|
|
Record-Setting 1895 Morgan Dollar and
Top-Graded 1928 $5,000 Note Lead Heritage’s $22.1 Million Long
Beach Expo Numismatic Auctions |
|
More than 30 bids poured in for an 1895 Morgan Dollar, PR67+
Deep Cameo before it sold for a record $324,000 to lead
Heritage’s September 12-15 Long Beach Expo US Coins
Signature® Auction to $11,544,441. Coupled with the $10,587,005
from Heritage’s September 11-13 Long Beach Expo US Currency
Signature® Auction that was led by a Fr. 2220-E $5,000 1928
Federal Reserve Note. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ lifted the
combined total for the events to $22,131,446.
The result for the 1895 Morgan dollar smashed the previous record
of $269,500.
“It is possible that as many as 12,000 circulation strike Morgan
dollars were produced, but if there are any survivors, they have
been kept well out of the public eye,” says Todd Imhof, Executive
Vice President at Heritage Auctions. “This coin is one of just 880
Proofs that were struck, but most of them are well out of reach of
the collecting community, too. This is a magnificent addition to
any collection.”
Also popular among collectors was Major General Alexander
Macomb’s Congressional Gold Medal, which drew 55 bids before
closing at $240,000. Macomb was one of 27 War of 1812 veterans
honored with the Congressional Gold Medal, which was engraved by
Moritz Fürst and was one of several adorned with a battle scene on
the reverse. Although bronze duplicates were struck for decades by
the U.S. Mint, only Macomb’s personal specimen, which he received
directly from the hands of former President James Madison, was
struck in gold.
A 1909-O Indian Half Eagle,
MS64, PCGS CAC Variety 1 ended at $216,000. Just 34,200 were
struck in 1909, and the 1909-O Indian half eagle represents the
only issue of Bela Lyon Pratt’s design ever struck at the historic
facility. When the coins were released into circulation, a few
high-quality examples were saved by contemporary collectors.
The auction included items from several collections, including the
Duffy Family
Collection that featured a bumper crop of silver and gold type
coins in collector grades. Among the top lots from the collection
was a 1907 Rolled Edge Eagle,
AU55 PCGS, a beautiful example of the second-rarest issue in
the entire series that drew a winning bid of $186,000. The Rolled
Edge coins were meant to solve the problems of their Wire Rim
pattern predecessors, but fell short; for example, the Rolled Edge
coins usually were softly struck in the centers, and Mint
Superintendent John Landis did not care for the design, which was
soon abandoned in favor of the No Periods motif. This impressive
Choice AU specimen is one of just 50 examples that were not melted
before distribution.
A 1907 High Relief, Wire
Rim Double Eagle, MS67 NGC, among the finest examples of this exceptional coin,
finished at $168,000. Augustus Saint-Gaudens believed in the theory
of conceiving an idea and then seeing it through, a methodical pace
he followed when designing ten and twenty dollar coins at the
request of President Theodore Roosevelt. NGC lists nearly three
dozen High Reliefs in MS67 and associated Plus and Star grades, but
most of those coins are reported for the Flat Rim variant. Wire Rim
pieces are, curiously, rarer. NGC lists four Wire Rim coins in
MS67, plus one in MS67+, this one in MS67, and one in MS67+, with two MS68s finer.
Also from the Duffy Collection comes a 1796 Capped Bust Right
Quarter Eagle, AU50 PCGS that reached $152,400. This beauty is
from a tiny mintage of just 963 pieces, and when the No Stars motif
was abandoned later in the year, it made this coin a celebrated
one-year design type that Ron Guth called “one of the most historic
and important U.S. gold coins” and Q. David Bowers called “the
rarest U.S. gold design.” John Dannreuther estimates the BD-2 dies
were used to strike 897 pieces of the first-year mintage and the
surviving population of the BD-2 variety is 100-125 examples in all
grades.
A third prize from the Duffy Collection was a 1793 S-3 Cent, AU55, PCGS
CAC that drew more than three dozen bids before it sold for
$150,000. Examples of this quality are exceptionally rare: the
population graded in 55 sits at just two, with one finer; CAC 1 in
55, with none finer.
Other top lots from the Long Beach Expo US Coins auction included,
but were not limited to:
- 1797 Small Eagle Half
Dollar, O-101a (T-1), AU50 PCGS: $144,000
- 1792 Half Disme, Judd-7,
AU50 PCGS: $144,000
- 1808 Capped Bust Left
Quarter Eagle, AU53: $126,000
- 1879 Flowing Hair Stella,
PR50 PCGS: $120,000
- MS William Hollingshead
Counterstamp on a 1751-R Brazil 6400 Reis AU50 PCGS:
$102,000
- Ephraim Brasher
Counterstamp on a 1760 Great Britain Half Guinea VF30 NGC:
$78,000
Complete results from the Long Beach Expo US Coins auction can be
found at HA.com/1377.
Currency
The Fr. 2220-E $5,000 1928
Federal Reserve Note. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ that led the
currency event comes from the Ronald R. Gustafson Collection, and
is the finest PMG-graded Series 1928 in this denomination and the
sole finest known 1928 $5,000 from any district. The PMG
Population Report has graded just 22 Series 1928 $5,000s for
all districts, and this note sits alone atop the list.
“We have seen a number of high-grade $5,000s in recent years, but
all of those were from the 1934 Series, and none could compare in
quality with this incredible note from the 1928 Series,” says
Dustin Johnston, Vice President of Numismatics at Heritage
Auctions. “The winning bidder won a magnificent note, perhaps the
pinnacle of 20th century US type notes.”
Another high-denomination trophy in the auction was a Fr. 2230-E $10,000 1928
Federal Reserve Note. PMG About Uncirculated that drew a
winning bid of $384,000. Series 1928 $10,000 notes are exceedingly
rare — PMG has graded from among all districts only seven Series
1928 $10,000 notes, compared to 113 Series 1934 $10,000s. Census
keepers experts have found just 10 Series 1928 representatives from
all districts combined ... and even that number is deceptive, as
the only New York and San Francisco examples are housed in the
collection of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, meaning
just eight remain in the possession of collectors, and of those,
this magnificent example carries the second-highest grade.
Also from the Gustafson Collection comes a beautiful Fr. 2220-J $5,000 1928
Federal Reserve Note. PMG Extremely Fine 40 that sold for
$228,000. One of just two known 1928 Kansas City $5,000s, this
extraordinary rarity from an original run of just 720 was acquired
by the consignor when Heritage auctioned the massive Taylor Family
collection in 2005. Listed at the time in Stephen M. Sullivan’s
Small Sized High Denomination Notes as unique, it has
since been joined by a PCGS 40 example listed in Track & Price that
was sold in 2014.
The Gustafson Collection included several notes bearing the coveted
Serial Number 1, including one of just three known Serial Number 1 Fr.
2200-C $500 1928 Dark Green Seal Federal Reserve Note. PMG About
Uncirculated 55 notes, which realized $114,000. Heritage
experts know of just two other regular serial number 1 examples: a
Series 1928 Chicago note that resides in the Smithsonian
Institution, and a Series 1934 New York note (a Series 1934 star
from Kansas City also could be added to the tiny population). Other
serial number 1 notes from the Gustafson Collection included a
Serial Number 1 Fr.
1950-K $5 1928 Federal Reserve Note. PMG Gem Uncirculated 66
EPQ that sold for $40,800 and a Serial Number 1 Fr.
2050-F $20 1928 Federal Reserve Note. PMG Choice Uncirculated
63 that brought a winning bid of $21,600.
A gorgeous Fr. 167a $100 1863 Legal
Tender PCGS Choice About New 55PPQ brought $216,800. A rare and
attractive $100 Legal known as the “Spread Eagle” note because of
the portrait of the eagle with its wings stretched wide on the
obverse, it comes from a Track & Price census population of just 23
serial numbers, a figure that has increased only by one since 2016.
But five of those examples are out of reach, with two in the
collection of the Smithsonian Institution, and one each in the ANA
Museum and in the collections of the Federal Reserve Banks of
Chicago and Kansas City, leaving just 18 examples available to
collectors.
Always in high demand are notes with exceptionally low serial
numbers, like the Serial Number 3 Fr.
2221-B $5,000 1934 Federal Reserve Note. PMG Extremely Fine 40
that prompted more than a dozen bids before it sold for
$192,000.
Other top results from the Long Beach Expo Currency auction
included, but were not limited to:
Complete results from the currency auction can be found at HA.com/3596.
Back to Top
|
|
Renowned Collector’s Trove of Toned Morgan
Dollars Offers Eye-Catching Treasures in Heritage’s September 23
Showcase Auction |
|
An exceptional NGC Registry set of GSA Hoard Morgan Dollars from a
well-known collector will shimmer in the spotlight in Heritage’s
Attractively Toned Morgan
GSA Dollar Collection US Coins Showcase Auction September
23.
This 80-lot assemblage comes to Heritage from Jack Kelly, who is
known as “Toneddollars” in the NGC Registry. Submitted to NGC for
grading or regrading in 2019, most of the coins in the collection
received a grade of NGC MS65 or higher, including many that earned
the coveted Star Designation for exceptional eye appeal.
“Finely curated collections like this always are a special treat
for us to handle,” says Todd Imhof, Executive Vice President at
Heritage Auctions. “The level of connoisseurship is inspiring, and
the eye appeal of the coins is just stunning. We expect some huge
premiums to be executed by our bidders.”
“GSA Hoard” is the name given to a cache of several million silver
dollars — the majority of which were Morgan Silver Dollars from the
Carson City Mint — that were held in the vaults of the U.S.
Treasury Department and later sold by the General Services
Administration (GSA) between 1972 and 1980. Coins that have
colorful toning, especially rainbow toning and crescent-shaped
toning — descriptions that apply to many of Kelly’s coins — are
particularly popular among collectors.
The GSA coins rested untouched for years in Treasury and Federal
Reserve vaults, largely to back up silver certificates. In 1935,
Congress changed the written obligation on silver certificates so
the notes could be redeemed “in silver” rather than in “silver
dollars” — shortly thereafter, production of the coins was
discontinued.
In the late 1950s, demand for silver dollars from government vaults
began to climb, peaking in the mid-1960s. A 1962 discovery of rare
and valuable dates among the millions of dollar coins in Treasury
vaults prompted long lines of people seeking silver certificates
they wanted to redeem. After discovering numerous bags of rare
Carson City Mint (“CC”) dollars, the Treasury stopped redeeming
silver certificates with silver dollars, offering bars or granules,
instead. Redemption of silver certificates in silver stopped
altogether in 1968, although the certificates remain legal
tender.
After five sales in 1973 and 1974, more than a million coins — the
majority of which were Morgan silver dollars minted at Carson City
— were left unsold until 1979 and 1980.
Top highlights in the auction include, but are not limited to:
Images and information about all lots in the auction can be found
at HA.com/63299.
Back to Top
|
|
The Western Mining Ingot Collection
September 29 |
|
The Western Mining Ingot
Collection is a wide-ranging collection of a few dozen gold and
silver (mostly silver) bars and ingots from various eras and
makers, accumulated over the course of many years. While many of
the bars are relatively modern, there is a dedicated collector base
for them, and many are actually quite scarce since they were
produced before the 1980s silver spike. As such, the silver bars
offered here will sell for well beyond their silver value.
The collectibility of these ingots might best be illustrated by
lot 92001, a San
Francisco Assay Office Silver Ingot. .999.5 Fine. 7.19 troy
ounces. 11mm x 34mm x 57mm. Type I Oval Hallmark, no serial number,
straight stem 9s in the fineness stamp. Produced in 1959 before the
transition to the round hallmark. The face of the ingot bears the
Type I oval hallmark and the fineness 999.5 FINE. The reverse bears
the weight without a decimal. The edges are unstamped, with no lot
number. A scarce late issue with the Type I hallmark, lacking a
serial number stamp. This era of San Francisco ingot is also
slightly larger than the previous 5-ounce class Type I hallmark
ingots. Light lavender and gray patina characterizes each side.
This ingot is already boasting a bid well into four figures despite
its relatively slight silver content of 7.19 ounces.
Other interesting ingots offered here include:
This fascinating auction is scheduled for 9PM CT on Sunday,
September 29, with bidding ongoing now through Coins.HA.com.
Back to Top
|
|
Early Copper & Colonial Coinage Featured in
September 23 Showcase Auction |
|
Our periodic auctions of Early Copper and Colonial Coinage
feature the coinage used in the American colonies before American
Independence, as well as issues from the earliest days of the
country, before the beginnings of the United States Mint. The
offerings here serve as a fascinating window into how commerce
worked in the very earliest days of the United States. Both half
cents and large cents are also well represented in these auctions.
The latest offerings in this series of auctions are scheduled to
cross the block on Monday, September 23 at 7PM CT, with bidding
already open at Coins.HA.com.
The Colonial offerings in this auction are perhaps led by a
1652 Oak Tree Shilling,
Spiny Tree, graded VF30 by NGC. Generally regarded as the final
Oak Tree shilling prior to introduction of the Pine Tree design,
this Noe-14 variety is a recutting of Noe-13 and its intermediate
die states. The Spiny Tree variety is a popular Guide Book entry
that is listed on page 36 of the 2025 edition. This example is
well-centered with the devices almost entirely visible on the
smooth, lilac-gray planchet, save for narrow clips at the top and
bottom of the flan that crowd the legends. It remains a thoroughly
pleasing midgrade example, nearly impossible to surpass in
technical quality and eye appeal at the assigned grade.
Some of the other outstanding offerings from the early days of the
US include:
- 1652 Pine Tree Shilling,
Small Planchet, Noe-30, W-935, Salmon 12-G, R.3, VF20 PCGS
- (1694) 1/2 P London
Elephant Token, Thick Planchet, AU58 NGC
- 1785 Nova Constellatio
Copper, Pointed Rays, Large Date, Crosby 3-B, W-1895, R.2, AU55
NGC
- Undated Washington
Success Medal, Large Size, Plain Edge, AU58 PCGS. CAC
- 1787 Fugio Cent, STATES
UNITED, 4 Cinquefoils, Pointed Rays, N. 13-X, W-6855, R.2, MS62
Brown PCGS
- 1797 1/2 C 1 Above 1,
C-1, B-1, R.2, Fine 12 PCGS
- 1832 1C Medium Letters,
N-1, R.2, MS64 Brown PCGS
- 1839 1C Head of 1838,
Beaded Cords, N-2, R.2, MS64 Brown PCGS. CAC
Place your bids on these lots exclusively at Coins.HA.com!
Back to Top
|
|
Numismatic Literary Guild Honors Heritage
Auctions for Best Software, Podcast and Catalogs |
|
Heritage Auctions, the world’s leading auctioneer of coins and
currency, has won three 2024 Numismatic Literary
Guild (NLG) awards and shared two more, tying for the most such
honors for any auction house.
Heritage’s website, www.HA.com/Live, was named
the Best Software or App. Heritage’s “Heritage Auctions Unlocking
the secret of the World & Ancient Coin Market: What You Need To
Know Now!” was honored as the Best Podcast, while Platinum
Session: World & Ancient Coins won Best World Coins Auction
Catalog.
The Harry W. Bass, Jr. Core Collections, Part IV and The Sydney
F. Martin Collection Part IV tied for the Best U.S. Coins
Auction Catalog, while The Ibrahim Salem Banknote Collections
of World Penninsulas and Islands and The London Chelsea Collections
of People’s Bank Banknotes 1948-1980 tied for Best Paper Money
(U.S. or World) Auction Catalog; each was tied by Stack’s Bowers,
which also had five shared or outright awards.
“Heritage Auctions has been the world’s premiere auctioneer for
both coins and currency for years, and these awards justifiably
focus the spotlight on those who create our extraordinary catalogs
and collateral materials,” says Dustin Johnston, Vice President of
Numismatics at Heritage Auctions. “These awards are the result of
the incredible work put in by the teams of talented people who come
up with so many creative ways to present our coins and currency
auctions to the collecting community. Our website is the most
comprehensive and user-friendly collectibles website in the auction
world, and our catalogs are works of art in their own right,
capturing the attention and celebrating the singular assortment of
numismatic material offered time after time at Heritage
Auctions.”
To be eligible for NLG awards, entries had to be published,
released or posted on the Internet between May 1, 2023 and April
30, 2024.
The NLG is a non-profit organization composed of editors, authors,
writers, bloggers and content producers who cover news and feature
stories about all forms of money, medals and tokens as
collectibles.
Back to Top
|
|
World & Ancient Coins Department
Openings:
Heritage Auctions is seeking candidates to expand the World & Ancient Coin Department. Set
your sights on a career with the #1 Numismatic Dealer! Our rapidly
growing Ancient and World Coins Department is looking to expand its
team to work directly with consignors and buyers, write
descriptions for auction catalogs, and process consignments.
Apply today for any of the following positions:
Do you think you have what it takes to join our World & Ancient
Coin Department? Send your resume to Jobs@HA.com.
Currency Department Openings:
Apply online today at HA.COM/CAREERS or
send us your resume at Jobs@HA.COM.
Back to Top
|
|
Celebrate Asia Week with Heritage: Tang Dynasty Terracotta,
Cloisonné, Original Paintings and Jade Lead the Auction House’s
Asian Art Event
Remarkable auctions are shaped by remarkable collections, and
Heritage’s September 24 Fine & Decorative
Asian Art Signature® Auction is made up of works from more than
a dozen distinguished U.S.-based collections of significant objects
from Japan, China and beyond. The collections boast collector names
that keen-eyed connoisseurs notice when scouring a season’s auction
schedule: Ruth Sylvia Nelkin, Princess Maria Romanoff, Dr. John
Ross, the Kestenband Collection, and works from the collections of
military commanders like James B. Linder and Lu Jingcun lead the
fall auction with exquisite works in cloisonné, important ink
paintings, jade and jadeite, Tang dynasty terracotta and more.
“With Heritage’s expansion, and the opening of our Tokyo
headquarters, our Asian Art category is growing rapidly,” says
Moyun Niu, Heritage's Consignment Director of Asian Art. “And in
conjunction with this fall’s nationwide Asia Week, we present
Heritage’s Asia Week, starting with the extraordinary works in our
September 24 auction,
and again one day later in our September 25 Japanese Woodblock
Prints from The Nelkin Collection Part II Signature® Auction.”
The collections represented during the September 25 event have been
built over decades by enthusiasts with spectacular taste and a rich
history of scholarship. “We are honored to handle these works and
to discover the stories that came with them, as well as to conduct
further research,” says Charlene Wang, of Heritage’s Fine &
Decorative Arts category. “We’re dedicated to the mission of
helping our clients either downsize their collections as they move
into a new chapter of their lives or acquire and build new
collections.”
This exquisite Chinese
cloisonné tripod censer from the estate of Ann Alter, dated to
the mid-Qing Dynasty, showcases the intricate and labor-intensive
cloisonné technique. Its body displays the Eight Buddhist Emblems
surrounded by lotus and scrolling foliage and its shoulders are
flanked by a pair of gilt dragon-form handles, with each dragon
meticulously crafted with five claws — a symbol reserved for the
emperor; the censer's elegant form and luxurious materials reflect
the high level of craftsmanship associated with imperial
commissions. (A similar but slightly smaller example, with a pair
of four-clawed dragon handles, can be found in the collection of
the RISD Museum.) Ms. Alter acquired this piece in 1975 from the
famed Manheim Galleries in the French Quarter of New Orleans. “This
exquisite example embodies the exceptional quality of cloisonné
enamel,” says Wang.
Read the full press release
here.
More information about Asian Art
Auctions
Back to Top
We Have Liftoff: Michael Kagan’s Limited Edition
Screenprint Moonwalker Launches at Heritage Sept. 26
“We can’t do anything if the requirement is that there be no
casualties.”
-Isaac Asimov
Heritage Auctions is pleased to announce the exclusive launch, on
September 26, of a limited-edition screenprint by Michael Kagan
titled Moonwalker. “Launch” is an operative word in this
case: The acclaimed New York-based artist, known for his bold and
expressive paintings that celebrate the human impulse to explore
and push the boundaries of experience via physical stamina and
technology, creates jaw-dropping works featuring the intrepid
heroes of our age— astronauts, supersonic fighter-jet pilots,
mountaineers, and Formula 1 drivers— and this latest work is no
exception. Moonwalker draws inspiration from the rich
history of NASA's Apollo space missions, and here his suited-up
astronaut, standing on the Lunar surface, gazes toward his mission
mate who is reflected in his helmet visor.
The work, created in masterful brushwork that pushes into
abstraction and then pulls us back to an emotional and material
clarity, recalls the iconic imagery that introduced us to the
astounding achievements of our space program and the figures who
made it happen. The Apollo moonwalkers exemplify the monumental
achievements of human spaceflight; their collective journeys have
captured the imagination of the world and continue to do so.
Kagan’s interpretations of mankind’s riskiest endeavors deliver the
psychological impact of those moments and commune with the
extraordinary people who risk their lives in the process.
For this exclusive Heritage release, Michael Kagan has partnered
with the renowned printmaking studio Brand X Editions.
Moonwalker (2024) is a richly colored, hand-printed
screenprint on Magnani Incisioni paper in a limited edition of 150,
signed and numbered by the artist. This Heritage collaboration with
Kagan and Primary Arte will be made
available on September 26 at 1 pm Eastern, and Heritage invites you
to register and join the waitlist at HA.Com/Moonwalker.
Read the full press release
here.
More information about Prints & Multiples Auctions
Back to Top
More information about Designer Handbags & Luxury Accessories
Auctions.
Back to Top
|
|
The ten minor coins
from the New Orleans Mint most frequently offered in Heritage
auctions:
- 1854-O half dollar
- 1861-O half dollar
- 1858-O half dollar
- 1855-O half dollar
- 1892-O half dollar
- 1895-O dime
- 1856-O half dollar
- 1839-O half dollar
- 1892-O quarter
- 1908-O half dollar
Do you have a suggestion for a future top ten list?
Send it to us!
Back to Top
|
|
We
are delighted to invite you to consign your U.S. coins to our
Dallas auction, scheduled for
November 21-24. As an event that attracts the strong attention
of numismatists each year, this auction offers an ideal venue for
showcasing your collection. With the consignment deadline on
October 8, now is the perfect time to prepare your coins for
inclusion in this significant event. Our Dallas auctions have been
instrumental in bringing together collectors and enthusiasts from
all over the country, providing a vibrant marketplace for some of
the finest numismatic pieces.
To participate in this exciting event, please contact us at
1-800-835-6000 to consign. Our knowledgeable Consignment Directors
are available to guide you through the consignment process,
ensuring that your experience is smooth and rewarding. Join us in
Dallas this November and let us help you showcase your collection
to an engaged and appreciative audience.
November 21-24 US Coins
Signature® Auction – Dallas
Consignment Deadline: October 8, 2024
Interested in
Selling?
What's My Coin Worth?
Consign to a Heritage Auction
Back to Top
|
Back
to Top
|
|
|
|
|
