Poland, Great Britain, Russia, and China Well Represented April 24, 2008 – Rosemont, Illinois

Stack’s will offer a truly remarkable selection of coins and medals at its auction in Chicago on April 24, 2008, headlined by the Alicia and Sid Belzberg Collection of Select Polish Rarities, the Michael S. Tallent Collection of British and European Coins, and the Alpha-Omega Collection of Ancient Coins. The sale will take place in one session on April 24, 2008 at the Doubletree Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, within short walking distance of the Chicago International Coin Fair (CICF).

The Alicia and Sid Belzberg Collection is of truly special note, incorporating some of the best pieces from the auctions of the famed Henry Karolkiewicz and John J. Pittman Collections, in addition to purchases made privately. The Belzbergs’ decision to sell was influenced by Stack’s sale in January 2008 of a 1621 Polish 100 Ducats for $1,380,000 – the world’s record price for a non-U.S. coin. Read Full Story

By Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

Rich Uhrich has been collecting coins since he was four years old. A large part of his collection will be auctioned by Stack’s in Baltimore on Feb. 26 & 27. He has owned some of the coins that will be sold since he was fifteen, especially including large cents. Many others have been obtained in recent years. Uhrich’s collection consists of about 4000 coins. He consigned nearly 1600 of them, which will be auctioned in around 540 lots.

He determined that more than 2000 of his coins are better suited for private sales than public auctions. Some of his 20th century coins are not valuable enough to warrant the costs of an auction process. Also, Uhrich is retaining a small number of coins, many of these are coins that he “fell in love with” and just cannot bring himself to sell.

For U.S. copper, nickel and silver coins minted from 1793 to the present, Uhrich’s collection is missing only about ten coins. His is missing only six business strikes; the other four were struck only in Proof format, though some of these Proofs later became worn. The unique 1870-S half dime is one of the six that he is missing, and it is the only date in all half dime series that he does not own. An 1802 half dime is among the coins that will be retained.

It is true that Uhrich has an exemplary, complete collection of Proofs dating from 1936 to the present. His mid-20th century Proofs usually have some degree of cameo contrast, and most of the later dates exhibit deep cameo effects. It is also true that Rich has a colorful collection of Proof Indian Cents, images of which can be viewed on the Stack’s website. Even so, Uhrich has generally tended towards circulated 19th century coins. He likes coins that have honest wear and medium, natural toning.

The Stack’s lot descriptions do not specifically identify the coins that are from Uhrich’s collection. Uhrich would like his coins to be so identified, and presents an outline, with many details, on his website. (more…)