Rare U.S. Coins continue to provide for steady, even stellar prices in a crawling national economy, as evidenced by Heritage’s $9.42 million COINFEST Signature® U.S. Coin Auction, held Oct. 27-30 at the Marriot Hotel & Spa in Stamford, CT, and by the auction’s top lot, a magnificent 1879 Washlady dollar, which brought $161,000.

“These results are 20% percent higher than our pre-sale projections,” said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage Auctions. “The market for rare coins is, simply put, very strong. The best examples continue to command top prices and the top collectors are more than happy to acquire these examples.”

More than 4,380 bidders participated in the auction, both live on the auction room floor and via Heritage LIVE!™, the company’s proprietary live internet auction platform. The auction boasts a sell-through rate of 92% by value and 97% by number of lots.

Recent Heritage coin auctions have mostly seen examples of rare gold coinage taking the top slot, but the stunning 1879 $1 Washlady Dollar, Judd-1603, Pollock-1798, High R.6, PR66+ NGC, the finest known specimen, handily took top honors, finishing at $161,000 after a fierce bidding between advanced collectors. Between 12 and 15 examples are believed known of the Washlady dollar in both copper and silver. There is also one example known in white metal.

“In the late 19th century this design was not well received by dealers and collectors, and was apparently given the nickname of ‘Washlady’ by David Proskey around April 1891 at the Doughty Sale,” said Rohan. “The name stuck, but today the Washlady design is considered one of the most beautiful ever produced by the Mint.”

The equally rare and collector-coveted 1785 COPPER Connecticut Copper, African Head VF30 NGC. M. 4.2-F.6, W-2360, R.8., from The W. Philip Keller Collection of U.S. Colonials, took the second spot on the auction podium in Stamford, realizing $115,000, while a famous 1882 $20 AU53 PCGS, one of only 571 pieces struck – a coin so rare that even the Smithsonian Institution, keeper of the National Numismatic Collection, lacks an example of the issue – piqued the interest of numerous collectors of important gold with a final price realized of $80,500.

“While there are numerous double eagle issues from the late 1870s through early 1890s that boast extraordinarily low mintages,” said Rohan, “the 1882 is the absolute lowest-mintage of them all, at 571 coins. Any representative of this issue, in any grade, is an extraordinary rarity.”

A remarkable 1904 $20 PR65 Cameo PCGS was close behind the 1882 example with a final price of $74,750, a mark that was equaled in the auction by the finest known 1879 $1 Metric Dollar, Judd-1622, Pollock-1818, Low R.7, PR68 Cameo NGC, a highly desirable coin of great beauty and peculiar metallic composition (silver, copper, aluminum, and white metal) that drew considerable enthusiasm from collectors at the auction.

Further highlights include, but are not limited to:

1896 $10 PR66 PCGS. CAC. Ex: Trompeter: Realized: $63,250.

1861-O $20 AU53 PCGS. CAC: Realized: $54,625.

1796 50C 16 Stars Fine 12 PCGS Secure. O-102, High R.5: Realized: $52,900.

1909 $5 PR67 NGC. Roman Finish. Only two graded higher: Realized: $51,750.

1907 $20 Liberty PR64 Cameo PCGS: Realized: $43,125.

Heritage Auctions, headed by Steve Ivy, Jim Halperin and Greg Rohan, is the world’s third largest auction house, with annual sales more than $600 million, and 500,000+ registered online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and gain access to a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com.

Bowers and Merena, America’s premier rare coin and currency auction house, kicked off what promises to be an exciting year with its January 2010 Orlando Rarities Sale. The sale, with nearly 1,000 lots of rare and enticing United States, Colonial and Territorial gold coinage, was conducted in a single session on January 5. Total prices realized for the auction is in excess of $2.5 million.

“We had a strong turnout among bidders in our Orlando Rarities Sale,” stated Bowers and Merena president Steve Deeds, “and prices realized for many lots reflected collectors’ interests in rare, difficult-to-find coins in premium-quality condition. The stand-out highlight of the sale is lot 743, an 1879 Judd-1635 Flowing Hair Stella certified Proof-66 Cameo by NGC. The dazzling rarity traded hands for $182,500.”

“Another gold coin that performed very well is lot 747, an 1802/3 Half Eagle MS-65 * NGC,” continued Deeds. “This sharply struck, Condition Census rarity brought $115,000 at auction.”

Said Deeds: “United States gold coins were not the only strong performers in our Orlando Rarities Sale. Early Copper specialists made their voices heard by driving the realized price for lot 27 to an impressive total of $25,300. The coin in that lot is a fresh, new-to-market example of the rare S-264 Large Date, Small Fraction variety of the 1803 Draped Bust Cent. We sold the coin as a PCGS VG-10.”

“And in the Territorial gold section of our Orlando Rarities Sale we were pleased to present lot 695,” observed Deeds. “A unique variety of the 1851 K-2 Augustus Humbert $50 Gold, this PCGS-certified AU-55 is missing the digits 88 in the inscription 880 THOUS on the obverse scroll. We saw particularly fierce competition between two interested bidders, and when the dust settled the winner earned the right to take this important coin home at $115,000. (more…)

1915-S Pan-Pac $50 Octagonal leads the pack with $92,000; popular 1915-S $50 Round follows close at $86,250

One thing was clearly on the minds of collectors at the $9.4 million+ Heritage Auctions Houston U.S. Coin Auction on Dec. 6, and that was gold. More than 3,600 bidders participated in the event, which sold through fully 93% of the lots offered, or 87% by dollar value.

“We expected gold to perform well at this auction,” said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage Auctions, “especially with the spot price of gold at $1200. While gold did dominate the top lots of the Houston sale, it’s also encouraging to look at the overall results and see that the coin market is remaining steady.”

The year 1915 seemed to be foremost in the minds of collectors in Houston, as two sculptural, splendid Panama-Pacific $50 gold pieces came in as the event’s top two lots.

While the round Pan-Pac $50 commemoratives are the rarer examples in the absolute sense, the octagonal variety has always proved the more popular, as evidenced by the auction’s top price-getter, a gorgeous Near-Gem 1915-S Panama-Pacific $50 Octagonal MS64 PCGS, which led the way with a final price of $92,000. All prices include a 15% Buyer’s Premium.

If the Octagonal variety of the Pan-Pac $50 was the top prize in Houston, a superb round 1915-S $50 Panama-Pacific $50 MS64 NGC was close behind in terms of price with a highly respectable $86,250 finish. The $50 round has the distinctive status of having the lowest net distribution, at 483 coins, of any commemorative issue made in the United States. (more…)