the variety, with faint obverse die cracks but no evidence of any reverse cracks. Despite the existence of several Mint State pieces, this example is one of the best…" and indeed it is, an incredible coin, and a first-class opportunity for the earnest buyer of rare United States gold coinage! Pop 1; 2 finer in 65 (PCGS # 8551) .
Estimated Value $400,000 - 500,000.
Ex Freedom Collection.
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Lot 3404
1933 $10 Indian. PCGS graded MS-64 PQ. PCGS #05956684. A key date for this series. Quite a coin! Well struck with nice original toning. A few obverse marks on this Premium Quality coin. A legendary rarity that boasts amazing eye appeal. The 1933 Indian $10 is available to only a select group of individuals. Rarely do these get offered for sale. The small group of specialists who track down 20th century gold will recognize this coin's importance. The few known eagles that were struck this year were released before April 1933, when Franklin D. Roosevelt nationalized the citizen's gold. It is for this reason that the 1933 is the rarest issue in the series, rarest in all grades (almost all are Mint condition or just a shade away). Some may argue that it is third rarest in Mint State, trailing the 1913-S and 1911-D. Unlike most of the pieces known, this lovely MS64 is lightly abraded with no more abrasions than, say, a similarly graded 1932. Reddish-rose gold in color, the surfaces are satiny throughout and exhibit eye-opening striking definition. If a point has to be enforced, it is in the area of striking depth, for this coin is struck with mathematical precision by the dies. A coin boasting the maximum in eye appeal. Something for the connoisseur. (Using reference photographs online, we have traced this handsome piece to a January 1999 offering by Heritage Auction Galleries.) Pop 14; 7 finer in 65 (PCGS # 8885) .
Estimated Value $380,000 - 400,000.
Ex Heritage 1/99:8411.
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Lot 3276
1795 $5 Capped Bust. Small eagle. PCGS graded MS-64 PQ. BD-3. PCGS #50189862. Well struck and a hint of light toning. Very choice Premium Quality example for the grade. One of the finest known and Condition Census. Resplendent surfaces that are thoroughly frosted with keen-edged, greenish gold to yellow-gold luster strengthening outward from the centers. Taking stock of another key aspect of the grade, this piece has knife-edged devices throughout, including centers, rather than a soft, mushy strike as most often seen. This gives the coin an appreciable advantage over others in its class.
Though a number of Mint State survivors of the 1795 half eagle issue survive, most are among the lower positions of the Mint State grading scale. The 1795 half eagles were the very first gold coins issued by the U.S. Mint, with the first delivery of struck pieces occurring at the end of July, 1795. According to the Bass-Dannreuther guide "There is no doubt that there are fewer than 1,000 Small Eagle 1795 half eagles still available to today's collectors -- combining all the 12 varieties! The high estimates of the known survivors of the 12 Small Eagle varieties added together are only slightly more than 600 specimens. Even if the estimates are off by twenty percent, only 750 or so of these spectacular early American coins are known." Pop 6; 2 finer in 65 (PCGS # 8066) .
On this die variety, the date is wide and star 11 joins Y of LIBERTY. The wreath has 4 berries, and the upper leaf in the palm branch ends at the foot of I in United. This is one of the more often seen 1795 varieties with possibly 200 examples extant. The previous use of this obverse was on BD-2.
Estimated Value $270,000 - 290,000.
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Lot 2531
1916 Buffalo Nickel. Doubled die obverse. PCGS graded MS-62. PCGS #06580087. Condition Census. Nicely toned. The date is a very clear double date. Very rare in this grade. Identifiable by a couple of small marks in the hair, one at the top of the head, the other directly below it a few millimeters. This sharply struck coin must rank very high in any Census of finest known examples of this key date early Buffalo nickel variety. Collectors, when they refer to it as a doubled date, should more properly realize that much more than the date is doubled, bold as the feature may be. A strong double impression of all four digits in the date is visible to the naked eye, and in addition, magnification reveals that the Indian's chin, throat and feathers are also strongly doubled.
This obverse exhibits sleek nickel gray color with a blush of blue iridescence to it, nice and original in its smooth balanced appearance. The reverse is similar but with some additional golden color near the lower left edge, all this highlighting the crisp detail of the design. Legends are bold throughout, including the little motto E PLURIBUS UNUM at upper right. Interest in this historic minting error has launched like a moon-shot since it was first published in the Guide Book of United States Coins. Walter Breen assigned it its own number in his Complete Encyclopedia in 1988. Breen noted, ''Ex. rare. usually in low grades.'' This brief statement is echoed in the major grading services' census figures. PCGS has encapsulated more than 100 examples but only a few were in Mint State: NGC has handled more than half that number of examples, but again only a handful in Mint State. This enticing piece must be near the top in terms of aesthetic appeal and future appreciation by numismatists, young and old! Pop 3; 2 finer in 64 (PCGS # 3931) .
Historic note: The Mint finally addressed some of the Buffalo nickel's basic design deficiencies beginning this year. A new obverse hub was used exclusively for 1916 and all subsequent dates. The word LIBERTY was more deeply incised, eliminating its tendency to blend with the coin's field.
Estimated Value $130,000 - 140,000.
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Lot 3432
1873-CC $20 Liberty. PCGS graded MS-63. PCGS #06577527. Lovely orange and golden toning. A wonderful coin. Only 22,410 struck. A boldly struck example of the rare Carson City Mint issue of 1873, a coin that exhibits lovely rose to reddish gold patina and has rolling "cartwheel" luster from center to periphery. A few blemishes are limited to three separated marks at Liberty's cheek. Also, there is some moderate abrasion on the reverse rim near 7 o'clock. In days gone by, these $20 gold pieces weren't collected as numismatic items but were used simply and exclusively as bullion for payment of goods and services rendered or due. For some strange reason, this piece remained uncirculated. How and why are best left to those who can read crystal balls, like the clumsy bobble-eyed Divinations witch in the Harry Potter stories! Pop 1. Finest graded at either service (PCGS # 8968) .
Everybody in numismatics is aware of how difficult this date is to find. It turns out that 1873-CC was a very rare year for any coin denomination from Carson City. Collectors universally proclaim its importance. But what do we know of the year itself? Without some historical point of view, what is this, after all, but just another rare coin? Yet the '73-CC is a lot more than that. President Ulysses S. Grant was in his final term as President, struggling with the issues of Reconstruction in the East and South, fending off scandals in his administration, and having to come to terms with a sharp, hard Panic in the summer and fall of 1873. It was the age of rogues called Carpetbaggers. Railroad tycoons were picking the pockets of the unsuspecting taxpayers. President Grant probably already had the cancer which would end his life in 1885 -- one of the ravages of the war he had helped the Union to win. For numismatists today, of course, this important year signaled the passage of the Coinage Act of 1873, in which hard-money gold currency advocates of the time convinced Congress to demonetize silver. This, of course, was the reason Carson City would coin no silver dollars the next year (although the new Trade dollar would take its place in the coining presses, it was rarely in use in America itself but was for Asian export only). In the Western third of the country, which concerns us most here, railroads were snaking across the landscape. The year before (1872) a deadly plague attacked horses, killing or sickening millions of them (the long-forgotten Great Epizootic of 1872 as it was called back then). The invention of barbed wire was still a year off (1874) and the Indian Wars occupied the energies of William Tecumseh Sherman of the U.S. Army, a butcher to the last drop, which would soon engender blowback in the personage of a remarkable Native American commander who called himself Crazy Horse (1876). Verily, 1873 was a busy year! Place this 1873 Carson City double eagle rarity against those realities. It's a "real" coin, and not only part of a remarkable heritage -- but also a palpable image of the times themselves. To paraphrase a line from Indiana Jones: this coin isn't just passing through history, it IS history!
Estimated Value $115,000 - 125,000.
Ex Texas Collection.
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Lot 3460
1896 $20 Liberty. PCGS graded Proof 64 Deep Cameo PQ. Lovely light even golden toning on both sides of this Premium Quality example. Looks a little undergraded. Only 128 Proofs struck. A vibrant coin from all levels of measurement: technical, aesthetic, rarity, and grading, and from this viewpoint a visually stunning $20 gold Proof. Like others dated 1896, which seems to lie at the pinnacle of the Mint's quality level, we see a combination of deep mirror fields with "orange peel" Proof surface on both sides. Nicely toned warm gold and orange as mentioned. The detail of strike is needle-sharp as well. Further on this point, all devices (including the tops of the letters in the legends and digits in the dates as well as the stars) are satin frosted. A greatly prized rarity, this, and one that only rarely surfaces despite a moderate reported Proof mintage for the date. We contend that fewer than half the 1896 release survives today, and then mainly in lower grades.
While the present coin will require an advanced buyer due to its value, any serious bidder wanting an outstanding Proof double eagle will want to play close attention as the auction progresses. Among Proofs of this decade, only a small percentage have survived in quality comparable to this. Pop 3; 5 finer, 2 in 65, 3 in 66 (PCGS # 99112) .
Estimated Value $45,000 - 50,000.
Ex: The Brentwood Park Estate.
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Lot 3550
1932 $20 St. Gaudens. NGC graded MS-65. NGC #3021262-003. Lovely natural rich toning and well struck. A very important late date double eagle. A superlative Gem whose sharp beauty causes it to project extraordinary visceral impact onto any collector viewing it for the first time. From the yellow-gold satin luster with its pale reddish undertone, to the near-absence of tiny abrasions, all the evidence points to a first-rate example, an exemplary coin if we may be so bold as to state the obvious, a specimen whose illustrious quality is fully confirmed by the numerical grade.
This is the final affordable date in the double eagle series (the 1933 is too costly to contemplate unless you have co-signing rights to Donald Trump's checking account). When the time came for President Roosevelt to issue his executive order seizing the gold in the banks, the major stock of 1932 double eagles and other gold coins that were still being held as backing for currency and checking deposits were locked up, never again to see the light of day. Well, we've fudged there slightly; perhaps a few would see the light of day, since coin collectors probably are unaware of the fact, but tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of double eagles were exported AFTER the gold seizure order in 1933. The few surviving pieces dated 1932 remained in their European hoards until the 1960s to 1980s, when they were sold back to savvy American gold importers. A revered date, perhaps fewer than a hundred to a hundred and fifty pieces survive of the 1932 double eagle mintage. Pop 14; 9 in 66, and 3 in 66 star (PCGS # 9194) .
Estimated Value $90,000 - 100,000.
The Dr. Robert Hesselgesser Collection.
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Lot 2563
1829 Capped Bust Half Dime. PCGS graded Proof 67. PCGS #50052491. Perhaps the finest known. Wonderful toning on both sides. Sharply struck with full mirror surfaces. Among half dimes dated 1829, a total of 18 different varieties are known. These coins represent were produced from a combination of six obverse dies and 10 reverse dies.
A very attractive Gem Proof with gorgeous toned surfaces that burst out atop the flashy and hard-working mirror-strength luster beneath. Superb is the one word to describe the overall effect this produces on the studied eye of the numismatists. And not a single weak spot in the strike is to be seen. It is easy to understand why this piece was delivered a hard blow by the special Proof dies. The dies were obviously new and perfectly set in the equipment to impart the requisite force, a force which imparted their sharpness to the struck planchet. Here is likely the very finest to survive in Proof condition. Pop 1; none finer @ PCGS (PCGS # 4294) .
Estimated Value $85,000 - 90,000.
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Lot 2585
1837 Liberty Seated Dime. NGC graded Proof 67. Greer-102. NGC #1727945-029. No stars on the obverse. Well struck with nice old time toning including a lovely halo around Liberty. Tied for the finest known. The other Proof 67 example of this great rarity has not seen the light of day since it appeared in a Heritage sale back in 2003. This remarkably artistic No Stars design is by assistant engraver at the Philadelphia Mint, Christian Gobrecht. He'd been employed in the establishment for several years when the chief engraver, William Kneass suffered a stroke before completing a project to redesign the capped bust coinage. Kneass stepped aside to let Gobrecht provide new dies (based on sketches by artists Thomas Sully and Titian Peale). The design features Liberty seated on a rocky outcrop supporting a shield at her side with one hand while in the other she holds a pole surmounted by a liberty cap. It is thought that about 30 Proofs in all were struck of the new design in 1837, possibly more. A fair number have been certified by the two major services pointing to the fact that these, being a novel new design, were saved by early day collectors and visitors to the mint. Some Small Date 1837 dimes parade around as Proofs, but belief is that all valid 1837 Proofs are from the Large Date die. They have a diagnostic raised die line on the reverse from the rim above the first T in STATES, as well as a faint die scratch through the ES and O in STATES OF.
A hard to believe array of rich toning hues enhance the mirror-bright surfaces of this handsome Gem Proof dime. Taking stock of another key aspect of the grade, this piece has knife-edged devices throughout, including centers and shield, rather than a soft, uneven strike most associated with the business strikes. A stellar offering for the advanced collector! Pop 2; none finer @ NGC (PCGS # 4718) .
Estimated Value $100,000 - 120,000.
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Lot 2626
1796 Draped Bust Quarter Dollar. PCGS graded MS-62. Lovely blue toning on both sides. Semi reflective surfaces. Well struck. Browning-2. R3. The "High 6" variety of the issue, one of just two known die pairings for this low mintage single year type. This is the more plentiful variety of 1796 by a small margin. Early state: The obverse of this example is perfect, with no die cracks through LIBERTY. (On the rare late-state examples, several heavy die cracks are seen through ERTY and star 9.) A gorgeous toned example whose gleaming field sports original color on both sides. The color tends towards iridescence in several areas. Best of all, this is a very pleasing example of the date, not fully struck on the eagle's head or upper right leaves in the wreath, but with more than sufficient detail to put it well ahead of the pack in terms of overall excellence (PCGS # 5310) .
The design of the 1796 Draped Bust, Small Eagle quarter dollar had its genesis in the almost universal disdain for the previous Flowing Hair coin designs on the silver denominations, designs that were widely criticized. To avoid further public embarrassment, Mint Director Henry DeSaussure engaged renowned portraitist Gilbert Stuart, who supposedly used as his model the prominent Philadelphia socialite Mrs. William Bingham (nee Ann Willing). The likeness of the buxom Mrs. Bingham was first applied to the Draped Bust dollar issued late in 1795, followed by this quarter dollar, the dime and half dime, as well as the half dollar in 1796.
The obverse portrait is encircled by 15 stars, with the inscription LIBERTY above the head and the date below. The reverse depicts a small eagle on cushion-like clouds, within a wreath of olive and palm branches. The inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA encircles the wreath. The quarters of 1796 lack a denomination.
Only 6,146 of the new quarters were struck in 1796. There are just two varieties known, one with a low 6 in the date and the other with a high 6, the Low 6 variety being the scarcer of the two. Collectors generally want only one coin for a type set, and herein lies the enduring popularity of the 1796 quarter. While it is not a rare coin for the era per se, anyone who attempts to complete a Type Set of United States coins must have a 1796 quarter, as this design was made in only this one year.
Estimated Value $70,000 - 75,000.
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