MAGNIFICENT ORDERS GIVEN BY TSAR NICHOLAS I OF RUSSIA, LEOPOLD I OF BELGIUM, OTHO OF GREECE AND WILLIAM IV TO FIRST EARL OF DURHAM SELL FOR £4 MILLION IN LONDON AUCTION

RUSSIAN ORDERS FETCH UNPRECEDENTED PRICES
• Order of St Andrew insignia sells for £1,320,000 (world auction record)
• Order of the White Eagle insignia sells for £852,000
• Order of St Alexander Nevsky insignia sells for £576,000
• Order of St Anne Grand Cross insignia sells for £372,000

A magnificent group of recently rediscovered Orders of Knighthood conferred during the 1830s upon John George Lambton, “Radical Jack”, the first Earl of Durham, by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Leopold I of Belgium, Otho of Greece and William IV of England, were sold for a total of £4,057,080 by specialist London auctioneers Morton & Eden in association with Sotheby’s today (Thursday 10 June 2010). The sale had been expected to raise £500,000.

Bidders in the room, on a bank of telephones and on the Internet ignored pre-sale estimates and spent freely on the unique collection which was being sold by a descendant.

The Orders comprised the Russian Order of St. Andrew (the highest honour the Tsar could bestow), which sold for a world auction record £1,320,000 against an estimate of £140,000-180,000; the associated Orders of St Alexander Nevsky (sold for £576,000, estimate £80,000-120,000); the White Eagle (sold for £852,000, estimate £80,000-120,00) and St Anne (£372,000, estimate £30,000-40,000). In addition, the Belgian Order of Leopold I sold for £19,200; the Greek Order of the Redeemer for £21,600, and the British Order of the Bath for £24,000.

Breast stars for the Order of St Andrew made by Nicholls and Plinke in St Petersburg and Rundell Bridge & Co., in London sold for £180,000 and £120,000 against an estimates of £5,000-7,000 respectively and a miniature collar and badge of the Order of St Andrew by Wilhelm Kämmerer of St Petersburg in 1838 sold for £240,000 against an estimate of £20,000-30,000.

Even the fitted mahogany box specially commissioned in 1838 to transport the Earl’s orders was wanted. Estimated at £600-800, it sold for £12,000.

The sale, in which every one of the 22 lots sold, was taken by Lord Poltimore, the Chairman of Sotheby’s Russia. Bidding battles were long and involved as Russian and Russian-speaking agents spoke to their clients by mobile phones, while bids also came from the packed saleroom, on the Internet and from a bank of telephones.

Bidding increments were also unpredictable. Lots which opened at a few thousand pounds suddenly leapt into the tens of thousands and beyond, while in some cases bidding rose by £100,000 at a time. There was applause when the Order of St Andrew insignia was hammered down for a world auction record price. (more…)

Heritage Auction Galleries will offer the 1914 Federal Reserve Proofs Presentation Set Number 1 in its upcoming Signature® Currency Auction, held in conjunction with the Memphis International Paper Money Show, June 17-19. It is estimated at $60,000+.

The set consists of 10 pieces: a Richmond district front of each of the five denominations along with a back for each of the five denominations. The notes have all been certified and encapsulated by PMG. The card that accompanied the set when it was presented to the Honorable Joseph E. Ralph, Director of the Bureau of Engraving & Printing, by Treasury Secretary McAdoo on December 21, 1914 is also contained with the lot.

Additionally, a copy of a letter dated Oct. 28, 1914 is included. The letter from Director Ralph informed McAdoo that the first Federal Reserve Notes would bear the “Richmond Federal Reserve District” seal.

“On Dec. 23, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act, which transformed the American monetary system and is now about to celebrate its 100th birthday,” said Allen Mincho, Director of Currency Auctions at Heritage. “Soon after that signing Joseph E. Ralph, the Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, was assigned the task of designing and producing the new Federal Reserve Notes.”

During the next year, various prototype designs were produced until a standardized design was finalized in the fall of 1914. As a part of the design process, a small quantify of Proof examples were produced. These Proofs were printed from the actual currency plates on to card stock, with the Treasury seal and the all zero serial numbers glued on by hand by the pressman. On the back of each Proof the official “Proofing Room” number was imprinted in light blue ink.

Gene Hessler, in his book U.S. Essay, Proof & Specimen Notes, states that the 1916 “Annual Report of the Bureau of Engraving & Printing” notes that only two complete sets of Proofs were produced, although it is likely that either two more sets were unofficially created or that other Proofs were combined to make at least two more sets, as four complete sets are said to exist today.

Neither the Smithsonian nor any of the Federal Reserve Bank branches, or their headquarters in Washington, D.C., contains any items comparable to this first presentation set in their collections.

Heritage Currency Auctions is currently accepting consignments for the ANA Boston Signature Currency Auction that will be held August 11-13, 2010 in Boston, MA. The consignment deadline is June 18, 2010. Please call 800-872-6467, ext. 1001 for more information.

Heritage’s upcoming 2010 April-May Milwaukee, WI CSNS US Coin Auction #1139 features a bizarre example of territorial coin production, a Clark Gruber Twenty Dollar Overstruck on a U.S. 1850 Ten Dollar, graded MS63 PCGS. Lot 2388

Although numerous die trials or fantasy pieces are known for the 1861 Clark, Gruber coinage, this is the first such example we have seen of this particular combination, and as such it is probably unique.

Heritage handled a similar coin, an 1861 Clark, Gruber struck over an 1853 U.S. Assay Office twenty in 2002. About that lot and Clark, Gruber overstrikes in general, guest cataloger Donald Kagin wrote:

” We now know of five overstruck Clark Gruber & Co. twenties… Originally we believed that these specimens were overstruck in Philadelphia by the firm who designed the dies–the jewelers Bailey & Company. After further research and discussions with other numismatists, including John Dannreuther of the Professional Coin Grading Service, we now believe that these were struck in Colorado by Clark, Gruber & Co. to check the force of the striking and the spacing of the dies. This would account for the variance of the pressure and sharpness of the impressions.

These set-up pieces are not unlike other similar types such as those seen for Morgan dollars, Kennedy half dollars, and others. Before striking the regular gold blanks, which would have been considered quite precious even then, these test or trial strikings allowed the dies to first be properly aligned and avoid errors. They are recognizable because their central area is well to fully struck, while the periphery is weak or missing. Evidently the coiners would take whatever gold coins they had on hand to test the new dies.”

Since the planchet for the gold eagle is considerably smaller than the Clark, Gruber twenty dollar die, portions of the design are off of the flan — but the date 1861 is quite legible for the Clark, Gruber, with the 1850 date from the eagle slightly up the margin to the right. PIKES PEAK is visible at Liberty’s coronet; the LIBERTY from the 1850 coin lies across the Clark Gruber Liberty’s cheek. The obverse Clark, Gruber design is doubled, clearly struck twice with die rotation between strikes, as is the reverse. On the reverse, ARK GRUBER & CO DEN is clear but jumbled near the rim, with TEN D . UNITED STATES OF AMER seen underneath. The doubled shield design of the Clark Gruber overstrikes can be clearly seen — again, all intermixed with the design details of the federal eagle in the center. This piece is brilliant orange-gold and has original luster throughout, clearly a “keeper” piece that never saw circulation.

Whatever its reason for existence, it is a fascinating and possibly unique piece of Americana, one that should spur fierce auction bidding from aficionados of unusual coinage as well as Territorial gold.