The simultaneous auction offerings of both Original and Restrike 1827/3 quarters in one sale, alone marks Heritage’s Platinum Night as a sale to be remembered. Below is some background on these important yet in our opinion undervalued classic US rarities.

While many advanced collectors of U.S. coins are familiar with the story of how 19th-century numismatist Matthew A. Stickney traded an Immune Columbia cent in gold and some other coins to the U.S. Mint in May 1843 for an 1804 silver dollar,  specialists in early U.S. quarters recall a still earlier exchange.

Joseph J. Mickley (1799-1878) was another noted 19th-century collector, who is often called the “Father of American Numismatics” and was the first numismatist to own the Mickley-Hawn-Queller 1804 Class I Original silver dollar (recently auctioned by Heritage for a record-breaking $3,737,500).

Mickley, who was seeking a Bust quarter dated 1827 for his collection, went to the U.S. Mint late in 1827 and purchased four proof (as all are) 1827/3 Original quarters for a “Spanish or Mexican silver dollar” (Breen, Proof Encyclopedia).

The 1988 Breen Complete Encyclopedia provides provenances  for all four of those pieces, as well as six other Originals. This piece offered by Heritage was “Mickley’s favorite,” likely due to its full strike on all star centrils. It was also the last of the four that Mickley sold in the same famous W. Elliot Woodward October 1867 sale that included his 1804 Class I Original silver dollar. (more…)

Until recently the reference by C. Wyllys Betts titled American Colonial History Illustrated by Contemporary Medals (originally published in 1894; Quarterman Publications reprint, 1972) was the standard, and in many ways is still is, in terms of sheer physical descriptions and characteristics of the 623 medals listed in that volume. A more recent work, however, titled Comitia Americana and Related Medals: Underappreciated Monuments to Our Heritage by John W. Adams and Anne E. Bentley (George Frederick Kolbe, 2007) has added to collectors’ knowledge of these wonderful pieces.

The obverse shows the head of Liberty with flowing hair facing left, pole with Liberty cap behind her head, the inspiration for the 1793 Liberty Cap half cents, a design variously ascribed to Joseph Wright, Adam Eckfeldt, Henry Voigt, Robert Birch, and/or David Rittenhouse. The legend LIBERTAS.AMERICANA. encircles her head, with the date 4 JUIL. 1776 in exergue (the date of signing of the Declaration of Independence, of course). On the reverse Minerva with shield and spear protects an infant from an attacking lion, with legend around NON SINE DIIS ANIMOSUS INFANS (”The infant is not bold without divine aid”). As paraphrased from Betts:

The medal conveys an adroit compliment to the French nation. The infant Hercules stands for the new American Republic and has strangled two serpents, symbolizing the American victories at Yorktown and Saratoga (dates in reverse exergue, with DUPRE.F.)–but he is still exposed to the attack of the “cowardly” British lion, tail between his legs, whose power is baffled by Minerva. Her lily (”fleur de lis”) shield shows her to be emblematic of France, coming to the aid of the Republic. The legend is taken from an ode of Horace, “Descende coelo” (”Heaven descends”). (more…)

The 1825/4 is a part of the Capped Head half eagle type, one of the rarest series of American coins. The obverse was designed by Robert Scot and the reverse by John Reich. Few collectors have ever attempted a date run of these pieces. Such a collection would be prohibitively expensive today. In previous years they were not as costly, but they were also no more available than they are today.

The entire series had a low mintage and high meltage. Once the silver-gold ratio reached 18 to 1, gold coins were worth more as bullion than their face value, and mass meltings began. A document in the National Archives uncovered by Donald Knaack show there were several large half eagle melts, including one in Paris in 1831 of 40,000 pieces.

Until the late 1970s, the 1825/4 BD-2 was believed to be a unique coin. The only piece known was the former Mendes Cohen piece that ended up in the Eliasberg Collection. That piece is a disputed proof striking. The story of the discovery of this piece in the Kaufman Collection is a fascinating one, and was related in an article by Jeff Starck in the August 25, 2003 issue of Coin World:

“For years, the Cohen specimen was thought the only specimen. Then, in the late 1970s, Harry X Boosel uncovered the second coin when he appraised the N.M. Kaufman Collection, long hidden in a bank vault in Marquette, Mich.

“N.M. Kaufman was president of the Marquette County Savings Bank. He sold or gave his collection to his brother, Louis G. Kaufman, around the turn of the century. Louis was president of several banks, including the bank where it was displayed. … When Louis G. Kaufman died, the bank retained the coins because of what they claimed was a previous arrangement. While many of the coins were on display for 50 years, the overdate rarity was stored.” 

To extend the Kaufman story a bit further, when Harry Boosel examined the collection he found that most of the coins had been displayed in the bank conference room in an unsafe manner that makes most numismatists shudder: They were tacked to boards. On most of the Kaufman coins the tacks created rim bumps. Depending upon what source one reads, the Kaufman specimen either does or does not have evidence of these tack-created rim bumps. What is obvious is that if there is any tack-related damage to the rim, it is not evident in the NGC encasement. (more…)

Templeton Reid is one of the more enigmatic figures associated with the so-called Territorial gold coinage (see notes below) of the United States.  Relatively little is known about him.  It is reported that as early as 1811, he was earning a living manufacturing cotton gins. Later he changed his career into clock and watch repair and then rifle-making in Milledgeville, Georgia, at the time Georgia’s state capital. Reid  moved to Gainesville, Georgia (close to Dahlonega) in 1830 to set up his Assay and Mint business.

The first Georgia gold was discovered by Benjamin Reed in 1828 near Dahlonega. (The name “Dahlonega” comes from the Cherokee words for “yellow money.”) The discovery caused an influx of thousands of miners that came to be known as “The Intrusion” by native tribes.

Reid saw an opportunity to produce local gold coins as a more convenient medium of commerce than the unassayed gold dust presently in use, and established his private mint a full eight years before the U.S. Mint opened branches in Dahlonega, Georgia; Charlotte, North Carolina; and New Orleans in 1838.

Reid struck two and a half, five, and ten dollar gold pieces in the three-month period from mid-July through mid-October 1830. On July 24, 1830, the Southern Recorder, a local newspaper, commented that Reid  struck approximately $1,500 in gold coinage. (some researchers believe that Reid may have possibly minted some coins in Milledgeville before his move to Gainesville, but to date there is no proof of that assertion). Reid told the newspaper that the gold coins would be accepted at face value (or “par”) at local banks and merchants.

Reid apparently made his coins from local gold “as mined” and  did not refine the gold to a higher purity. Whether this was due to a lack of knowledge as to how to refine the gold or a purposeful attempt on his part to make a few extra dollars is unknown. The native metal contained considerable amounts of silver, tin, and copper. As a result Reid’s coins were not “at par” with the face values marked on the coins,  In the 1830 era, emphasis was on the full intrinsic value of coins. Any gold or silver coin issued by the United State Mint, by a private source, or by any other entity was apt to be viewed with suspicion if it did not contain full weight and value. (more…)

By Doug Winter - www.RareGoldCoins.com

In my last blog I wrote about the Husky sale conducted by Stack’s and how a number of early quarter eagles gave a good representation as to the strength in that market. Another recent auction, this one conducted by Heritage, contained an impressive set of Classic Head quarter eagles. This grouping, I feel, serves as a good look at the current state of the high-end market for this short-lived but increasingly popular type.

The collection that was sold by Heritage was called the Charleston Collection. It was not complete (it lacked an 1838-C) and it was a little inconsistent as to grade (the common 1836 was only an MS61 and the 1839-C was an AU58 that could have easily been improved while the collector was actively buying). Nevertheless, there were some impressive coins in this group.

In higher grades (i.e. MS63 and above) the 1835 is rare and very underrated. The Charleston coin was graded MS64 by PCGS. I wasn’t totally wild about the quality but it was in an old green label holder and it is one of just two graded MS64 by PCGS with none better. The last PCGS example to sell at public auction was Superior 5/06: 996 which brought $18,975. Given the fact that the Classic Head quarter eagle seems much stronger today than it was in 2006, I expected this coin to bring around $22,500. It sold for $19,550. Had it been a better quality for the grade, I think it would have brought more.

Perhaps the most interesting Classic Head quarter eagle in the sale was an 1837 in PCGS MS64. This was a very attractive coin for the grade and a condition rarity to boot with a PCGS population of three in this grade and only one better (NGC hasn’t graded a single example higher than MS63). (more…)