The collecting history behind the Vegas Collection starts out like many others, but then takes decidedly interesting twists! The consignor became interested in collecting coins at the age of eight, while living in Southern California. His mother supported his efforts, but the single-parent household had no extra funds for indulgences. His low-key collecting continued through high school, where working at the student store promised a continual flow of interesting coins to swap out. In his early adulthood, he moved to Las Vegas, and continued his searching through all of the silver dollars swirling around him. His finished his Morgan series and began to increase his sophistication in collecting.

Fueled by the explosive growth of Vegas, the commercial success of his business allowed for increased buying of rarities and the upgrading of his Morgans and other series. He might buy entire collections from other collectors, but when buying at auction would be more inclined to pursue rarities and more expensive coins, and he began to focus on the eagle and double eagle series. Over the years, as he explains it, “the collector became an investor.”

One of the prime highlights in the collection is a 1920-S $20 MS64 PCGS. In 1920, the mints in both Philadelphia and San Francisco struck double eagles, the first since the production of the 1916-S coins. Philadelphia produced roughly a quarter-million coins, while San Francisco made more than a half-million. But while the 1920-P is common up to the MS64 level, the 1920-S is rare in all grades. Today, it is considered a classic rarity in a series that abounds with them. Unlike some later dates where repatriations from overseas have replenished the supplies of once-rare issues, no hordes of 1920-S coins have ever been discovered in international holdings. One of the latest references on the Saint-Gaudens series, David Akers’ Handbook of 20th Century United States Gold Coins, proposes:

“The 1920-S is one of the prime rarities in the Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle series, if not in the entire 20th century U.S. gold series. In fact, it is the rarest collectible Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle after only the 1927-D, 1930-S and 1921. The 1920-S is actually rarer than the 1927-D and 1930-S in high grades. Virtually the entire mintage was destroyed during the gold recall of the 1930s–the first of several Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles from the 1920s and 1930s to suffer this fate. The majority of survivors fall somewhere in the Choice AU to MS-64 grade range. High-grade examples, of which there are very few, were almost certainly obtained at the time of issue by collectors who had close ties to Mint or other government officials.”

Heritage’s consignor is also selling some “extra coins that are not germane” to his core holdings of proof gold, low-pops, and finest knowns. While this auction contains many superlative coins, he promises that “the best is yet to come!”

A few of the selections of the Vegas Collection include:

• 1796 1/2 C With Pole Good 4 PCGS.
• 1856 1C PR64 PCGS. CAC. Snow-9.
• 1912-D 1C MS66 Red PCGS.
• 1919-D 50C MS63 PCGS.
• 1849-C G$1 Closed Wreath MS63 NGC.
• 1860-D G$1 MS61 NGC.
• 1859-O $20 AU58 NGC.
• 1921 $20 MS61 NGC.
• 1930-S $20 MS63 PCGS.
• 1931 $20 MS66 NGC.
• 1932 $20 MS64 PCGS.

Bid on this collection and the other outstanding offerings in Heritag’e Long Beach Auction now at www.HA.com/Coins.

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