Dallas, TX: Heritage’s 36th Official ANA Auction at the 2007 Milwaukee “World’s Fair of Money” is featuring a Platinum Night session containing the highlight coins of the 3,500 lot auction. The Signature Auction sessions will be held August 8-10, and Platinum Night will take place on August 9, 2007. All sessions are currently posted at www.HA.com . All auction sessions will take place at the Midwest Airlines Center; lot exhibition begins there Sunday, August 5 in Room 201 B-D, 400 West Wisconsin Ave in Milwaukee.

“Heritage’s Official ANA Auction will be an incredibly exciting event,” predicted Heritage President Greg Rohan. “Approximately 350 consignors are participating in this event, and they have entrusted us with $25-$30 million of their numismatic treasures. As you can easily see from our list of highlights, the number of truly important coins in this auction seems almost limitless. I predict that many Registry collections will pick up their most important coins at out Milwaukee Platinum Night Session.”

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An 1827/3 Capped Bust quarter restrike that sold for $126,500 is the top lot in Heritage Auction Galleries’ sale at the Summer Florida United Numismatists show in West Palm Beach.

The Heritage cataloger specified that the die rust and other markers on this piece indicate that it is from a later group of restrikes, from which about a dozen pieces are known. This one was graded Proof-66 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp. It sold to an Internet bidder. The total prices realized in the July 12-13 auction was not available by press time. All prices reported here include buyer fees. An 1893-O Morgan dollar in NGC MS-65 came in next at $115,000.

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Editor’s note: It is the opinion of the authors that revisionist theory about Gobrecht dollars is invalid. The Breen theory, that originals can be determined by noting that the eagle flies upward when the coin is properly rotated, they believe should be immediately restored. This article is an attempt to support the contention. It is divided into two parts, with a conclusion following. The first section, by R.W. Julian, deals with the historical aspects of the Gobrecht dollar coinage, while the second, by Craig Sholley, examines the critical areas of mint machinery, weights, die rotation and rarity.

Prior to about 1975 the Gobrecht silver dollars of 1836 through 1839 were all considered to be patterns. It was known that restrikes had been made in the late 1850s but until Walter Breen tackled the problem in the mid-1970s, no one knew how to distinguish the true originals. At the same time, documentary proof was published showing that some of the dollars of 1836 and 1839 were in fact coins issued for circulation.

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