By Doug Winter - www.raregoldcoins.com

The Garrett Collection is another collection that was the result of the efforts of several generations of one family. In this case, the collection was begun by T. Harrison Garrett, an owner of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, in the 1870’s. The collection grew considerably in the 1880’s, until Garrett died in 1888. The collection was continued by his son Robert, who loaned it to Princeton University for nearly two decades at the beginning of the 20th century. The collection was acquired by Robert’s brother John in exchange for his art collection. It was added to until the death of John Work Garrett in 1939, after which it was donated to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

The first Garrett sale was conducted by the New York auction firm of Stack’s in March 1976. This sale featured long runs of original 19th century proof sets and one of the finest selections of proof gold coins ever offered.

The bulk of the Garrett collection was auctioned by Bowers and Merena from 1979 through 1981. The first sale was held in November 1979 and it contained 622 lots which realized a bit over $7 million. The unquestionable star of this sale was an example of the celebrated Brasher Doubloon that sold for a record $725,000. As this sale was held during a numismatic bull market (as were the next two parts of the sale), many price records were set.

The second Garrett sale was held during the incredibly strong market of March 1980. Consisting of just 572 lots, the prices realized for Part Two was an impressive $7.05 million. The two highest prices realized were $400,000 for an 1804 silver dollar and $500,000 for a Proof 1851 Humbert octagonal $50 “slug.”

The third Garrett sale was held in October 1980 in a market that was still extremely strong. A total of 496 lots sold for over $4 million dollars and numerous new price records were established. The highest individual prices realized for this sale included $130,000 for an Uncirculated 1795 $10 and $120,000 for a choice 1798/7 eagle.

The final Garrett sale was held in the more tranquil market of March 1981. Nonetheless, the prices realized for the 661 lots totalled over $4 million, bringing the gross prices realized for the four Bowers and Ruddy sales of this collection to over $25 million. This is the second highest price realized at auction for a single collection, exceeded only by the Eliasberg collection (which brought over $40 million).

The Garrett collection was one of the first great sets of American coins and included many extreme rarities with pedigrees back to the 1870’s and the 1880’s. This was clearly one of the greatest collections of all time and one which probably could not be duplicated today.