As a part of the May Long Beach Signature Auction, Heritage is offering the finest known O-118 variety of the 1825 half dollar - a newly discovered example and one of only three R.8 varieties within the entire Capped Bust half series.

The 1825 Overton-118 is identified by a heavy vertical die break between the 25 in the date. Two Bust half experts, Glenn Peterson and Brad Karoleff, believe the break occurred during hardening of the die prior to use. This die break undoubtedly led to early disposal of the obverse die. The reverse die continued in use, paired with a different obverse to strike O-103. The workhorse reverse die earlier struck the 1824 O-116.

Just three examples of O-118 are known. Al Overton, who died in 1972, was unaware of the variety. According to an April 7, 2008 Coin World article, the discovery piece was found at an Oregon coin shop by Olin Carter, circa 1983. Per Capped Bust authority Sheridan Downey, “it is the Overton plate coin, graded Fine for sharpness but with dull, washed out surfaces.”

The second O-118 to surface was sold unattributed within a group lot to Charles Erb, circa 1990. Erb’s example found its way to Charlton “Swampy” Meyer Jr., who owned the most complete die variety collection of Capped Bust halves. According to Downey and Coin World, that example “grades VF with attractive album toning on the obverse. The reverse is lightly wiped.”

The April 7 Coin World article states, “based on the conditions of the other two examples of the variety, the new discovery [of O-118] would be the finest known… Sheridan Downey believes the new discovery … could bring from $75,000 to $100,000.”

The present piece, the third known O-118 1825 half, has been graded VF20 by ANACS and displays deep apple-green and gunmetal-gray toning. The fields are slightly glossy and exhibit a few hair-thin marks, made nearly imperceptible by the toning. A thin, slender mark near the ear is also unobtrusive. Wear is even and moderate, with ample plumage definition present on the eagle.

To the best of Heritage’s knowledge, this is the first major auction appearance for the variety, which was absent from the extensive and formidable die variety collections of Jules Reiver and Russell Logan. The next owner of this coin may hold it for many years, then sell it privately or even donate it to a museum and permanently take it off the market. The opportunity to acquire an O-118 1825 at public auction is here, but fleeting.

Jaded Professional Numismatist that I am, I sometimes need to be reminded what coin collecting is all about. I recently attended the first official meeting of the newly-formed 20th Century Gold Club and it left me feeling really good about the state of the hobby. It reminded me that coins are about more than upgrades, slabbing disputes, Registry Set battles and message board bickering: they are, more than anything else, about fraternity

The 20th Century Gold Club was founded by two prominent collectors of gold coins minted between 1907 and 1933. The club is by-invitation and it includes a number of the most serious collectors of American gold. The group is unique in that it not only includes these collectors but it incorporates prominent professionals who are Associate Members. The list of these dealers and researchers is extremely impressive and I was flattered to be included in a group that featured David Hall, Mark Salzburg, David Akers, John Albanese, Jim Halperin, Kevin Lipton, Todd Imhof, Mike Moran and Roger Burdette.

The meeting was held in Dallas and it was refreshing in that it wasn’t held in conjunction with a show. This meant that I was much more relaxed than I typically am at a show (if you’ve ever spent time with me at a coin show you know that I can be pretty intense and that I rarely have time for non-business chatter). It also helped that the meeting was held at a world-class five star hotel, was catered with incredible food (thanks to Heritage for the chow and the logistics) and that the weather in Dallas was perfect.

I thought one of the most interesting things about the meeting was the lack of agenda. All of the dealers were on their best behavior and no one was secretly passing out business cards looking for new clients. It was great to be able to chat with David Hall and not be worried about my latest round of PCGS grades. (more…)

The House passed legislation Thursday to change the composition of pennies and nickels, addressing dramatic rises in metal prices that have made the coins more expensive to produce than their face value.

Action now moves to the Senate, where the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee has a similar bill, though no action has yet been scheduled.

According to the U.S. Mint, it costs 1.26 cents to make a penny and 7.7 cents to make a nickel. The House bill, sponsored by Zack Space , D-Ohio, estimates that reducing the cost of penny production to face value would save approximately $500 million over 10 years, while similar changes to nickel production would save $60 million annually.

“Right now our government is needlessly throwing away money in the production of coins,” Space, a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, said during floor debate on the bill May 6.

The measure would allow for the minting of pennies made primarily of steel but coated with a copper-colored dye so they appear similar to the current zinc-copper alloy. It also would require the production of 5-cent coins made primarily of steel, with a coating of nickel, in place of the nickel-copper composition originally authorized in 1866 when the coins were first minted.

The last time the penny and the nickel were produced at face value was fiscal year 2005, according to the Mint. (more…)

Reno coin dealer and Carson City coin specialist Rusty Goe captured the NGC-graded MS-64 1871-CC gold double eagle for $414,000 in Heritage’s Central States sale held in Chicago, IL on April 17. Goe, the author of two books on the Carson City Mint, and the president and founder of the Carson City Coin Collectors of America, reported that his purchase established a new price record for this specimen.

Goe said that he unsuccessfully bid on this coin at Heritage’s Pittsburgh ANA (American Numismatic Association) sale in August 2004. At that time, the coin was in an NGC MS-63 holder, designating that its grade (or condition) rated 63 out of a possible 70 points. Thirteen months later, in September 2005, at an Ira and Larry Goldberg Pre-Long Beach (Calif.) auction, this same coin (now upgraded to 64 points on the grading scale by NGC) failed to meet the consignor’s reserve price of approximately $400,000.

Market conditions have radically changed in the two-and-a-half-year period between the Goldberg’s sale in 2005 and now, said Goe. “Carson City gold coins are on more want lists than ever,” says Goe, “especially low-population examples.”

The 1871-CC (mintage: 17,387) is the second rarest date in the “CC” gold double eagle series, and Goe estimates that no more than 260 - 270 examples (not including damaged pieces) have survived. The combined population in all grades (number of coins professionally certified) between PCGS and NGC is 264, although Goe points out that resubmissions (repeat submissions) of the same coins account for a least a small percentage of that total. Only the 1870-CC date (only 3,789 struck) is scarcer. Goe says that no more than 65 to 70 examples of the 1870-CC date exist, and that the minimum price for a low-grade piece is $225,000.

In Mint State (or Uncirculated) condition the 1871-CC is extremely scarce, with none in this range graded by PCGS, and only five specimens listed in NGC’s census report. Of NGC’s Mint State total, two are listed as MS-60; two are MS-61, and one is MS-64. (more…)

To know which asset class will appreciate in value, you have only to follow the money. When the stock market is gobbling up all of the available discretionary funds, you know that alternative investments, such as rare coins, are going to do poorly. On the other hand, bear markets in stocks cause net withdrawals, which in turn support the prices of alternative assets as investors seek better returns.

There have been numerous articles in the financial press that have talked about the resemblances between 1987 and 2007. The topic is of interest to us because of the absolute explosion of the rare coin market that took place after the stock market crash of 1987. The crash precipitated a stampede to alternative assets like rare coins and, in a little over two years, the market in investment grade rare coins went up several hundred percent even as the price of gold fell from $500 to $360.

Financial conditions today lead us to believe that the rare coin market is poised to duplicate the bull market experienced 20 years ago. Today, we’re hearing much of the same language that we heard in 1987, when Alan Greenspan said that the world was on the edge of a global financial collapse. In fact, Greenspan said that the current market turmoil is “identical” in many ways to that which occurred in 1987.

The stock market crash in 1987 and the credit market crisis in 2007 both served to reverse the flow of funds into stock mutual funds. According to the Presidential Task Force on Market Mechanisms, appointed by President Ronald Reagan to investigate the October 1897 market crash, skittish fund shareholders withdrew billions of dollars from stock mutual funds and added to the market’s fall.

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