A New Piece - 1798 Large Cent - Naftzger Provenance

Catbert

As some of you may know by viewing the BST, I consigned several coins to GC and did so to help pay for this coin. While those coins will be missed, I felt they could be replaced in the future should I wish to do so. I won the GC auction for this coin in November and have now received it. These pics are more accurate than the TV in my opinion so I've chosen not to post that version.

I pursued this coin because I've always been drawn to the draped bust design and early copper type in general. To own one in this condition has been of dream of mine and I am thrilled to now own an excellent example.

This coin has quite the provenance as well (Naftzger green handwriting):

Denis Loring, Ted Naftzger, Herman Halpern, and Tom Reynolds. Looking back to the 1988 auction, it was described as follows:

Many of you know the infamous Naftzger story, but this reference to his history found on NNP is especially interesting to me:

https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/periodical/9414

I will quote liberally from this in the next post.

Hope you enjoy seeing this piece of numismatic history!

Catbert

As quoted:

"John Kleeberg submitted the following recollections of Ted Naftzger. He writes, "I knew him quite well, although my acquaintance was acquired in an unusual manner - as one of his adversaries in ten years of litigation." -Editor

Roy Edgar (Ted) Naftzger, Jr. was born into two wealthy families of Southern California, the Naftzgers and the Vickers. Naftzger grew up surrounded 360 degrees by rules, which he rebelled against to such an extent that he got packed off to military school.

Naftzger started college at Stanford, but finished up at the University of Southern California in 1948, where he was elected president of his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi. After graduation Naftzger sold insurance.

In 1952 his father died and Naftzger inherited a huge fortune. He never needed to work for a living again, and he didnt - professional managers operated his ranches. Naftzger's life was filled with hobbies: playing tennis, growing roses, deep sea fishing, and flying his private airplane, as well as collecting coins.

Naftzger began by filling a penny board with Lincoln cents. In 1938 a maiden aunt in Freeport, Illinois sent him a box of coins, including large cents.

Naftzger was a secretive man. In March 1938 he joined the American Numismatic Association, although his name and number (6809) were concealed from the membership; the membership list in the Numismatist jumps from 6808 to 6810.

On Saturdays Naftzger worked in the coin shop of Sam M. Koeppel at Eighth Street and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. Insofar as Naftzger had a mentor, it was Koeppel. In Koeppels shop Naftzger met Howard Rounds Newcomb. Later Naftzger would obtain, via Koeppel, Newcombs library and inventory cards, although he kept his ownership a secret. (The cover of the first Robbie Brown sale by Superior may have photographs of books from Newcombs library.) Naftzger also obtained Koeppels collection of colonial notes; he consigned this to New Netherlands in 1976.

Besides large cents, Naftzger also collected U.S. gold and New Jersey coppers the latter collection was sold to William ODonnell via Tony Terranova, and auctioned by Stacks in January 2001. Naftzger beat out Harry Bass in a competition for an 1815 half eagle. The dealer who bought the coin had obligations to both Naftzger and Bass, and the dealer chose to sell to Naftzger. This would have important consequences.

In the 1990s, when the American Numismatic Society was considering whether to embark on litigation with Naftzger, the board of trustees, dominated by collectors, was dragging its heels until Harry Bass weighed in.

Naftzgers big acquisitions in large cents occurred from 1954 onwards, when he bought the collections of T. James Clarke, James Sloss, Edward Schwartz, Emanuel Taylor, and Ray Gallo. Naftzger would combine the better pieces with his collection and sell off the duplicates under the name of the former owner.

Naftzgers own name never appeared. He concealed himself behind Abe Kosoff, and only emerged more into the open after he and Kosoff got into an argument concerning a prooflike USAOG $20 of 1853, and their friendship ruptured. (But thats a scandal for another day)

Naftzger was perplexed by a problem with the T. James Clarke collection, which he had bought for $30,000 during the 1954 Christmas week. The Clarke collection was in little coin boxes, with the pedigrees marked on the back. When matched against the plates of the auctions, the coins didnt match. Naftzger would puzzle over this question for decades.

At the end of July 1967, Robert S. Carter, a large cent collector and toy dealer, introduced Naftzger to Dr. William Herbert Sheldon, Jr. in Portland, Oregon, where Sheldon spent his summers. As Naftzger got to know Sheldon and his collection, he realized where the missing coins from the Clarke collection had ended up Sheldon had switched out the coins.

In a visit to New York, Sheldon, Dorothy Iselin Paschal and Naftzger visited the ANS and looked at its large cent collection. In the litigation, Naftzger filed affidavit after affidavit denying such a visit, until I searched through decades worth of visitors books and discovered his signature.

On April 19, 1972 Sheldon sold his collection to Naftzger for $300,000. Naftzger figured the collection was really worth $456,000. The collection was cheap because the coins were hot. Sheldon had built up his collection by theft.

Sheldon switched coins from the Williams collection (offered by Abe Kosoff), from the Anderson-Dupont consignment at Stacks, from the T. James Clarke collection, and from the Gaskill collection, as well as his large scale plundering of the ANS collection.

And when Naftzger got the coins back to California, he discovered that Sheldon had fooled him again. Six of the top coins in the collection had been switched out.

He combined the collection with his own and sold off the duplicates in the New Netherlands sale of November 14-15, 1973. Although Naftzger would later claim that this sale was made without any reserves, He bought in pieces he thought were going too cheap. Naftzger netted $281,000, but his cost basis was so low that he still showed a profit. In effect, Naftzger had substantially improved the quality of his collection for a net cost of only $19,000.

Naftzger kept his ownership secret until 1991. In that year Bill Noyes published a photo book of the finest large cents, built around Naftzgers collection. Now the ANS could plate match Naftzgers coins to its own records, and saw that Sheldon/Naftzger possessed many of the Clapp/ANS coins.

The ANS proposed to Naftzger to discuss how the matter could be resolved with fairness and dignity. Naftzger refused all overtures and did his best to squelch any attempts by the ANS to reach out to the large cent collecting fraternity, EAC, with similar offers.

Naftzger sold his frontline collection of early date large cents in February 1992 in a transaction that netted him $6.8 million, and bought another ranch with the money. Shortly after that he commenced a lawsuit against the ANS in California. Early in 1996 the California Court of Appeals ruled against Naftzger on his statute of limitations argument. With neither the facts nor the law in his favor, Naftzger should have settled then; but this was not a normal lawsuit, and Naftzger was not a normal litigant. Extensive discovery ensued, followed by a trial, followed by appeals. Litigation continued into the twenty-first century until Naftzger finally returned the cents.

Naftzger always wrote in green ink, using green Pentel pens. I dont know why he chose green perhaps a reaction to Walter Breens use of purple ink. Even his stationery was printed in green. It is true that he would send valuable coins through the regular mails. He would wrap a cent between two pieces of cardboard, put it into an envelope marked PHOTOS DO NOT BEND in green ink and drop the envelope in a mailbox. He did not send coins registered mail because that would require a trip to the Beverly Hills Post Office, where there was insufficient parking space.

Many people in EAC were referred to by nicknames invented by C. Douglas Smith Jaws East, Jaws West, the Mad Monarch. Naftzgers nickname was God; Naftzger reveled in this nickname, partly because he lived in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Mount Olympus. Occasionally Naftzger would sign letters with his nickname spelt backwards DOG.

Litigation with Naftzger was a bizarre experience. He scrawled all over the deposition transcript that was sent to him for correction, changing a number of answers that read yes to no, each time in that strange green ink. (Deposition testimony and the corrections are provided under penalty of perjury, so changing the answer yes to no can have serious legal consequences.)

His memory lapses in his deposition (which lasted three days) and in the 1997 trial (which lasted a month) were more convenient than credible. His denials on the witness stand were so bizarre that the judge put her head in her hands. But as the years went on not all his memory lapses were strategic. It was Alzheimers, or a closely related form of mental degeneration, that brought about his death."

Catbert

This coin resides in a private registry set so I'm awaiting the necessary 3 days to have it transferred to mine.

jesbroken

Wow! What a treasure. Congrats on your win. Sorry to be drooling.
Jim

RLSnapper

Beautiful pick up!! Nice that you included the Heman Halpern Lot listing! I have that catalogue as part of my library! Dennis Loring edited a book on 1795 - 1803 Large Cents that resides in my library as well. Nice to see you appreciate all those who have admired this coin during its lifetime.

lermish

Absolutely beautiful coin. Very happy for you to have fulfilled your goal with such a nice example. Congratulations and enjoy it in good health!

robec

Great coin and great story. A very interesting read. I wonder if Sheldon was ever taken to task for his deception? Sounds like he would have made a great eBay seller.

keyman64

Congrats!!

coinbuf

Great coin, congrats on your newp!

AndyK

When I was very young, I had a 1798 draped bust cent that was the pride and joy of my collection. I have always wanted to get a high grade replacement like you have achieved here. I'm jealous Congratulations, this is one amazing coin!

Walkerguy21D

Beautiful coin, and fabulous backstories.

NeophyteNumismatist

Congrats on owning such a lovely piece! Thanks for sharing.

Aotearoa

Wow!

Broadstruck

Sweet chocolaty cent and really surprised at the AU58 as I've seen MS62-65 DBLC's in pronged holders which looked more slider-ish than this.

MidLifeCrisis

Nice piece of numismatic history. Congratulations!

Crusty

One hell of a coin! Congrats

telephoto1

Excellent piece with some great provenance and a compelling back story regarding its owner. Congrats.

lilolme

Hmm... Makes me think, one of these day I just might have to get one and/or half of one (cent).

Namvet69

What a story! Thanks for that.

FlyingAl

Great coin and history! I'm sure you're thrilled!

gumby1234

Who is REN? Very nice looking coin.

Catbert

@gumby1234 said:
Who is REN? Very nice looking coin.

Ted Naftzer (Roy Edgar)

gumby1234

@Catbert said:

@gumby1234 said:
Who is REN? Very nice looking coin.

Ted Naftzer (Roy Edgar)

Oh ok. Seems Red would have fit better.

P0CKETCHANGE

Wowza! That is a very special pickup. And what a story. Congrats!

coinnut

Congratulations on picking up such a great coin. Nice story!

Elcontador

Normally, I avoid a pre 1815 copper that's not in an OGH, because I had an expensive one go bad in holder 8 years after I bought it.

But you can track the provenance in this coin, as well as its holder history, so under the circumstances, I'd be good with it.

I can't comment re the coin's eye appeal, because I haven't seen it. It's interesting Naftzger noted the coin was AU 50 in 1988. Wonder if this was a TPG or EAC grade?

Unusually clean planchet. I agree with the grade; see a slightly incomplete top left leaf on the reverse, and minimal wear at the top of Miss Liberty's head on the obverse.

kaz

Terrific coin, Catbert, quite an acquisition. I have a Naftzger cent too, just much later, (and a lot less valuable!)

renomedphys

Tied for 5th finest in Noyes, EAC 50

jesbroken

@Catbert Want to trade for another 1798 2nd hair DBLC, these coins need love too? lol Just kidding.
Jim

Coin Finder

Really a great coin Catbert! This coin envelope is from a coin I used to own. Also owned by Ted. It’s in rough shape and has been in many hands…

pursuitofliberty

What a fantastic example from a prominent and storied collection!! @Catbert

Wonderful it found a home with you!!

ricko

@Catbert ... What a marvelous coin... Congratulations on your acquisition. Thanks for the history as well. Cheers, RickO

MFeld

I love it when collectors enjoy collecting and their coins, as much as can be seen in this thread. Congratulations!

hbarbee

Your example is outstanding. You should be proud. I believe in going with the best one can afford and with this coin, you can enjoy all of the details within the design. I also noticed that PCGS is using your coin as the example for the AU58 grade.

The TrueView image in Max resolution at
https://images.pcgs.com/TrueView/32782972_Max.jpg
appears very close to your pic. Does it really differ much from the coin in hand?

With your coin, when you start with that image and zoom up, you just cannot find any distracting marks. There is some wear, but no hits. You did good in bidding on this coin, even if you paid over the PCGS price guide.

There is an interesting mark on the reverse between the leaves to the right of the letter E. It appears to be related to the die, but I cannot tell if it is raised or incuse.

What EAC grade do you suppose the coin is? My guess would be EF40 or 45. I don’t think it would make AU50.

My Draped Bust example is a 1797 S-135 from the Larry Miller collection. It is PCGS MS65BN. I found that a previous owner had resubmitted it in an OGH at MS64BN with CAC and got the upgrade. I would grade it EAC MS-60 or 63.

Catbert

@hbarbee - I often find TVs to not be the most accurate representation of coins, particularly with copper which tends to be too dark (perhaps due to persistent red emphasis).

While I am an EAC member, I’m a type collector and don’t place much emphasis on EAC grading. I just find the coin to meet all my requirements for an eye appealing example.

Thank you for your comments! 👍🏻

rays

The most desirable large cents are an even, light brown in color,

Catbert

@rays said:
The most desirable large cents are an even, light brown in color,

True, but chocolate brown also has its charms.

rays

Here's a half cent graded PCGS AU58, which has ideal color in my opinion:

Catbert

@rays And here's another PCGS AU58 CAC half cent (that I own) that I like even more than your example:

So what is the point you are making? It's okay if you don't like the look of my large cent. Just say it.

rays

I don't profess to be expert enough in EAC to know how S-184s come, color or strike. Your example may be one of the best there is. Certainly no less than REN and Tom Reynolds liked it.

My point is not whether I liked your S184 as an example of S-184 or even as one of the 1798 second hair style. You implied you were seeking an example of the draped bust type of US Large cent. Given the literally hundreds of Nichols horde coins extant, I think you could have got one those with better color.

Aotearoa

@rays said:
The most desirable large cents are an even, light brown in color,

That's like saying the most beautiful women have blond hair and blue eyes. Beauty - including that of LCs - comes in many different forms!

MapsOnFire

I met Ted Naftzger long before I knew he was a coin collector. I was studying National Bank notes and the banks that issued them. I would learn the names of the President and the Cashier of each bank, as listed in bank directories for each year. I have an enormous library of those directories - Rand McNally, Bankers Register, many others - 1851-1935. Then I would trace the descendants of the bank officers using probate records, newspapers, local historical societies. My goal was to find a grandson who had saved a note signed by his grandfather.
The President of The First National Bank of Riverside, California was Azro Huffman Naftzger. His grandson was Ted, who was not difficult to find. And he did have a $5 bill, Series 1882, signed by Azro H. Naftzger. He wouldn't part with the note, but still it was a successful search.
Among the notes I located and acquired was one on The First National Bank of Globe, Arizona Territory. That was a genuine trophy.

cameonut2011

Congratulations on the gorgeous purchase! It’s hard to find 18th century copper with nice surfaces, color, and accurately graded. It is definitely a keeper!

Eddi

I wish just ONE of the Early Large cents in my collection looked as nice as your S-184.

It must be a joy to own that coin. Congratulations!

jmski52

Thank-you for a great post, and congrats on a very nice coin!