1933 $20 Double Eagle up for auction
Fashion mogul Stuart Weitzman will offer three pieces from his personal collection at a Sotheby’s New York auction in June, with proceeds benefiting the foundations, universities, and museums he supports.
The three items include a 1933 Double Eagle coin with a face value of $20, the only example that is legally sanctioned by the U.S. government for private ownership; the sole-surviving example of the British Guiana One-Cent Magenta, the most famous and valuable stamp in the world; and the Inverted Jenny Plate Block, the most well-known and sought-after American stamp rarity.
The Double Eagle coin and the British stamp are expected to fetch between $10 million and $15 million each, while the American stamp has an estimated value of between $5 and $7 million.
The three treasures will be sold at a dedicated live auction at Sotheby’s New York on June 8. All of the seller’s proceeds will benefit charitable ventures, including The Weitzman Family Foundation, which supports medical research and higher education such as the Stuart Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a museum in Madrid, the first of its kind, devoted to Spanish Judaica.
“I had a lifelong dream of collecting the single greatest rarities in the two great collecting areas of stamps and coins and then placing these extraordinary treasures, hidden away for decades, on continuous public view,” the 79-year-old Weitzman said in a statement. “That was my dream. Today my dream is to leave a legacy of charitable works to which the proceeds from the sales of these treasures will go.”
Weitzman pioneered luxury shoe design as founder of his eponymous company, which was acquired by Tapestry, Inc., in 2015.
A collector of stamps and coins from an early age, Weitzman acquired the Double Eagle coin for $7.59 million and the British Guiana for $9.68 million, both in 2002 at Sotheby’s. In 2014, he bought the Inverted Jenny Plate Block through a private sale from famed bond investor William Gross, who purchased the stamp for $2.97 million in 2005.
Weitzman has loaned the three items to various institutions and museums, including the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and the New York Historical Society.
The three treasures will be on public view, by appointment, in Sotheby’s New York galleries starting March 11.
Successful BST transactions (as a buyer) with @ArchStanton, @JGnumismatics, @r00kies101, @derryb, @76collector, @Pachucko, @brendanlam, @Coll3ctor. I am looking for fractional gold Krugerrands, by year: 0.5oz: 2014, 2020, 2023 | 0.25oz: 1992, 1994, 2002, 2020, 2023 | 0.10oz: 1990, 1992, 1994, 2010, 2020-2021
Comments
6% over melt
I will go for about as much as Lebron James rookie card. (PSA 10 of course!)
Loves me some shiny!
It should be a fun auction to watch.... May well set some significant price levels. I will mark my calendar... Not to bid, just to watch. Cheers, RickO