Stewart Blays copper!

Coin Finder

I just saw that part of his collection is being auctioned off over at Great Collections. I love red copper and his coins are the nicest I have ever seen! Check out the cent from 1919! Record prices are coming.

https://greatcollections.com/Collections/847/The-Red-Copper-Collection-of-Lincoln-Cents/listing

oih82w8

That is an incredible collection of Lincoln Cents!

DeplorableDan

We’ve talked about some of the cents in Stewart’s collection on a few threads recently, they’re sure to set some records.

Recently, in Greysheet’s interview with Ian Russell, Ian disclosed that he had suggested to Stewart that he have them all re-graded, as Ian thought many were ripe for an upgrade, or two. Stewart elected not to, claiming that the quality of the coins was enough to bring high auction prices on their own merit.

ricko

Beautiful coins indeed.... Should be some amazing prices. Cheers, RickO

Tibor

RIP Stewart

johnny9434

Wow, any one of them in my collection would be nice, just saying

Chevyrose

Yeah he’ll go down as the Lincoln King forever. Really missing talking to him every other day. Life hasn’t been the same since.

RIP Stu

Steven59

Nice - lots of high dollar bids - beautiful collection that is being dissmantled.

DCW

Would have been nice if PCGS reholdered all with a special label like they did for Pogue, Bowers, Hansen, etc.

Lakesammman

I'd have to disagree - red copper in a OGH screams "stability".

winesteven

@Chevyrose said:
Yeah he’ll go down as the Lincoln King forever. Really missing talking to him every other day. Life hasn’t been the same since.

RIP Stu

Some of you may not know this, but the #1 Current Indian Head Cent Set (55 coin Basic Set) is Stewart’s. It’s a phenomenally gorgeous set! @DMWJR ‘s set is right there with his. And they both top the charts for Flying Eagle Cents too. They are the Kings of those earlier cent sets!

Steve

ParadimeCoins

Superb collection

Shamika

Some of these cents are almost beyond belief. The 1919-P MS68 doesn't look real. Amazing!

Walkerlover

It’s hard to believe that there is NOT 1 GOLD STICKER in this collection from CAC. I don’t understand it

winesteven

@Walkerlover said:
It’s hard to believe that there is NOT 1 GOLD STICKER in this collection from CAC. I don’t understand it

It’s tough to get gold CAC stickers for coins already graded 67RD, 68RD, and 69RD.

Steve

Meltdown

JBN

Thanks for the link.
This would certainly qualify as a 'Great Collection'.
The detail on some of these examples is extraordinary.
Wow.

JohnF

For those interested, you may want to check out Patrick's and my interview with Ian. Stewart's collection was the main focus of the conversation. https://youtu.be/kY309O_nSCA

asheland

@Meltdown said:

I’ve always thought that coin is simply remarkable! And it’s still in the OGH, But apparently true viewed through the slab. I’d keep it as is!

DMWJR

There are others that watch the boards that know more than I do. But my understanding of the 1919 is that there was a monster roll that came up for sale, and from this roll the MS69 was made along with most of the MS68's. If I recall, there were 15 or so MS68's made from the roll.

Luxor

@DMWJR said:
There are others that watch the boards that know more than I do. But my understanding of the 1919 is that there was a monster roll that came up for sale, and from this roll the MS69 was made along with most of the MS68's. If I recall, there were 15 or so MS68's made from the roll.

Wow! That must have been one helluva roll!

ianrussell

@DMWJR said:
There are others that watch the boards that know more than I do. But my understanding of the 1919 is that there was a monster roll that came up for sale, and from this roll the MS69 was made along with most of the MS68's. If I recall, there were 15 or so MS68's made from the roll.

Stewart bought the roll (it was two shotgun rolls) for this one coin. And you're right, the group had 10+ of the finest 1919 Lincolns known including this monster.

• Ian

OldIndianNutKase

Stewart was without doubt the master of Red Copper.

And I will add this........even Stewart's Red Copper will diminish over time. Might be a hundred or two hundred years but they will no be as red as they are now. The TPG'd slab these coins with slabs that will expose these coins to oxidants, such as oxygen in our atmosphere. They should be maintained in slabs that have even less porosity than the current version of plastic they use and they should be contained by a inert gas such as Argon. Stewart's RD coins should be conserved with much better technology than is currently employed by the TPG's.

OINK

Coin Finder

@ianrussell Stewart bought the roll (it was two shotgun rolls) for this one coin. And you're right, the group had 10+ of the finest 1919 Lincolns known including this monster.

How did he know that coin was in there? Where these original rolls from a bank?

Chevyrose

@thebigeng said:
@ianrussell Stewart bought the roll (it was two shotgun rolls) for this one coin. And you're right, the group had 10+ of the finest 1919 Lincolns known including this monster.

How did he know that coin was in there? Where these original rolls from a bank?

I don’t think he knew a ms69 was in there. But probably knew most in the roll were high grade mint state

Coin Finder

I opened a original roll of 1941 P cents once. The best coin graded MS66 RD. Many of them had spots.

Anyway, how for back did the do rolled coinage?

Raybo

Red copper....Meh.
I like my copper brown,

Cuprinkor

Didn't this roll appear in the late 80's?

I think I recall Allen Harriman mentioning this roll in his weekly Market In-depth commentary in the Greysheet back then.

OldIndianNutKase

Let me just say that the 1919 roll was probably not an original mint roll. But a collection of raw 1919 MS Lincolns that were assembled at one time by an astute dealer or collector for investment purposes.

SoCalBigMark

His 09 S VDB is currently double PCGS guide...

JimTyler

The kind of money these are going for they should have been reholdered with his pedigree on the label. Preserve the history.

7Jaguars

Truly an astounding collection. However, and in that context, there are some I wondered about at least from the pictures. Like the 1922 no D as a red where I must assume the photos take away from the "redness", or the 1972 DD where it just doesn't look the grade even if VERY nice. Anyway, a bit of nitpicking I suppose but given the prices that some are going for, well, it seems the Emperor's New Clothes to not mention...

ianrussell

@JimTyler said:
The kind of money these are going for they should have been reholdered with his pedigree on the label. Preserve the history.

We are able to arrange for the winning bidders if they would like "Red Copper" added to the label. As there were so many old green holders, we didn't want to do this automatically.

• Ian

ianrussell

@thebigeng said:
@ianrussell Stewart bought the roll (it was two shotgun rolls) for this one coin. And you're right, the group had 10+ of the finest 1919 Lincolns known including this monster.

How did he know that coin was in there? Where these original rolls from a bank?

I believe the person who had the coins graded one of the small rolls. The second was raw. Stewart bought all coins when he looked at a few of the coins.

My gut feeling is that they were not original rolls - back in the day, collectors (and dealers) would put together rolls of coins - some with amazing quality.

• Ian

ianrussell

@OldIndianNutKase said:
Let me just say that the 1919 roll was probably not an original mint roll. But a collection of raw 1919 MS Lincolns that were assembled at one time by an astute dealer or collector for investment purposes.

^^^^ likely this!

kaz

Does anyone know how Mr. Blay stored his coins, to protect them from atmospheric reactions? He lived in NYC so the air was full of contaminants.

JimTyler

@ianrussell said:

@JimTyler said:
The kind of money these are going for they should have been reholdered with his pedigree on the label. Preserve the history.

We are able to arrange for the winning bidders if they would like "Red Copper" added to the label. As there were so many old green holders, we didn't want to do this automatically.

• Ian

Should have been honored with his name as pedigree along with Red Copper IMO

ianrussell

@JimTyler said:

@ianrussell said:

@JimTyler said:
The kind of money these are going for they should have been reholdered with his pedigree on the label. Preserve the history.

We are able to arrange for the winning bidders if they would like "Red Copper" added to the label. As there were so many old green holders, we didn't want to do this automatically.

• Ian

Should have been honored with his name as pedigree along with Red Copper IMO

It would be confusing if half were prepared that way for the auction and the other half were not. This way, the new owner is in control. Stewart didn't even want us to regrade all of the coins - instead wanting them offered as they are - he said "the coins speak for themselves". Some might even like their purchases put in PCGS's rarity holders (which we can look into for the winning bidders).

• Ian

OldIndianNutKase

@ianrussell said:

@JimTyler said:

@ianrussell said:

@JimTyler said:
The kind of money these are going for they should have been reholdered with his pedigree on the label. Preserve the history.

We are able to arrange for the winning bidders if they would like "Red Copper" added to the label. As there were so many old green holders, we didn't want to do this automatically.

• Ian

Should have been honored with his name as pedigree along with Red Copper IMO

It would be confusing if half were prepared that way for the auction and the other half were not. This way, the new owner is in control. Stewart didn't even want us to regrade all of the coins - instead wanting them offered as they are - he said "the coins speak for themselves". Some might even like their purchases put in PCGS's rarity holders (which we can look into for the winning bidders).

• Ian

PCGS should label the provenance externally on the slab. That way the new owner can remove the reference without resubmitting the coin. And of course this would avoid cracking an OGH.

winesteven

@ianrussell said:

@JimTyler said:
The kind of money these are going for they should have been reholdered with his pedigree on the label. Preserve the history.

We are able to arrange for the winning bidders if they would like "Red Copper" added to the label. As there were so many old green holders, we didn't want to do this automatically.

• Ian

If we request this after being high bidder on a lot, can PCGS preserve the same cert number? This will help in TWO ways:

1. The cert number will still tie to the coin in this auction.
2. This makes it simple to get the CAC sticker AUTOMATICALLY REAPPLIED if the cert number remains unchanged.

ianrussell

@winesteven said:

@ianrussell said:

@JimTyler said:
The kind of money these are going for they should have been reholdered with his pedigree on the label. Preserve the history.

We are able to arrange for the winning bidders if they would like "Red Copper" added to the label. As there were so many old green holders, we didn't want to do this automatically.

• Ian

If we request this after being high bidder on a lot, can PCGS preserve the same cert number? This will help in TWO ways:

1. The cert number will still tie to the coin in this auction.
2. This makes it simple to get the CAC sticker AUTOMATICALLY REAPPLIED if the cert number remains unchanged.

Yes - that would be our request too - we had some other coins pedigreed to Elite recently and the cert #s did not change.

• Ian

asheland

@ianrussell said:

@JimTyler said:
The kind of money these are going for they should have been reholdered with his pedigree on the label. Preserve the history.

We are able to arrange for the winning bidders if they would like "Red Copper" added to the label. As there were so many old green holders, we didn't want to do this automatically.

• Ian

I would definitely leave them in the OGHs. Mainly for stability issues. Like they can be true viewed through the plastic, perhaps the Blay pedigree could simply be added to the Cert verification details???

Then the coins remain undisturbed in the stable holders.

Chevyrose

Those auction prices went crazy
$375,000 plus the juice for 1919 ms69 rd
$307,000 plus juice for 09 s vdb

Stew is looking down and he’s happy

Zoins

@winesteven said:

@Walkerlover said:
It’s hard to believe that there is NOT 1 GOLD STICKER in this collection from CAC. I don’t understand it

It’s tough to get gold CAC stickers for coins already graded 67RD, 68RD, and 69RD.

Steve

Gold sticker on a 69 may be the closest we get to a 70.

Zoins

@Chevyrose said:
Those auction prices went crazy
$375,000 plus the juice for 1919 ms69 rd
$307,000 plus juice for 09 s vdb

Stew is looking down and he’s happy

Amazing! Nice to see Lincoln cents going strong!

Miss him on the forums.

Walkerlover

@Zoins said:

@winesteven said:

@Walkerlover said:
It’s hard to believe that there is NOT 1 GOLD STICKER in this collection from CAC. I don’t understand it

It’s tough to get gold CAC stickers for coins already graded 67RD, 68RD, and 69RD.

Steve

Gold sticker on a 69 may be the closest we get to a 70.

I don’t think they would ever give out a ms 70 designation unless the coin is a very ultra modern mint product . Out of principle they wouldn’t give it to a classic coin or even fairly modern coin.

bolivarshagnasty

The 09 S VDB, 19, and the 22 no d brought nearly one million. Deep pockets came out for this sale. Stewart would have been pleased others treasured these Lincolns as he did.

Zoins

@Walkerlover said:

@Zoins said:

@winesteven said:

@Walkerlover said:
It’s hard to believe that there is NOT 1 GOLD STICKER in this collection from CAC. I don’t understand it

It’s tough to get gold CAC stickers for coins already graded 67RD, 68RD, and 69RD.

Steve

Gold sticker on a 69 may be the closest we get to a 70.

I don’t think they would ever give out a ms 70 designation unless the coin is a very ultra modern mint product . Out of principle they wouldn’t give it to a classic coin or even fairly modern coin.

Likely, which is why a gold bean may be the best we can get.

Though my feeling is that if a classic coin is as good as a modern 70, it should be a 70.

MFeld

@Zoins said:

@Walkerlover said:

@Zoins said:

@winesteven said:

@Walkerlover said:
It’s hard to believe that there is NOT 1 GOLD STICKER in this collection from CAC. I don’t understand it

It’s tough to get gold CAC stickers for coins already graded 67RD, 68RD, and 69RD.

Steve

Gold sticker on a 69 may be the closest we get to a 70.

I don’t think they would ever give out a ms 70 designation unless the coin is a very ultra modern mint product . Out of principle they wouldn’t give it to a classic coin or even fairly modern coin.

Likely, which is why a gold bean may be the best we can get.

Though my feeling is that if a classic coin is as good as a modern 70, it should be a 70.

I think you’re dreaming. CAC’s not going to award a gold sticker (signifying that the coin is, at a minimum, solid for the next grade up) to a coin already graded 69.

Walkerlover

@bolivarshagnasty said:
The 09 S VDB, 19, and the 22 no d brought nearly one million. Deep pockets came out for this sale. Stewart would have been pleased others treasured these Lincolns as he did.

I am surprised at the price of the 1919 eclipsing the 1909 S VDB. Gorgeous 1919 but still not a very rare date. I think this one was overpriced at $400000. Better value in the 1958 1955 and 1969S overdate and 1914D and 1909 S VDB and 1922 plain

Chevyrose

I like to think stew found the best Lincoln’s of all time
I don’t think there is an ms70 wheat cent in existence
Or a 1926s in 66 rd

It’s probable that coins from this sale, in the next 20-30 years will be the first million dollar Lincolns