On November 16 Bowers and Merena offered an important collection in Baltimore. Don Willis, owner of “Premium Numismatics,” consigned his date and Red Book variety set of capped bust halves to the sale. All were slabbed, mostly by PCGS.

In the John Reich Collectors Society e-Newsletter, Sheridan Downey, a well known expert on Bust Halfs made the following comments on the sale , coins and prices realized as follows:

“If you are a serious collector you heard of the sale beforehand. A dozen or so collectors attended the sale. According to B & M’s website 14 of the lettered edge coins did not sell, including these: 1807 50/20 O.112 PCGS AU 55 (opening bid [reserve?] of $4,400); 1812/1 large 8 O.101 PCGS XF 45 ($20,000); 1814 Single Leaf O.105a PCGS AU 55 ($1,700); 181.7 O.103 PCGS AU 58 ($3,300); 1823 patched 3 O.101a PCGS AU 58 ($2,100); and 1824/4 O.110 PCGS AU 58 ($1,900). (Check prices realized here)

The sale reinforced what we already knew: PCGS AU bust-halves are in strong demand; collectors like color; and the “58” grade is today’s Holy Grail. Just two coins graded AU 58 by PCGS brought less than $1,000. The stragglers were an 1832 and an 1833; each brought $920. Many if not most of the AU 58 early and middle dates hammered at $2,000 or more.

Here are some notable results. The 1807 Small Stars O.113a, PCGS AU 50, went to a Texas dealer @ $6,900. Perhaps he was bidding for a client. This was a duplicate from Charlton Meyer’s collection. Swampy bought it years back from Stack’s as an XF with pretty toning. “Stax toning,” was Charlton’s euphemistic and quaint description of many coins that came to him from Stack’s. Willis bought the coin last year from Ray Hinkelman – who had just purchased it “raw” for $2,800 from, gulp, the same dealer who prevailed in Baltimore. Ah, the power of a PCGS slab! Hinkelman showed a nice return on his grading fee! Don did well too.

An 1808/7 O.101 PCGS AU 58 went for $3,565. Don picked up a PCGS AU 58 1814 E/A O.108 at the Atlanta show, just a month before selling his collection. Good move! It brought $4,370, more than double Don’s cost. The PCGS AU 58 1815/2 was optimistically graded but pretty. Dealer John Gervasoni put it in his pocket at $12,938. The next lot, an 1817/3 PCGS 58, was distinctly off quality and brought “only” $5,175. Perhaps the prettiest AU 58 coin in the sale was an 1818 O.106a, a common variety. Two collectors went head to head, the loser stopping at $4,830! A pretty but questionably toned 1822/1 O.101 PCGS AU 58 sold at $3,910. PCGS missed a nasty scratch on the reverse of Don’s darkly toned 1823 broken 3 O.101. Graded AU 55, the bidding stopped at $3,335. An exclamation point to collector demand for great color came with lot 2258, a “dirt common” – but beautiful - 1832 O.113. It yielded $2,415. Egad!”

JR Newsletter # 115, December 2, 2007

The JR Newsletter is now the official e-magazine of the John Reich Collectors Society (JRCS). There are no dues or fees of any kind to receive JR News, though subscribers are encouraged to join JRCS, a wonderful club dedicated to these wonderful coins. JRCS can be reached at www.jrcs.org.