The Father of American Numismatics Sale of 1867: The finest [1793] cent... I have ever seen.
Zoins
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Just after the Civil War in 1867, the collection of Joseph Jacob Mickley, aka Father of American Numismatics, was sold.
At that time, W. Elliot Woodward said of Mickley's 1793 cent:
W. Elliot Woodward said in 1867:
The finest cent of this variety I have ever seen.
I cut off the quote in the title since CU Forums has a length limit on discussion titles.
150 years later, in 2017, it was sold as part of the D. Brent Pogue collection for $940,000 on an estimate of $400,000-$450,000. What an amazing result for a coin that has captured the attention of collectors for over 150 years!
What else was phenomenal in the Mickley sale? Anyone have the MIckley sale catalog?
1793 Liberty Cap Cent - Sheldon-13 - Rarity-4 - PCGS AU58 POP 1/2 - Ex. Joseph Jacob Mickley, Virgil Michael Brand, David Brent Pogue
- Cert: https://www.pcgs.com/cert/32189845
- Sale: https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-6QP79/1793-liberty-cap-cent-sheldon-13-liberty-cap-rarity-4-about-uncirculated-58-pcgs
Comments
Wow! Gorgeous coin!
My OmniCoin Collection
My BankNoteBank Collection
Tom, formerly in Albuquerque, NM.
Just beautiful!
Newman numismatic portal has the catalog
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=29&AuctionId=511192
also on NNP a little history about his diary and about a robbery that made him decide to sell his collection
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/periodical/511646
Visit USPatterns.com
That's a fabulous coin!
I am a decendent of J.J. Mickley. I do have the reprint catalogue by Charles Davis of which only 100 copies were made in 1996. There is a list of the prices realized and who purchased each lot in the final pages. The final page has a list of the most prominent buyers. Mendes Cohen was the most prominent buyer.
There were many, many rarities in this collection including an 1804 silver dollar and an 1802 half dime (one of three known at the time, sold for $45.00) and a lot of early proof coins (pre-1860). Roughly 1/2 of the lots in this auction were foreign or ancient coins. There were also colonials, George Washington pieces, and medals.
The last lot #3349 was his coin cabinet which sold for $27.50.
Joseph Jacob Mickley's 1802 half dime was traced by Harold Newlin and David Davis as the "Newlin-2" specimen.
It sold in 1979 for $2,700 and is in AG grade.
Imagine trying to buy coins today with those descriptions:
1793 small planchet, uncirculated, very rare.
1793 planchet of the largest size, very fine, rare.
1793 different variety from either of the others ... most excellent condition.
"Most excellent condition" - is that how Bill & Ted grade coins?
And who knows what varieties these are.
Successful BST (me as buyer) with: Collectorcoins, PipestonePete, JasonRiffeRareCoins
It's pretty amazing that Mickley was one of the first owners of the 1804 dollar!
This sold for $750 in the October 1867 sale in lot 1676.
That cent is really beautiful.... Must be amazing 'in hand'.... What a treasure. Cheers, RickO