By Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

I. Introduction & Overview

In 2010, the annual FUN Platinum Night event was held on Thursday, Jan. 7. It is just one session in Heritage’s annual auction extravaganza, which is conducted in association with the Florida United Numismatists (FUN) Convention in Orlando. During this one night, however, an incredible selection of U.S. gold coins was offered. The total prices realized for Platinum Night alone was more than $25 million. The most famous coin in the sale is the Olsen-Hawn 1913 Liberty Nickel, which realized about $3.74 million.

Although Heritage conducts two to four Platinum Night events per year, the January FUN Platinum Night event is usually the most newsworthy. On, Jan. 7, three different items sold for more than one million dollars each, and there was an excellent offering of Brilliant Proof gold coins.

One of the most interesting coins in the sale is a Proof 1839 Half Eagle ($5 gold coin). It is NGC certified as Proof-61. This coin is, indisputably, a Proof. Many pre-1840 coins that are regarded as, or even certified as, Proofs, are questionable. Matt Kleinsteuber agrees, “it is definitely 100% Proof, other coins of the era are ambiguous” in regard to Proof status. Moreover, it is one of only two known Proof Half Eagles of this date. It was formerly in the collection of King Farouk. It brought $181,000.

Several past Platinum Night events have featured dazzling collections of U.S. silver coins and/or individual silver coins of tremendous importance. The Jan. 2010 event will be remembered primarily for business strike Saint Gaudens Double Eagles ($20 gold coins), Brilliant Proof gold coins, a Bickford $10 gold pattern, a few exceptional gold type coins, a neat run of 19th century quarters, some popular Mint Errors, and a 1913 Liberty Nickel. Please click here to read the article that I devoted to this 1913 Liberty Nickel. Therein, I cover the coin, its importance, and the auction action, in detail.

Since then, David Hall has told me that he “thought the 1913 Liberty nickel brought a good price. [$3,737,500] wasn’t a moon price, but it’s a $3 million dollar coin so an extra 25% is a lot of money.” Hall is the primary founder of the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS), and remains a force behind the PCGS and its parent company.

Adam Crum of Monaco Rare Coins agrees that the $3.74 million result is “a really strong price” for this nickel. Moreover, Crum remarks that, “for weeks, buyers of expensive gold coins were sitting on their hands waiting for the Platinum sale. The success of Platinum Night ignited a fire. On Friday, there was a mad rush nationwide for rare gold coins.” (more…)

The first silver coin of the new United States. This denomination is one of the 1792 coins struck before the cornerstone of the new Philadelphia Mint was laid. Researchers Joel Orosz and Carl Herkowitz did considerable research on this issue and their findings were published in the ANS American Journal of Numismatics 15 in 2003.

George Washington himself provided silver coins or bullion to provide the silver for this issue, approximately $100 in value of which $75 in face value in half dimes were produced (the mintage of 1,500 is believed true), the balance of the silver was likely scrap and its disposition is unknown.

These were struck in the cellar of saw maker John Harper as the new Philadelphia Mint was still under construction at the time these were coined. Finished coins were reported by Adam Eckfeldt to have been given to President Washington who distributed them as gifts to friends, many ending up going overseas.

The actual planchets were prepared and delivered to the mint by Thomas Jefferson, who made records of these actions in his personal journals.

As some were given out to dignitaries and friends, this accounts for the number of high-grade examples that are known today. However, the vast majority did circulate and like other early half dimes from that period are often found with considerable surface challenges.

The present example is among the finest known. NGC has certified six in this grade, only three finer, the highest MS-68. The obverse has minor adjustment marks on the rim where every precious grain of silver was measured and any planchet deemed too heavy was filed just enough to get to the correct weight. (more…)

One of Just 4 Known Pieces to exist

Nearly every series has its key date(s), important coins that are required to complete a collection. However, throughout the entire panorama of American coinage, there are a few issues that stand out as major rarities. Among the most important is the 1849-C Open Wreath gold dollar, of which there are just four confirmed examples, with a fifth piece rumored. Heritage will present the XF45 NGC piece, the third finest of the four known coins. The 1849-C is peerless in the field of Southern mint gold coins struck in Charlotte, North Carolina; Dahlonega, Georgia; or New Orleans, Louisiana.

In fact, the 1849-C Open Wreath gold dollar has few peers among all regular issue U.S. gold coins. The unique 1870-S three dollar piece is a special issue; the 1797 Heraldic Eagle half eagles with 16 stars and 15 stars on the obverse are each unique in the Smithsonian Institution; the 1822 half eagle has just three known (including two in the Smithsonian Institution); the 1854-S half eagle has just three known; the 1861 Paquet double eagle has just two known; and the 1933 double eagle has just one in collectors’ hands, but 13 are known. Any of those coins would easily bring seven figures if offered at auction today. There are a few additional million-dollar coins, but none are in the same rarity category as the 1849-C Open Wreath gold dollar.

The 1849-C Open Wreath has had difficulty keeping pace with other major rarities. The current auction record for any example of this issue was established in July 2004, when the finest known example realized $690,000. That was a time when eight other coins had already broken the seven-figure barrier.

Doug Winter writes in the third edition of Gold Coins of the Charlotte Mint 1838-1861 that “this variety remains underpublicized among non-specialists. Among Charlotte collectors, it has assumed near-mythic proportions.” The time is right for the 1849-C Open Wreath gold dollar to make its own place among auction records for rare coins–and the time is also right for the forward-looking collector to add this coin to his or her collection.

As with most major rarities, the provenance of the known 1849-C Open Wreath gold dollars is subject to continual refinement. The NGC Census Report lists this coin and two others, an MS63 Prooflike piece and one that grades Fine 15. A single AU58 coin appears on the PCGS Population Report, and all four certified coins are listed in our roster: (more…)