Lessons Gleaned from the Most Valuable Collection of US Pattern Coinage

When first reported, last month’s $30+ million sale of pattern coins was certainly newsworthy. It is the largest single private treaty rare coin transaction to date. For many collectors, pattern coins typically fall outside the mainstream of US numismatics. They are, however, always lauded for their beauty and rarity. But this sale is even more special because of how long it has been since there was a similar transaction of pattern coins to which it can be compared.

In fact, one must go back nearly 100 years to uncover a similar sale of pattern coins, which, as it turns out, is one of numismatics’ most storied transactions. In 1909, prominent collector William H. Woodin purchased two $50 Half Union patterns struck in gold for a then unprecedented sum of $20,000. The seller was the former coiner and superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint, Col. A Loudon Snowden. Some controversy surrounded the private ownership of these coins, which were unique and now the world’s most valuable. Mint Director A. Piatt Andrew wanted the coins returned to the Mint’s collection. Read Full Story