Adams-Carter 1804 Class III $1 brings $2.3 million; post-auctions totals continue to climb

DALLAS, TX – At the end Heritage Auction Galleries’ Central States Numismatic Society Convention Platinum Night Auction on Thursday, April 30, the Adams-Carter specimen of the Class III AU 58 PCGS 1804 silver dollar lived up to its billing as “The King of Coins” when Bedminister, NJ collector John Albanese topped all others with a $2.3 million bid, including the 15% Buyer’s Premium. The total for the Heritage CSNS Auctions is currently at approximately $45 million with post-auction buys continuing at www.HA.com.

“There was never any question of whether it was going to be the top lot in the auction,” said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage. “Whenever you have an example of the most famous coin in the world it’s going to be a big night. In this case, at $2.3 million, it set a new world record for its class. Thursday night’s price made this particular 1804 dollar the seventh most valuable coin ever sold at auction.”

The Class III 1804 $1 received widespread coverage in the mainstream media in the days leading up to the auction, and the buzz in auction gallery was equal to the advance publicity. As coin collectors and curious onlookers alike watched the auction live in Cincinnati and on HERITAGE Live!, the company’s real-time proprietary online bidding platform, there was a collective hush as the coin climbed past $2,000,000 and spontaneous applause when this most famous of coins finally found its new owner.

While the Adams-Carter 1804 $1 grabbed the headlines, the overall success of both the rare coins and the rare currency auctions is the hidden story in the whole night.

“The total prices realized in these auctions speaks to the continued strength of the rare coin market when there are precious few places with such fortitude,” said Rohan. “Even if you take out the $2.3 million on the 1804 $1, you still have an almost $42 million auction; by any standards that’s a good return.”

Several other rare and pristine coins garnered their share of the overall value of the auction with six figure prices. Following are a few highlights:

1870-S Seated Dollar, XF40 PCGS , Ex: Ostheimer: The legendary rarest regular issue silver dollar ever coined at any United States Mint. From the Alfred and Jackie Ostheimer Collections.

Realized: $503,125. (more…)

It is always an exciting event when a newly discovered numismatic rarity is reported. Such was the case when an 1817/4 half dollar was unearthed (literally!) by contractor George Williams while raking fill in upstate New York. This is the eighth known specimen of this rare overdate, originally offered in our January 2006 FUN Auction, shortly after it was discovered, and now available again in our upcoming Central States Signature Auction.

News of the discovery appeared in the October 24, 2005 edition of Coin World. Williams said he ordered a load of fill for some foundation work he was doing. He was raking the soil when he heard a ‘cling.’ His son Nial, 19, turned the hose on the object and revealed an early date half dollar.

The Coin World article goes on to say that when Williams returned home with the coin, his 14-year-old coin-collecting son, Cullinan, looked it up in A Guide Book of United States Coins (the ‘Red Book’). The boy then printed a copy of bust half dollar specialist Sheridan Downey’s commentary on the 1817/4 half dollar in Collectors Universe’s CoinFacts.com web site that revealed more details about the rare overdate. (more…)

Until three years ago, no one even knew that the 1770 Nuevo Reino Pillar Dollar existed. That changed quickly, however, when an amazing stash of 14 coins was found during the bulldozing of a parking lot in Bogota that was being razed for a new building. Buried beneath the dirt and the decades was the old foundations of the Nuestra Senora del Pilar church.

The church, which existed from 1770 until 1948 when it was set ablaze during riots, was also a convent and school for girls. The church was eventually torn down and the area turned into a parking lot. When construction began on a new building three years ago and crews started digging, a small group of coins turned up — including the 14 1770 Nuevo Reino Pillars.

Now, of the two that aren’t already in private hands, or held by private institutions, the most pristine will be a featured lot in Heritage’s May 31 Long Beach World Coin Auction. It is estimated at $60,000-$80,000. It is officially listed as a Carlos III Pillar 8 Reales 1770NR-VJ, KM39 (Date Unlisted), Calico 1000, Cayon Unlisted, MS64 NGC.

The amazing thing about this Pillar Dollar is that we can actually trace it to the very day and place of its minting. The entire history of this coin, and the reason for which it was created, is right on its face

Few world crowns demand as much numismatic interest as the Columnarios, or Pillar Dollars, that were struck from 1732 to 1773 in numerous Spanish mint houses throughout the Americas. By the second half of the 18th century, the Pillar Dollar had truly become “world currency,” finding wide use both in Europe, the United States (where it was legal tender) and the Far East.

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