By Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

This is the second part of my reflections regarding fresh material, pedigrees, and the effects of collector-consignments, with references to my theory that these three factors strongly contribute, ON AVERAGE, to higher prices in coin auctions. In both parts, I mention examples from the September 2008 coin auctions in Southern California. In Part 1, I talk a little about the success of these auctions.
Please click here to read Part 1.

The star of the September B&M sale was the freshest of material. It was an 1851 U.S. Assay Office, Augustus Humbert, California $50 gold coin that is graded MS-65* by the NGC. As it has never been on the coin market before, it could not have been any fresher. Evidently, it was found in the early 1970s at a location near where it was minted in 1851. Yes, I was skeptical when I first heard this story. My inquires suggest, however, that this story could well be true. Information from three sources tended to ‘add up’ and fit together. It was thus a non-dealer consignment of a 100% fresh coin that has a curious story.

The price realized of $460,000 is very high and is probably an auction record for a business strike territorial $50 coin. Even so, I wonder if the coin would have brought an even higher price if the consignor revealed his name and more information about the circumstances of the discovery, along with a reason as to why he consigned it this year. Coins with histories tend to be (though are not always) worth more.

The auction record for a U.S. Assay Office $50 coin is the $500,000 price realized in March 1980 for the Garrett 1851 that was catalogued as a Proof. I have never seen it. There was, though, a tremendous story regarding the Garrett family collection, and the Garrett auction catalogues were full of pedigree information along with other historical points. Plus, QDB wrote a book about the Garrett collection and the history of U.S. coinage around the same time as the Garrett I sale in 1979. While Garrett auction prices seem low in 2008, they were very high at the time largely because the collection was so great and widely publicized. Key additional factors were the freshness of the material, the history of the collection, and the pedigree information regarding specific coins in the auction catalogues.

In fairness, it should be pointed out that, for this Sept. 2008 sale, the B&M cataloguer did an excellent job of describing this specific U.S. Assay Office $50 coin and of discussing the history of these California $50 gold coins issued by U.S. Assayer Augustus Humbert. Even a new collector who never heard of such a coin could learn a great deal about the history and physical characteristics of these $50 coins in a few minutes just by reading the catalogue description. (more…)

By Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

In September, the Southern California rare coin auctions and the Long Beach Expo were lively and demand for rare coins was strong. There are three Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectible Expos each year, and Heritage conducts the official auctions. Prior to each Expo, Superior Galleries, the Goldbergs, and sometimes B&M, separately conduct coin auctions in the Beverly Hills area.

On the bourse floor, one leading wholesale firm had almost exactly the same total revenue for rare coins, along with almost the same profit margin, at the Sept. 2008 Long Beach Expo as at the Sept. 2007 event. The year 2007 was very good for the coin business, and the year 2008 is as well.

While the overall U.S. economy seems to be slowing, and is plagued by problems in financial sectors, coin markets were very healthy in September, and probably still are in October. External factors did not heavily influence the auction results. Prices realized and bidder enthusiasm was, for the most part, a function of the quality, importance and pedigrees of the coins being offered.

While I have, in so many reviews, focused on the details of coin auctions and the coins included, I am here putting forth a few broad analytical points regarding notions of collector-consignments, pedigrees and fresh material. Of course, there are other factors that that play roles in the prices realized in coin auctions. I discus the other factors in other articles.

For a coin to be ‘fresh,’ it needs to have been ‘off the market’ for at least five years. In some cases, ten years or more are required for material to be viewed as ‘fresh’ by potential, leading bidders.

A real exciting lot in the Superior auction was an 1839 ‘Type 1′ $10 gold coin, in large part because it was clearly part of a consignment of fresh material. I am not certain that a collector consigned it, though it is clear that it was not consigned by one of the leading dealers on the auction circuit. It could have been consigned by an estate, an investor, or someone who just bought this coin ‘on a whim’ a long time ago. (more…)

By Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

On Sunday, Sept. 14, the firm of Ira & Larry Goldberg auctioned a nearly-complete collection of U.S. half cents, dating from 1793 to 1857, which was assembled by Ray Rouse. The star of the collection was a 1796 ‘No Pole’ half cent. The price of $345,000 is the all-time, second highest auction price for a half cent.

The Rouse 1796 ‘No Pole’ half cent went to a dealer who was bidding by telephone. He was probably representing a collector. The underbidder was a New York dealer. I had expected the Rouse 1796 ‘No Pole’ to bring around $250,000. This coin is the fifth or sixth finest 1796 ‘No Pole’ half cent. Fewer than twenty are known to exist.

The sale of the Ray Rouse half cent collection was the opening event in the Goldbergs’ three-day auction extravaganza that included selections from the Ted Naftzger collection of large cents, a stellar run of ‘centuries-old’ British gold coins, and the second part of the extensive Ohringer collection of U.S. gold coins. All auction sessions were conducted at the Beverly Hills Crowne Plaza hotel. Many participants stayed in Southern California to attend the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectible Expo, which was held from Sept. 18 to the 20th. Prominent half cent collectors traveled from various parts of the United States to bid in this auction.

While $345,000 was the highest price for a half cent in the Rouse collection, the lowest price was $46 for a counter-stamped “WWL” 1851 half cent. Such counterstamps usually served as advertising by private firms. Additionally, two 1804 half cents, each with technical problems, brought less than $200 each. In the Rouse collection, there were more than twenty-five half cents that realized less than $500 each.

The grand total for all of Rouse’s half cents and related items was more than $1.28 million. Rouse started collecting half cents in 1978. He decided to sell his half cent collection because he “took it as far as it could go.” As hard as he tried, Rouse was not able to obtain the very small number of half cent varieties that are missing. Rouse continues to collect colonial coins. He acquired his 1796 ‘No Pole’ half cent “privately in 2003 or 2003.” (more…)

By Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

On Sunday, Sept. 14, a 1796 Large Cent sold for $690,000 at an auction held at The Crowne Plaza Beverly Hills hotel. Before the mid 1850s, pennies were about the size of quarters.

This cent was consigned by the family of the late Ted Naftzger, who formed the all-time best collection of large cents. A selection from the Naftzger collection was a highlight of the auction extravaganza conducted by the firm of Ira & Larry Goldberg, a few days prior to the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectible Expo. Naftzger’s ‘middle-date’ large cents will be auctioned at the same location in Feb. 2009.

The main reason why this auction result is astounding is that this coin is not rare. Moreover, the rarity of its variety, which is known as S-84, may not have played a substantial role in this Naftzger 1796 Liberty Cap realizing $690,000. All large cents of a particular die variety were struck from the same pair of dies, which are cylinders employed in a mechanical press to impart designs on prepared blank discs that are thus transformed into coins.

It is true that, if fewer than a dozen of a particular large cent die variety are known, then the rarity of the variety could be responsible for each being worth a large sum. There probably exist, though, between two hundred and four hundred 1796 Liberty Cap cents (S-84) that were struck from this same pair of dies.

One characteristic, of this (S-84) variety of 1796 Liberty Caps, is that numerals ‘1′ and ‘7′ are higher than numerals ‘9′ and ‘6′. Another characteristic relates to the proximity of a leaf to the ‘F’ in “OF” on the reverse (back of the coin). While specialists are very serious about such matters, most collectors have little interest in die varieties. Details of varieties are outside the scope of the present discussion. Most coin buyers collect ‘by date’ or ‘by type.’

There are at least fifteen hundred 1796 Liberty Cap cents, of all varieties, in existence. So, these are scarce, but not rare.

Many early large cents are corroded, damaged, or have other serious problems. The key factor regarding the value of this Naftzger 1796 Liberty Cap is its quality. (more…)

by Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

This is Part 6 of my review and analysis of the auction of the Millennia collection of world coins.

The sale was conducted on May 26, Memorial Day, by the firm of Ira & Larry Goldberg. The coins in the collection span more than two thousand years of history, and many coin-producing societies are represented.

Why is the sale of the Millennia Collection the all-time greatest auction of world coins?

1) It is the best collection of world coins to be auctioned in a single event. Though it was auctioned in just one day, it would be fair to refer to a single auction event as linked sessions occurring at the same location during the course of less than one week.

2) The Millennia collection ranks very highly, among all-time collections, in terms of the quality and breadth of the coins that fit into a thematic plan. The quality of many individual coins is covered in the first three parts of my review, and the themes of the collection are covered in Part 4 and Part 5.

3) Overall, the coins in the collection have tremendous historical significance, especially those coins that served as international monetary units or world currencies during their respective time periods.

4) The number of Great Rarities, many of which are among the finest known of their respective dates or whole types, is amazingly high and includes Great Rarities that are deemed to be especially important by experts in the respective fields. Several Great Rarities and many other rarities are discussed in the first three parts of this review.

The auction experience transcends the contents of the collection that is auctioned.

5) The combination of the rarity, quality and popularity of the coins in the Millennia collection contributed greatly to the excitement of the auction. In earlier parts of this review, I discuss many popular coins of Great Britain, Europe and the Spanish Empire.

6) Bidding went wild for high quality, historically important ancient coins.

7) There was tremendous collector participation ‘in person,’ via telephone, and through dealer-agents. The dedicated, zealous collectors in attendance spurred the bidding and emotionally propelled the proceedings. While there were more than a thousand Internet bidders, Internet bids were rarely successful. When I was in the auction room, almost all the rarer and more interesting coins went to floor bidders or telephone bidders. The enthusiasm of the collectors in the room created a special aura that is rarely experienced in the Internet age. (more…)