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A pair of magnificent Barber quarters from the James A. Stack Collection
Sunnywood
Posts: 2,683 ✭
These two coins both hail from the famous James A. Stack Collection. (Thanks to roadrunner for helping me to determine the provenance!) Stack was no relation to the family that owned the Stack's dealership and auction house, but he was a friend and customer of that firm for many years. His quarters and half dollars were auctioned by Stack's in March 1975. Sadly, the catalogs of those days did not have many photos, and many lots were given nothing more than a one-line description. (Typically something like this: "1895 Brilliant Uncirculated. Light toning.") However, the very best coins, and the important rarities, did generally merit an extra line or two; rarely a paragraph.
The Stack collection was important because he focused on the kind of quality that later became high grades in the era of certification. In this he was ahead of his time, along with various other select customers of Stack's (such as Jimmy Hayes), who took the good advice of the dealers to pay up for the very best coins. (Sounds like our friend Laura Sperber today). Stack bought his coins out of many of the great sales of the 1940's (Boyd, Dunham, At.water, et al.) and the following decades. I only wish there were full color plates from that 1975 sale !!! The James A. Stack pedigree is a good one. Luckily these two coins did get imaged in the catalog, albeit small black and white images, but clear enough to prove the identification.
Incidentally, his dimes, and his half cents through half dimes, were sold in two other Stack's auctions 14-15 years later. By that point, James A. Stack Sr. had passed away, and his son James A. Stack Jr. had taken over the curation of the collection. The younger Stack parted with all the coins by 1991.
Anyway, here are the famous James A. Stack 1901-S quarter, and his 1904-O quarter. These coins were both bought at the 1975 auction by David Akers, who later offered them in his Paramount Rare Coin List in 1976. This particular 1901-S has quite a colorful history, as its value rose wildly (and then fell, only to rocket higher again) with the coin market in 1979, and in 1989. The ups and downs of this famous 1901-S are a proxy for the whole rare coin market from 1975 to 2014. The 1901-S ended up in the Eugene Gardner collection, after Gene purchased it from Larry Whitlow in 2001. I bought it at the June 2014 sale of the Gardner Collection (Part 1), and gladly paid a record price that (finally) eclipsed the previous 1989 high water mark for this coin. I have no doubt that it will be worth even more in the future. It has booming frosty luster that powers through the colorful mottled toning. Gene Gardner stated on several occasions that this was his single favorite coin out of his entire 3000+ coin collection !!!
The 1904-O found its way into the wonderful John C. Hugon collection of Barber coinage, which was auctioned by Heritage in January 2005. Gene bought the '04-O out of that sale (I was the underbidder). I am glad to have these two great coins reunited again in the Sunnywood Collection. If only the Stack catalog had more color plates, I'm sure I would find more of his coins to bring back together. This is one of the most memorable toned coins of any type that I have ever seen.
1901-S quarter, PCGS MS67+ CAC ex James A. Stack; David Akers; various intermediaries; Larry Whitlow; Gene Gardner
1904-O quarter, PCGS MS67+ CAC ex James A. Stack; David Akers; various intermediaries; John Hugon; Gene Gardner
The Stack collection was important because he focused on the kind of quality that later became high grades in the era of certification. In this he was ahead of his time, along with various other select customers of Stack's (such as Jimmy Hayes), who took the good advice of the dealers to pay up for the very best coins. (Sounds like our friend Laura Sperber today). Stack bought his coins out of many of the great sales of the 1940's (Boyd, Dunham, At.water, et al.) and the following decades. I only wish there were full color plates from that 1975 sale !!! The James A. Stack pedigree is a good one. Luckily these two coins did get imaged in the catalog, albeit small black and white images, but clear enough to prove the identification.
Incidentally, his dimes, and his half cents through half dimes, were sold in two other Stack's auctions 14-15 years later. By that point, James A. Stack Sr. had passed away, and his son James A. Stack Jr. had taken over the curation of the collection. The younger Stack parted with all the coins by 1991.
Anyway, here are the famous James A. Stack 1901-S quarter, and his 1904-O quarter. These coins were both bought at the 1975 auction by David Akers, who later offered them in his Paramount Rare Coin List in 1976. This particular 1901-S has quite a colorful history, as its value rose wildly (and then fell, only to rocket higher again) with the coin market in 1979, and in 1989. The ups and downs of this famous 1901-S are a proxy for the whole rare coin market from 1975 to 2014. The 1901-S ended up in the Eugene Gardner collection, after Gene purchased it from Larry Whitlow in 2001. I bought it at the June 2014 sale of the Gardner Collection (Part 1), and gladly paid a record price that (finally) eclipsed the previous 1989 high water mark for this coin. I have no doubt that it will be worth even more in the future. It has booming frosty luster that powers through the colorful mottled toning. Gene Gardner stated on several occasions that this was his single favorite coin out of his entire 3000+ coin collection !!!
The 1904-O found its way into the wonderful John C. Hugon collection of Barber coinage, which was auctioned by Heritage in January 2005. Gene bought the '04-O out of that sale (I was the underbidder). I am glad to have these two great coins reunited again in the Sunnywood Collection. If only the Stack catalog had more color plates, I'm sure I would find more of his coins to bring back together. This is one of the most memorable toned coins of any type that I have ever seen.
1901-S quarter, PCGS MS67+ CAC ex James A. Stack; David Akers; various intermediaries; Larry Whitlow; Gene Gardner
1904-O quarter, PCGS MS67+ CAC ex James A. Stack; David Akers; various intermediaries; John Hugon; Gene Gardner
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I am so glad Sunnywood is back.
Lance.
The soft pastel tones of these two coins amplifies the engravers art to the ultimate in aesthetics.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.americanlegacycoins.com
I don't comment much on this forum about Barber stuff, but I must say that your 1904-O Barber Quarter has to be, w/o a doubt, one of the most beautiful coins I have ever seen....PERIOD.
That is the type of coin that it really doesn't matter what the grade is, what the slab is, or what the price is, you just cannot let a coin of this quality slip through w/o putting it your collection and looking at it about 50x's a day.
Congrats on the new purchase.
Later, Paul.
WOW!
BHNC #203
l
It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got.
As much as I ... what verb is strong enough here? ... enthuse ... rejoice ... over the incredible toning on the 1904-O, the desirability of this stunningly original 1901-S as a date combined with amazing surfaces makes it overwhelmingly my favorite. I am glad that these coins have passed from Gene Gardner to you.
Best Regards,
George
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
The 1904-O looks to be an album-toned coin. The toning was the same in 1975 as it is today, so it must have been acquired earlier on, perhaps in a Wayte Raymond album. It is very possible that James Stack himself kept the coins in such an album. It would be interesting to know how his coins were stored for the many years that he owned them. Perhaps the colors were acquired during his period of ownership.
The 1901-S might also have been in such an album. If you "factor out" the mottling (which is a very typical phenomenon on S-mint coins of that era - go try to find a 1901-S toned Barber half, or Morgan dollar, for example), and just look at the color distribution, you can see the colors are more or less arranged in a concentric pattern. There are russet centers, going out to blues, green, yellows and orange, and we would expect in the toning progression. It's just harder to see it on the 1901-S because of the mottling, the streakiness, the "broken" toning, which is absolutely typical of the S-mint coins. It must have had something to do with planchet preparation.
Thanks to all for the nice comments ...
Sunnywood's Rainbow-Toned Morgans (Retired)
Sunnywood's Barber Quarters (Retired)
There were no crossovers in '88-'89. I never loved my crack-out tool so much. Or put it down so quickly. And when my hands stopped trembling, I held that quarter, raw in my hands,over a velvet pad until, some immeasurable number of moments later, I remembered I was professionally required to find my loupe.
This coin epitomizes the core quality of a great coin. Perhaps I misquote... "Moose-aliciousness is all. The quantification of virtue sometimes fails"
Dave Akers bought the 01-S out of JAS in '75 (maybe $5500) and sold it retail shortly afterwards for close to twice that. Then it showed up in Auction '80 where my dearest mentor and former boss BOB Rose was the last man standing at $80K. His former partner Ron Iskowitz sold it to Martin Paul at 100K in '89 and Martin flipped it to me the next day at $110K. I didn't even ask for time.
Imagine the thrill, the pride, the validation that comes when a titan (and regular guy) like DWA says "our old 01-S" What I still hear, resonating beneath and beyond that, Dave and Bob now gone, coin gone, money gone, is that we all worshipped from the same pew.
The wildness was when it went from Iskowitz to Whitlow in a fairly short time, getting flipped three times and cracked out in between. Whitlow took the hit on it, buying from J.D. and holding it for many years before selling to Gardner for less than half of cost. Gene scored the most on dollar terms, by holding the coin for 13 years. Col. Jessup scored the most in terms of % gain per unit of time, by scoring an upgrade and making 50% in a day.
For me it's just all about the coin ... the key business strike of all Barber coinage, and arguably the rarest of all 20th century regular issue silver. And at the same time, one of the most impressive and attractive Barbers of any date!!
Thanks Col. for the story!! (Edited provenance chain per Col. Jessup post below)
Sunnywood
Sunnywood's Rainbow-Toned Morgans (Retired)
Sunnywood's Barber Quarters (Retired)
<< <i>So ... The 1901-S quarter is ex James A. Stack; Stack's (3/1975); David W. Akers, Paramount Coin Company; unknown intermediaries; Auction '80; Bob Rose & Ron Iskowitz, R&I Coins; Martin Paul; Col. Jessup; John Dannreuther; Larry Whitlow & Mike Printz (Larry Whitlow, Ltd.); Gene Gardner; Heritage (6/2014); to Sunnywood.
The wildness was when it went from Iskowitz to Whitlow in a fairly short time, getting flipped three times and cracked out in between. Whitlow took the hit on it, buying from J.D. and holding it for many years before selling to Gardner for less than half of cost. Gene scored the most on dollar terms, by holding the coin for 13 years. Col. Jessup scored the most in terms of % gain per unit of time, by scoring an upgrade and making 50% in a day.
For me it's just all about the coin ... the key business strike of all Barber coinage, and arguably the rarest of all 20th century regular issue silver. And at the same time, one of the most impressive and attractive Barbers of any date!!
Thanks Col. for the story!!
Sunnywood >>
Bob Rose and Rob Iskowitz did business as RenRob. I think that the coin went straight from Auction '80 into the RenRob pension plan, but I wasn't part of the company any more. I never asked much about it after the purchase and I had no idea whatsoever where the coin had been in the intervening years before Ron walked it up to Martin's table. Buying it was an act of adoration towards both the coin and Bob, with a more-than-value-added anticipatory twinge in savoring a bit of psychic revenge upon Ron . .
IIRC JD sold the coin to Mike Blodgett, who later left a lot of people holding the bag.
I think the guy DWA sold the coin to for $10K made out OK.
While it's fun to be part of the pedigree and the backstory, and they do add an aura of their own, you don't have to know anything about the 01-S to just sit back and enjoy its DNA. . . .
Mike
http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=921009&STARTPAGE=2
Although the Colonel's story above in this thread is even better.
Very nice
Its the color of the Quarters that catches your eye. Under all that beautiful toning lays
mark free surfaces. Obviously, these were well cared for coins and cherished for their
beauty. Although I know Sunnywood isn't planning on doing another complete date set,
it wouldn't surprise me [ or him, for that matter ] if another complete Date & Mint set
develops.
Nice coins, keep 'em coming !!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coin collecting is not a hobby, it's an obsession !
New Barber Purchases
As much as toning on the 1904-o is shocking and incredible, I prefer the look of the 1901-s.....an elegant eye appeal that is not overpowering. I see some toning similarities between the 1901-s 25c and the Vermeulle 1893-s dollar in MS67.
Be sure to let me know about any additional JAS coins coming around.
I'd love to see his 1853 A&R quarter!
MFH, you are so right. I am not planning on it at all, and I don't have the resources to buy everything!
But I can't resist a few monster Barber quarters now and again, and I don't expect to stop that habit.
Perhaps I will simply end up with a monster group of them, without it ever becoming another complete set.
I do have a few more up my sleeve that I will post another time ... I have to save some goodies for the future!!
Best,
Sunnywood
Sunnywood's Rainbow-Toned Morgans (Retired)
Sunnywood's Barber Quarters (Retired)
One of these days I will post Todd's images of the two Gardner coins that ended up in my Levoi Seated Liberty half set. Mr. Gardner sure had some beauties in that first auction.
"Look up, old boy, and see what you get." -William Bonney.
<< <i>Both beautiful Barbers, but I prefer the symmetrical toning of the 04-O. Thanks for sharing. >>
<< <i>I just noticed that the 1901S quarter is being offered by Legends for $278k. >>
Wonder why the quick resale??????
<< <i>
<< <i>I just noticed that the 1901S quarter is being offered by Legends for $278k. >>
Wonder why the quick resale?????? >>
I received a text this morning asking if I knew Sunnywood was selling
his 01-S thru Legend ... Had to laugh, how would I know ?!
Unless he picked up the one I saw in 68 which was silvery white.
I had to go onto Legend's site, but couldn't find the 67+ for sale.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coin collecting is not a hobby, it's an obsession !
New Barber Purchases
* Or how I would imagine grapes to respond to microwaving. Never tried it. Might be a fun experiment.
<< <i>I had to go onto Legend's site, but couldn't find the 67+ for sale. >>
Legend Quarters
25C 1901S PCGS MS67+
THE GREATEST 01S ON THE PLANET!
$ 278500.00
This monster coin is ex Gardner. Here is what Gene had written about it: "A mesmerizing kaleidoscope of colors covers the surfaces of this coin. More than having just casual eye appeal, this coin commands the eye's attention. I can lose myself in it for long stretches of time. So beautiful it is almost impossible to look away. Great rarity, great strike, great luster, and magnificent colors. This coin has it all."
All we can add is that coin is a complete WOW! It is of the ultimate quality and eye appeal! You can look hard and long and never find ANY imperfections. Miss Liberty and the details are frosty and have fully struck features.
If you buy the very best, then is the 01S 25C you MUST have!
This great piece brought $258,000.00 in the Gardner sale in June (our customer has since had a change of direction in his collection). The current Collectors Universe value is $275,000.00. Opportunity knocks as loud as humanly possible here!
For a sneak peek, visit PCGS cert verification: 28946524
If I had it my way, stupidity would be painful!