Doug Winter Double Eagle class in session
Justacommeman
Posts: 22,847 ✭✭✭✭✭
I learn several things everytime I read one of his blogs or articles.
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Walker Proof Digital Album
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
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Comments
That was a good read. Very informative. Thank you for the link.
Nice article.
From the photos, the coins are typical of the $25,000 consolidated bags usually ferried about Europe as low-quality business deposits. Wear and damage accumulated because each bag (or 'sack') was emptied on receipt by a clerk and the coins weighed to determine value. (The coins were just gold - no monetary value in Europe.)
The black residue commonly seen is a mix of bag lint, dirt, finger oil and fine gold particles. If a large quantity of these worn coins are washed, the water should be filtered and all residue refined to recover the gold dust.
One point to emphasize is that nearly all DE were exported - that's why they were made. Local circulation of Carson and San Francisco DE included all of western North America especially the coastal areas.
(Photo Credit: Douglas Winter Numismatics)
@Justacommeman Thanks for posting the link to Doug Winter’s Excellent Educational article about the Fairmont Gold Coin Hoard!!😁👍
@RogerB Thanks for your informative post regarding the Physical Handling (wear & tear) of Gold Hoard coins.👍
Stuart
Collect 18th & 19th Century US Type Coins, Silver Dollars, $20 Gold Double Eagles and World Crowns & Talers with High Eye Appeal
"Luck is what happens when Preparation meets Opportunity"
That was good. Thanks @Justacommeman.
As someone not familiar with the Fairmont Collection, I'm not sure what to make of this article yet since there wasn’t that much background information.
Doing some reading indicates the Fairmont Collection was previously known as the AWA Collection and is the #2 ranked Registry Set for "Liberty Head $20 Gold with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1850-1907)" behind D.L. Hansen. The AWA Collection was the #1 registry set from 2009 to 2016 (aside from 2013), after which Hansen took over the #1 spot.
Some articles on this collection:
Here's the announcement from Stack's
Great article.
@Zoins - IIRC the AWA Collection, named for Dr. Bill Crawford's three children, was sold to Hansen by @cnncoins in an 8-figure deal.
How do you connect this Fairmont "stuff" with superb finest knowns. Did Hansen buy the hoard?
A few of these have resold on GC and Heritage.
The 1893 PCGS MS64+ CAC recently sold on GC:
I looks through boxes of them last year at Stacks NYC Office. What stood out to me was they weren’t processed like a lot of the coins in the same boxes that surrounded them.
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Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
A bit hard to track this set since Fairmont Collection doesn’t seem to be in the registry anymore but was #2 at the time of the Stack’s sale in 2018.
I must have read the article wrong. It said Fairmont was the #2 ranked set in 2018 and then mentioned Hansen and AWA. Seems like AWA referred to Hansen and not Fairmont
thanks for posting. It's always interesting to read Doug's blogs but a need a reminder every now and then.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
The Fairmont coins are not a complete registry set of coins. It is a hoard of coins which include multiples of many dates, yet it is not complete. This is not a "collector" set, and certainly not on the Registry.
BTW, the "AWA" name has a special meaning to Dr. Crawford, but is not the initials of his 3 children....since he has only one son.
Does anyone know how much there is to still come back ?
This is from the June 2018 Coin World article linked above:
Very nice read. Thanks for sharing. The stuff in Doug's head must weigh a lot.
@Zoins - Thanks for all of the information.
In early 2018, a subset of Liberty double eagles from the Fairmont “collection” was entered into the PCGS registry and achieved rank of second current finest in the category “Liberty Head $20 Gold with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1850-1907)”. As you mentioned, it appears the set was removed.
The Fairmont collection in the PCGS registry was missing 10 rarities / ultra rarities —-1854-O, 1855-O, 1856-O, 1860-O, 1861-O, 1870-CC, 1881, 1882, 1885, 1891. Clearly, the AWA, now Hanson collection was a distant #1.
Anyone have any Fairmont "Collection" Eagles or Double Eagles to post from any of the 5 recent sales?
Here is a nice, original, first year of issue 1850-O double eagle. It has that “green-gold hue” seen for New Orleans coins that Doug mentioned in his article. There is a surprising amount of underlying luster on this example even though it is only graded XF45.
Post your Fairmont coins if you have them…
If you are ever looking for an interesting read about rare gold---just go to Doug's site and read his archived articles and blogs---a ton of interesting material.
@skier07
That is a great looking eagle! Love the original surfaces.
Thank for the link ,good read. Could you define "they weren't processed" in the above comment?
When the TPG’s were in their infancy they rewarded “ shiny” especially on silver. This spilled over into gold. So old gold turned into newer looking gold. They were processed to look that way. Original surfaces gave way to brighter surfaces. Anyways Doug says it way better then me. Read the article it’s an eye opener.
m
https://coinweek.com/us-coins/us-gold-coins/rare-original-surface/
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
I’ll admit I’m too used to seeing Saddle Ridge Hoard and SS Central America gold to fully appreciate the surfaces on many of the Fairmont Collection pieces I’ve seen. I’ve probably been over conditioned by all the eye candy recently.
I have been a frequent underbidder for Fairmont eagles that interested me .
Managed to snag only two:
PC45
PC12
@burdell those are great looking circulated eagles! The surfaces are really appealing for the grades. Like the '66-S no motto $20, the no motto $10 is a tough date to find in any grade.
Great thread!
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@Justacommeman....Thanks for the link... Interesting reading....Gold coins have always been of interest to me... and I enjoy reading about them and rarities...Cheers, RickO
Great read thanks for alerting of Doug's blog post, excellent images posted here of the Fairmont coins!
Best, SH
Fascinating. Have you, or anybody else here ever seen one of those sacks of gold intact? Does anybody know what state the Fairmont Hoard was in when discovered in a European bank, e.g. was it still in an old sack? I read about repatriated hoards of gold coins from European banks and would love to know more about the state they are in when found. I envision somewhere in the corner of a vault covered with dust and cobwebs.