I'm Floored at what this original 1893 Proof set realized at FUN

roadrunner

Lot 10917, orig 1893 PF set (with mint wrappers and packaging) was buried at the very back of the Heritage Signature sale. While it should have been at Platinum night it somehow got buried just after the $20 gold pieces going off Saturday afternoon at FUN! Unless you went through every page of the catalogs this one could have escaped you. But alas, it was picked up by enough people.

This lot was at $37K before internet bidding was over. The sum of the parts based on market wholesale bid prices was around $40,000. At that point it was not sleeping any longer.

Final price: $63,250 for a 6 pc. PCGS set. This might be a record for a non-1895 Barber proof set. The PF68 half and PF67 Morgan
looked to be killers. Very impressive bringing 50% premium to the individual parts. Who knows, maybe the half or Morgan were potential upgrades. Or maybe it was the stunning eye appeal PLUS the original packaging that made this set more special.

Anyone see this set in person?

roadrunner

pharmer

As others can attest, there was an earlier thread on this set, and I was higher bidder at that time at $1300. Can't believe I missed it.

boiler78

I looked at the set at least three times. It was a very nice original set with the half and the dollar especially appealing. The dollar looked like a shot 68 but the other coins were in their final resting place IMO.

Newmismatist

Here's a link to the 1893 Proof set being discussed in this thread. It is actually Lot 10917.

1893 Proof Set

The Morgan is gorgeous!

roadrunner

Thanks Newmismatist. I actually had the link copied but forgot to paste it in once I typed up the post. Now corrected.

Appreciate the comments Boiler 78. A shot 68 Morgan could explain whey the set brought an extra $10K+ over what I expected.

I had asked a few people what the original packaging was worth and got assorted answers from 0-10%. This set came with the original mailing envelope but it doesn't say if the original wrappers for each coin, or the mint brochure (price guide) were included. Those were likely lost. This set had special interest to me as I purchased an original set last year with all the internal packaging and the mint brochure. But no mailing envelope. It's possible the set was purchased at the mint so it was never mailed.

roadrunner

elwood

It was absolutely amazing and unquestionably original. Not that many originals left, not that come up for sale anyway. The colors were spectacular. No upgrades. The Morgan, in fact, was overgraded because of a scratch that crossed over half of the reverse. It was well hidden by the toning.

roadrunner

Thanks for that piece of info Elwood. Makes a big difference. Others bidding may have missed what you saw.

Funny that you mentioned how scarce originals are getting. I showed my set to a major dealer with lots of expertise in achieving the highest grades, etc. His input was that NCS was the only way to go in the long run. This was discouraging that the market has become this dipped-happy. What good is orig paperwork once s set is dipped? Who would believe you? All dipped sets are matching! (joke). Fortunately another dealer gave me a totally different opinion. He loved the coins just as they were. While I had no intention of sending such a set to NCS in search of cameos, it bouyed my spirits to know that such a set would do fine left original. There are still enough supporters of toned original sets even if they are not ultra-eye appealing monsters. Viva l'originalite.

roadrunner

relayer

Very nice looking

elwood

I agree RR.
I wan't to buy this set and put it away. I was in at 45K. But the scratch kept me from bidding more. It's not so much that the sets are getting dipped, but the monster coin/s are being plucked out for an ultra grade leaving the set incomplete. I saw one other original set at the show that is now missing one coin. When 68/69 DCAMS are worth as much as the complete set, there is too large of a financial gain to leave the set intact.
I'm guessing by the price that a collector bought this set. I discussed the set at length (prior to the sale) with some of the upgrade guys and there opinion was there were no shot coins in the set. I wanted to see who the competition would be.

Newmismatist

<< <i>It was absolutely amazing and unquestionably original. Not that many originals left, not that come up for sale anyway. The colors were spectacular. No upgrades. The Morgan, in fact, was overgraded because of a scratch that crossed over half of the reverse. It was well hidden by the toning. >>



On that note, here's what I posted in another thread - seems more appropriate here:



<< <i>The toning "craze" is actually not new at all. There have been many astute collectors who have been quietly buying original eye-appealing toned coins for years. There are attractive toned coins and there are unattractive toned coins - the attractive coins seem to be well liked and sought after by astute collectors - If you don't believe that, just look at some of TradeDollarNut's nicest coins or Boiler78's beautiful patterns. There are also many attractive untoned coins, it's just that attractive toning adds to the eye-appeal of the coin, and not surprising, a collector will pay more for an attractive coin. All one need do is check out the prices realized from the recent Heritage auctions. Seems collectors who spend a lot of money want something that looks pretty. You might say that these are the people who vote "eye-appeal" with their wallets. Then again, an ugly rare coin may sell for a lot of money also - just not quite as much as its pretty sister! >>

roadrunner

The attractive and mucho eye-appealing coins have been no-brainers for decades. It's the inbetween original coins that are decent enough but are getting dipped in the quest for DCAMS. They may be mildly appealing but do not qualify for the monster quests.
This part of the hobby is getting lost forever.

The '93 proof set was more than just mildly appealing and only a fool would conserve such a set. It's the other 80% of the original sets that are going by the wayside one by one.

roadrunner

Conder101

I'm impressed with a complete original set. The fact that they are all slabbed depresses me but I am intrigued to see the original mailing envelope. I do with the rest of the original packaging was shown (if it was available) The coins don't impress me, you can always finds slabbed proofs, even nice ones, but the original packaging is very seldom seen and usually discarded when original sets come on the market. (Once again I have to ask, does anyone know what has become of the original 1842 and 1843 cased proof sets from the Pitman collection?)

PTVETTER

I tried to buy that set last year three times.
It's from around the Pittsburgh area

I guess I missed out on that one

Lakesammman

Viewed with Boiler - agree the money was in the 50c and dollar - the remainder unimpressive.