Classic Head Half Eagle set in progress - New addition

pcgscacgold

I started a Classic Head Half Eagle set in March of 2021 and had not been able to add to it since April of 2021. That changed last week at the Stacks Bowers auction featuring the George Schwenk collection. Though I do not have the coin in hand I wanted to present it here. I first viewed this coin last year at the ANA in Chicago and at the time considered it a dream coin that I could never own. I have Mr. Haynor's book "Classic Head Gold of 1834-1838" and reference it every time I see a Classic Head coin. This coin has the Virginian pedigree and is a plate coin in the book. I was very fortunate to be the winning bidder. My new 1836 is MS62+ CAC.

The other 3 coins are AU58CAC. At first I was going to try for a set with all the same grade but the C and D minted coins have become very, very pricey (in AU58 they are easily $50,000 coins). For that reason I decided on completing a date run set and thought it would be great to have one coin in as high a grade as I could afford to show what the coins looked like right out of the mint. I now need the 1834 to finish the date set.

may

Wow, very nice lot, especially the 1836.

pcgscacgold

Thanks @Ownerofawheatiehorde I can't wait to see that one again in hand.

Manifest_Destiny

Very nice!

Project Numismatics

Love this series which had been curiously overlooked until a few years ago. Beautiful coin - congrats!

OnlyGoldIsMoney

Exceptional coins - nicely done.

BryceM

Really nice. One of my favorite designs and these are fabulous examples.

pcgscacgold

Thanks @BryceM @OnlyGoldIsMoney and @Project Numismatics for the kind words.

The Classic Head design is my overall favorite. The reverse on the $5 Capped Bust is my top choice for a reverse though.

It is surprising that so few trade hands but then people that have them probably love them.

pcgscacgold

Here are the slab shots from Stacks. They show more of what the luster is. TrueViews are so lifeless and dull. Even the other 3 are far better in hand.

skier07

Congrats! Great looking set. The 1836 is a wowser and I love the 1838.

BillJones

The OP looks under graded. I have an MS-61 graded piece that is really an AU-58. It’s got great P-L style luster, but a slight rub in the field. If you could see the Classic Head coins I have been offered that were called “MS-63,” you would understand my reaction.

pcgscacgold

I agree @BillJones and that led me to go after this one. It really does look MS63 but I’m not one to send coins back for regrades. It will love like this for many years.

CaptHenway

An excellent series to collect. Good hunting!

breakdown

There is an 1837 in PCGS 66+/CAC coming up in GC. Already some lively bidding...

RobertScotLover

It looks like this is going to be a lovely set when completed.

emeraldATV

Very impressive.
Thanks for the look see.

jfriedm56

That is an awesome set! And the ‘36 is a stunner. Congrats!

pcgscacgold

Thanks @RobertScotLover @emeraldATV @jfriedm56

Thanks for sharing your comments and thoughts. With a little luck I will find a way to complete it.

pcgscacgold

@breakdown Yes, that is a great looking 1837 and already at $150,000. The BP on that one would exceed what I can afford to spend on the actual coin

HillbillyCollector

Great looking coins!
I had your ‘36 in the 63-64 range, appears conservatively graded to me.
Congrats!

BillJones

Here is my MS-61 graded piece.

divecchia

Those are some beautiful pieces, especially the 1836. She is a beauty.

Congrats on picking up your dream coin.

Donato

Pedzola

Congrats. Very nice pickup. A classic head date set has aways seemed like an achievable challenge to me, something I might try to tackle some day. There seems to be a good number of attractive xf-au pieces out there for most dates. If you want to go to 62 or better for all of them it becomes very difficult and expensive!

mark_dak

Congratulations, that's a beautiful coin. I love the series as well. As small as it is, there are a couple pricey ones. Date run was a good choice. After you hit on Mega Millions you can expand the set. Good luck.

Mark

FrankH

This series has sure done a turnaround from the 1970's when it was HARD to find anyone interested in the Classic Head design.

Incidentally, where did the name Classic come from. Just a bleedover from the large cent similar portrait?
Don't even recall reading where it came from on the cent.

???

CaptHenway

@FrankH said:
This series has sure done a turnaround from the 1970's when it was HARD to find anyone interested in the Classic Head design.

Incidentally, where did the name Classic come from. Just a bleedover from the large cent similar portrait?
Don't even recall reading where it came from on the cent.

???

Good question.

BillJones

Back in the 1830s and '40s they were called "mint drops" and "metallic currency."

FrankH

Love that portrait.

CalifornianKing

Just WOW. They're all gorgeous and look unique. That MS62 looks phenomenal.

CharlotteDude

Lovely group of classics and a great-looking addition!

mark_dak

@FrankH said:
This series has sure done a turnaround from the 1970's when it was HARD to find anyone interested in the Classic Head design.

Incidentally, where did the name Classic come from. Just a bleedover from the large cent similar portrait?
Don't even recall reading where it came from on the cent.

???

I think the trick is owning your first one and getting it in hand. Bought the first as a raw C mint coin. Got bit by the bug!

Mark

CaptHenway

I asked Roger Burdette where the name "Classic" came from and he did not know. I suspect that some 19th Century cataloguer simply made it up and it stuck, much like other 19th Century nicknames such as "Booby," Silly" and "Grumpy."

TD

Ronyahski

@CaptHenway said:

@FrankH said:
This series has sure done a turnaround from the 1970's when it was HARD to find anyone interested in the Classic Head design.

Incidentally, where did the name Classic come from. Just a bleedover from the large cent similar portrait?
Don't even recall reading where it came from on the cent.

???

Good question.

The earliest mention of "Classic Head" I could find occurred in Mason & Co.'s "Mason's Coin and Stamp Collectors' Magazine", Vol.1 No. 11, February 1868. In it, the new type large cent designed by John Reich in 1808 is described as: "a change... to the smaller and more compact bust of the so-called "classic head..." However, describing it as so-called perhaps suggests that the term was used before.

In a 1870 article in his magazine on numismatic nomenclature, Mason defined the current usage of the term Classic Head as, "A term applied to the head of Liberty. Found on some of the United States silver coins, and the copper cents, 1808 to 1814 inclusive, and the half cents from 1809 to 1811 inclusive." Going forward the term was consistently used.

For years the Classic gold coins were referred to as "new type no motto", or some similar sort. Fast forward a hundred years to find the Classic Head term for the gold coins first used in 1966 by Breen. He published in-depth monographs of both the quarter eagles and half eagles and labeled the coins as such. Auction catalogs started using the term in 1973, and today the moniker is widely used (though I prefer the term Classic Gold).

CaptHenway

Interesting. What silver coins are they referring to?

Ronyahski

@CaptHenway said:
I asked Roger Burdette where the name "Classic" came from and he did not know. I suspect that some 19th Century cataloguer simply made it up and it stuck, much like other 19th Century nicknames such as "Booby," Silly" and "Grumpy."

TD

Your suspicions are well founded. Cogan used "Booby Head" in 1859. In the aforementioned 1870 article on nomenclature, Mason defined it as, "Referring to the stupid looking head of Liberty on some of the U.S. cents of 1839."
Montroville Dickenson coined "Silly Head" in 1859. "Grumpy" coins, along with "Bashful" coins, are too rare to bother.

golden

Beautiful coin!

Ronyahski

@CaptHenway said:
Interesting. What silver coins are they referring to?

I don't know.