21 Saint Changes Hands For $1,012,000

By CoinLink on Monday, October 8, 2007
Filed Under: Auction News, US Coins

By Greg Reynolds For CoinLink

A 1921 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle ($20 gold coin) was the main attraction of the September auction by the firm of Ira and Larry Goldberg. It is one of only four privately owned gem quality 1921 Saints. This coin ‘came on the block’ on Tuesday, Sept. 25. The Goldberg’s sale lasted several days, Sept. 23-26, and was held at the Beverly Hills Crowne Plaza, just prior to the beginning of the Long Beach (CA) Coin, Stamp and Collectible Expo.

It is the finest quality 1921 Saint to become available since Nov. 2005, and it is unlikely that any of the other three privately owned gems of this date will be ‘on the market’ in the near future. As Saint Gaudens Double Eagles are among the most popular of all collecting specialties, a gem 1921 Saint is truly a prize.

I estimate that fewer than one hundred 1921 Saints exist in all grades. Next week on CoinLink, there will appear my analytical article on 1921 Saints in general. There is more information regarding this 1921 below.

Goldberg’s September auction included a wide variety of coins, from many nations and time periods, plus other numismatic items. U.S. and foreign coins consigned by Robert Hesselgesser, MD, were featured. His collections of Russian and British coins, now mostly dispersed through Goldberg’s auctions, were among the finest of all time, in terms of quality.

Among Dr. Hesselgesser’s consignments to this Sept. auction event were two choice 1847 Gothic Crowns. These are large silver coins that were minted in 1847 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Queen Victoria’s rule of Great Britain. The second Hesselgesser Gothic Crown was certified as Proof-64 by the Numismatic Guaranty Corp. (NGC). It sold for $8050, a high price. In contrast, an “Impaired Proof,” that had been “improperly cleaned,” not from the Hesselgesser collection, went for $2300.

Like Hesselgesser’s second Gothic Crown, his first was estimated by the cataloguers to bring a price of $7000 or less. It is certified as “Proof-65” with “Cameo” contrast by the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS). It is said to be an exceptionally attractive Gothic Crown. I was stunned to learn that it sold for $36,800!

Several years ago, when market prices were much lower, another auction company sold a PCGS graded Proof-66 Gothic Crown for $6612. Has a Gothic Crown ever before sold for as much as $10,000 (or the equivalent) at auction?

Hesselgesser has owned important and rare coins from many other nations as well. On Sept. 24, Hesselgesser’s 1910 Chinese silver dollar, with a Dragon motif, NGC graded MS-63, realized an astonishing $9,200. Bidders were probably expecting a price in the $1500 to $3000 range. Even more surprising was the price realized for a Chinese pattern silver dollar, consigned by Hesselgesser. It was minted in 1911, the third year of Hsuen Tung, and is NGC certified Proof-63. The Goldberg’s firm estimated that it would bring $5,000 to $7,500. Although rare and possibly worth an amount above that range, the $33,350 result startled me. Larry Goldberg was amazed.

Hesselgesser’s collection of early U.S. silver dollars, dating from 1794 to 1803, is complete ‘by date’ and is almost complete by die variety. It is among the very finest sets of Bust Dollar varieties ever formed. It was on display at the Feb. 2007 Long Beach Expo and at the ANA Convention in Milwaukee in August 2007.

Larry Goldberg stated that “Dr. Hesselgesser definitely owned a percentage of this 1921 Saint.” Before the auction, the coin had more than one owner, according to Larry, and then “it definitely changed hands.” The buyer that I refer to as ‘the real estate baron’ was the successful bidder, and Larry adds that “everyone was happy with the result.” This 1921 Saint thus became 100% owned by the ‘real estate baron.’ He has been purchasing “trophy coins” in Goldberg’s auctions, for some time.

This ‘real estate baron’ prefers that his name not be mentioned. As he believes in buying the choicest and most desirable pieces of real estate, he favors buying high quality examples of very rare coins, pieces that stand above the rest. As Ira Goldberg has explained, the real estate baron “favors trophy coins like he favors trophy pieces of real estate”!

Reverse of the 1921 $20 Saint The baron’s 1921 Saint is PCGS graded MS-65. Theoretically, a grade of seventy is attainable. In reality, it is extremely unusual for business strike Saints, of any date, to grade above MS-66. A coin that grades 65 or higher is typically termed a ‘gem.’

The PCGS has graded just three 1921 Saints as MS-65 and only one as MS-66. The other leading service, NGC, does not currently list any 1921 Saints as grading above MS-64. While there may be additional gem 1921 Saints in museums, it seems that these PCGS certified four are the only gem quality, privately owned 1921 Saints that are currently recognized.

Steve Contursi, through his firm, has owned more U.S. gold rarities, including duplicates, than perhaps anyone else in the last fifty years. Contursi asserts that the grade of the baron’s “1921 Saint is a high end 65,” and he says that “it could be fairly graded 66.” Contursi adds that he “liked the coin a lot.”

Silvano DiGenova was CEO of Superior Galleries for several years, and is one of the most successful traders in high grade, U.S. rare coins. He, too, has determined that the grade of this 1921 is a “high end 65” and could plausibly be “MS-66.” DiGenova is also a founder of PCGS.

Charles Browne said that this 1921 Saint is “an exceptionally nice coin with beautiful color.” He went on to state that its grade is a “mid range 65.” Browne is a former PCGS grader and is an instructor of ANA grading courses. For years, he has been a grader and analyst for an East Coast wholesale firm.

This is actually the second time that the baron acquired a 1921 Saint. At the Goldberg’s Feb. 2007 auction, he bought a PCGS graded MS-63 1921, for $218,500. In that same sale, the baron bought a fantastic 1930-S Saint, PCGS graded MS-64, though near or on the border of an MS-65 grade. He paid $172,500.

The baron likes choice, early Eagles ($10 gold coins). In the Feb. auction, he obtained a 1798/7 Eagle, PCGS graded MS-62, for $218,500. In May, he was the highest bidder for a 1797 Eagle with small eagle reverse (back of coin). I have identified this 1797 as having earlier been in the famous Amon Carter collection. It is NGC graded MS-63.

The $448,500 price for the Carter 1797 ‘Small eagle’ Eagle is, undoubtedly, a record for the date. For the same exact price, on Sept. 25, the baron was the winning bidder for an NGC graded MS-64 1795 Eagle. It was formerly in the Freedom Collection type set, which is the all-time first ranked gold type set in the NGC registry. For more information about the rarity and importance of 1795 Eagles please see my past article on 1795 Eagles, only on CoinLink.

In the Goldberg’s May auction, the baron also acquired an 1879 Coiled Hair Stella ($4 gold coin), NGC certified Proof-63, for $414,000. He then obtained other Proof gold coins, an 1859 $3 gold coin, NGC certified Proof-65 Ultra Cameo, and an 1868 Double Eagle, PCGS certified “Proof-64 Cameo.” The last two were both especially good looking coins that had personality.

There is no doubt that the baron now has an impressive holding of “trophy coins,” which, in some sense, complement his ‘trophy pieces of land.’ Ira Goldberg declared that “trophy coins are more in demand now than ever before.”

Ira’s point could be supported by several instances of record prices paid for very rare coins so far in 2007. In January, Heritage auctioned the Eliasberg Proof 1839 Eagle for $1,610,000, far and away an auction record for an early Proof gold coin. In March, Heritage auctioned the Duckor 1920-S Eagle for $1,725,000, a multiple of the previous auction records for that specific coin and for the 1920-S date in general.

In early July, Steve Contursi privately sold a 1792 half dime for $1,500,000. Later in July, John Feigenbaum brokered the sale of the Richmond 1894-S dime for $1,900,000. In March 2005, DLRC sold this same exact dime at auction for $1,322,500. In August 2007, Bowers & Merena auctioned an 1854-O Double Eagle for $494,500, more than $50,000 above the previous auction record which was for a higher graded 1854-O.

While it is fun to have trophies, I personally believe that it makes more sense for coin buyers to complete sets, or at least have logical collecting objectives that are within the boundaries of the evolved traditions of coin collecting. There are many varieties of type sets that are logical and stem from accepted coin collecting traditions. Further, Saints, early Eagles, and Bust Dollars are all series that can be mostly completed ‘by date’ with a budget that is much smaller than that of the baron. Indeed, collecting ‘by type’ is less difficult than collecting ‘by date,’ and collecting ‘by date’ is much less difficult (and often less expensive) than collecting ‘by variety.’ The ‘date’ refers to the year on a specific coin and the location of the Mint that produced it.

Of course, just acquiring rare and important coins, especially those of high quality, can be thrilling and fulfilling. For most coin buyers, however, having a collecting objective adds excitement and pleasure to the process.

There is no one collecting formula that is best for everyone. There are, though, logical collecting plans, consistent with coin collecting traditions, for all budgets. Collecting plans will be discussed in my future articles on CoinLink.