Bowers and Merena Auctions realized an impressive $9.3 million at its Boston Rarities Sale on Aug. 7. The sale, conducted in two sessions with 1,750 lots, featured the rare condition census #4 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar, certified MS-64 by NGC, that sold for $1.2 million.

The prominent attraction at the Boston Rarities Sale was lot 1005, the historic and extremely rare Virgil Brand-F.C.C. Boyd-Cardinal Specimen of the 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar. Bidding opened at $750,000 and escalated due to intense competition between floor bidders then ended with the winning bid placed by a telephone bidder. The piece sold for a remarkable $1,207,500 – the highest price ever paid at auction for a 1794 Silver Dollar.

“We are extremely pleased about the results of the Boston Rarities Sale which saw spirited bidding in all areas of U.S. coinage,” said Greg Roberts, CEO of Bowers and Merena Auctions. “We had tremendous bidder interest with an outpour of praise about our catalog and offering, long lines that formed outside the lot viewing room, and most importantly, active participation in the auction room. The market as a whole is very ‘quality conscious’ these day, and Bowers and Merena was proud to offer an impressive array of coins that enticed fierce competition between bidders.”

Along with the 1794 Silver Dollar, the Boston Rarities Sale included several prominent collections including the Ostheimer Specimen of the 1870-S Seated Liberty Silver Dollar, Platinum Star PCGS Registry Set of Two-Cent Pieces and Fontaine Collection. The Ostheimer Specimen of the 1870-S Seated Liberty Silver Dollar, the fourth-finest of only nine coins in existence, realized $632,500. With record prices for many of the pieces, The Platinum Star PCGS Registry Set of Two-Cent Pieces featured coin was an 1873 Two-Cent Piece, closed 3, proof-67 red in a PCGS secure holder that realized $52,900.

Rare 19th century U.S. gold coinage also performed well at the Boston Rarities Sale. Many of these offerings were pedigreed to the Horseshoe Collection. Highlights of this collection include lot 1543 and lot 1828. Lot 1543, an elusive proof-only 1863 Quarter Eagle in NGC/CAC Proof-63 Cameo, changed hands for $54,625. Lot 1828, a very rare 1858-O Liberty Double Eagle with a unique MS-61 PL grade from NGC went to the winning bidder for $57,500.

The Fontaine Collection, which had opening bids totaling $82,000, brought more than three times that amount with final prices realized of more than $265,000. All 25 coins in this collection were PCGS certified in first-generation holders and CAC approved. The star of the collection was lot 1430, the Eliasberg Specimen of the 1850 Gold Dollar, sold for $54,625 in PCGS/CAC MS-67. (more…)

Bowers and Merena Sponsor display of this Multi-Million dollar collection ranked the Finest Registry Set

The number one-ranked collection of United States large cents in both the PGCS and NGC Set Registry listings will be publicly displayed for the first time in Boston, August 10 – 13, 2010, at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money. The historic coins from the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation include some of the finest known examples of large cents struck from 1793 to 1857.

The foundation’s exhibit is co-sponsored by Bowers and Merena Auctions (www.BowersAndMerena.com) and Collateral Finance Corporation (www.cfccoinloans.com), and will be displayed at the Bowers and Merena booth, #1017, during the five-day show.

“This is a truly amazing collection, valued at millions of dollars. There are 77 large cents and each is among the very finest known for its respective date and type. Many of them are simply the finest known, period,” said Greg Roberts, CEO of Bowers and Merena.

This 1793 Chain Cent (S-2), graded PCGS MS65BN, is one of the highlights of the multi-million dollar Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation large cents collection that will be displayed August 10 – 13, 2010 by Bowers and Merena Auctions and Collateral Finance Corporation at the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Boston.  (Photo by PCGS)

While supplies last, visitors to the exhibit can receive a free, 40-page illustrated booklet published by the foundation, “Portraits of Liberty,” that describes the history of U.S. large cents.

Highlights of the exhibit include:

1793 Chain Cent (S-2) graded PCGS MS65BN that set a world’s record in 2005 as the most valuable U.S. cent;

1793 Wreath Cent, PCGS MS69BN, the single highest-graded 18th century U.S. coin of any date of denomination;

1794 Liberty Cap “Head of 1793″ Cent, PCGS MS64BN, described by Logies as “the single finest representative work of early Mint engraver, Joseph Wright;”

1803 Draped Bust Cent, PCGS MS66RB, acclaimed by the Early American Coppers society as tied for the finest known Draped Bust cent of any date or variety;

the record-setting 1842 Braided Hair Cent from the Naftzger Collection, PCGS MS65RD, widely acknowledged as the finest existing “Petite Head” type;

and another record-setting coin from the Naftzger Collection, an 1852 Braided Hair Cent, graded PCGS MS65RD, and acknowledged as the finest existing cent from its era.

“The Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation is a non-profit educational organization that focuses on the study and publication of information about early coinage of the United States of America. The foundation is delighted at the opportunity for thousands of people to see these superb-quality, early American cents in person in Boston with the valued assistance of Bowers and Merena and Collateral Finance Corporation,” said Martin Logies, a director of the Sunnyvale, California-based foundation. (more…)

Auction to Feature Condition Census #4 1794 Silver Dollar

Bowers and Merena Auctions will host its Boston Rarities Auction on Saturday, Aug. 7 at The Castle at Park Plaza Hotel and Towers in Boston, Mass. The sale, comprised of nearly 1,800 lots, will feature world-class rarities and highly desirable collectors’ coins.

“Three consignments stand out in my mind as defining elements of the importance of this sale: the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation Mint State Set of 1794 United States Coinage, the Horseshoe Collection of New Orleans Mint gold and silver coins, and the Ostheimer Specimen of the 1870-S Seated Liberty Silver Dollar,” said Greg Roberts, CEO of Bowers and Merena. “With selections as diverse, important and desirable as these, we are confident that our Boston Rarities Sale will see spirited bidding from a wide variety of collectors.”

The Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation (CCEF) Mint Set of 1794 United States Coinage is a fully Mint State complete set of 1794-dated coins struck from the Half Cent through the Silver Dollar with most coins choice to gem in quality. The coins are among the finest known for their respective issues and die varieties, but the obvious highlight of the set is the Virgil Brand-F.C.C. Boyd-Cardinal specimen of the 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar. Certified MS-64 by NGC, the coin is Condition Census #4 for the issue and one of only six Mint State examples known to exist. The five coins in the 1794 Mint State Set will be auctioned individually at the beginning of the beginning of the Silver Dollar section.

“This important offering is made possible by the CCEF’s recent acquisition of the Carter-Contursi 1794 Silver Dollar, graded PCGS Specimen-66, which recently sold for $7,850,000 in a transaction that set a world record price for the most valuable coin,” said Roberts.

At the heart of the Horseshoe Collection is one of the most comprehensive sets of New Orleans Mint gold and silver coins that Bowers and Merena has offered in quite some time. The stand-out highlight of the collection is an 1854-O Liberty Double Eagle, a pop 2/0 coin certified AU-55 by PCGS. With an estimated 25-35 surviving coin population from a mintage of 3,250 pieces, it is the second-rarest New Orleans Mint Double Eagle. Other rarities featured in this collection include Morgan Dollar condition rarities, key-date 19th century gold coins from other Mints and a J.W. Scott Restrike of the fabled 1861 Confederate States of America Half Dollar. (more…)