This Chain cent appeared on the April 1869 Levick plate, the first photographic plate of large cents that appeared in the American Journal of Numismatics.

This lovely 1793 Chain cent, like most early coins, has considerable character and individuality. It combines outstanding technical quality with an historic provenance that dates back nearly 150 years, one of the longest ownership records of any Chain cent known today.

This Chain cent appeared on the April 1869 Levick plate, the first photographic plate of large cents that appeared in the American Journal of Numismatics. The Levick plate was also the first systematic attempt at the classification of large cent varieties. Twelve obverse dies and 10 reverse dies were illustrated in an arrangement of 15 different varieties. The photography was by Joseph N.T. Levick, with the descriptions and arrangements by Sylvester S. Crosby. The achievement was remarkable for the time, as only seven additional die marriages have been discovered in the 141 years since that publication.

R.W. Julian wrote in an article on the 1793 cents in the May 1990 issue of Coins magazine: “There is probably more fascination with the 1793 issues of the Philadelphia Mint than any other coinage of this country, yet the average collector knows little of this far-off year.”

The 1793 Chain cents, beginning with the famous Chain AMERI cent, were the first federal coins actually struck at the U.S. Mint early that year. The entire production of 36,103 coins (of all five known varieties), took place in early March, although R.W. Julian, Walter Breen, and others speculated that some may have been minted on February 22, marking President Washington’s birthday. (more…)

Heritage Auction Galleries is proud to present the astonishing Donald R. Frederick Collection of Early US Coinage: Bayside Part Two including 443 Bust Half Dollar varieties at the 2010 April-May Milwaukee, WI CSNS US Coin Auction, April 28-May 1 in Milwaukee.

The Frederick Collection will be featured in a dedicated catalog, and will feature both exceptional pedigrees (and many prior auction flips) and his extensive notes on his varieties.

The late Mr. Frederick was an enthusiastic and long-standing member of the Bust Half Nut Club (BHNC), which was established in the late 1960s, and he took very seriously their dedication to collecting, studying, and sharing information about Bust Halves.

He also shared that group’s fascination with die states. Incidentally, owning 100 different Bust die marriages is required for BHNC membership; Mr. Frederick had no problems on that score! With 443 varieties (including two specimens and the discovery coin of the 1833 O-115), his collection ranks third currently in the BHNC census by completion and overall grade.

In a tradition that we would like to encourage with such variety-based collections, Mr. Frederick’s working copy of the Overton reference will be sold after his coins!

Don Frederick was born in Manhattan, grew up in Bayside, New York, and attended Tufts University in Boston. The fascination with rare coins that started as a young boy lasted his entire life. Even though he was clearly dedicated to Bust halves, he loved all coins, especially the early Federal issues, and this auction also includes more than three hundred of them.

Heritage was honored to sell Bayside Part One, Mr. Frederick’s collection of 120 halves minted 1794-1807, in our 2008 Baltimore ANA Auction; the Bust Halves in Part Two equal the earlier offerings in beauty and rarity.

All four gold ingots from the S.S.Central America made the Top 10 list in the auction results from Heritages Long Beach Signature Sale.

The top performer was the 55.05-Ounce Harris Marchand Gold Ingot. Recovered from the S.S. Central America. CAGB-135, serial number 6526. 55.05 ounces, 875 fineness, stamped value $995.73. Sold For $172,500

From Q. David Bowers, A California Gold Rush History: “Large size ingot. All inscriptions on face with bar horizontally oriented. $ leans sharply left. Reverse finessed or dressed by tapping.”

Though the firm Harris, Marchand & Co. did not last into June 1857, the gold bars stamped that way did, and three dozen bars from the Sacramento office received an unexpected gift of numismatic immortality: they were loaded onto the S.S. Central America, and instead of going to New York to be melted down, they landed at the bottom of the ocean, and over the course of more than a century, they transformed into historic treasures.

Like the majority of known Harris, Marchand & Co. ingots, this example shows irregular punching on the serial number, weight, fineness, and value. The arcing HARRIS MARCHAND & CO imprint and circular MARCHAND / ESSAYEUR stamp, however, are precise and elegant as ever.

The runner-up was the 48.65 Ounce Kellogg & Humbert Gold Ingot. Kellogg & Humbert Assayers, serial number 947, 48.65 oz, 780 fineness, $784.43 face value. Medium to large size, per the classification system by Q. David Bowers in his A California Gold Rush History. Sold for $103,500

Bowers devotes a solid paragraph to the unusual characteristics of this ingot (italics his):

“Inscriptions on face. 48 in weight double punched. Fineness first punched as 87, then corrected to 78 ($784.42), with erroneous under digits still visible. $ sign high, leans right, and touches upper left of 7. Vertically oriented. Reverse stamped with repetition of serial number, but in different font. One of the most amateurishly punched of the many Kellogg & Humbert ingots.”

The top face also shows numerous air bubbles and weakness on the “Kellogg & Humbert Assayers” stamp. Bowers does allow, however, that the S.S. Central America ingots’ individuality is core to their appeal, noting that “[s]uch idiosyncrasies make them fascinating to study.” (more…)