@jerseycat101 said:
However, comparing the two strikes of these coins, and clearly the 65+ is clearly miles better.
All of that being said, I think the 65 has much better eye appeal than the 65+, and I am concerned about the obverse of the 65+.
I think Hansen is better served with the 65 remaining in his set for the time being.
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When I reference the Hansen sets, I often use the phase “for the time being”. He is constantly upgrading and changing his sets. From my observation, “for the time being“, I see both coins remaining in the Hansen Collection. Naturally, the higher grade coin with the most points will go in the top set, and the other specimen will go in the #2 set. They both are in the Hansen Collection. If the commonly agreed best coin, Joseph C. Thomas Specimen comes available, especially in an auction, I would not be at all surprise that coin would be purchased and placed in Hansen’s top set.
One thing that is a fact, there is no fear in Mr. Hansen upgrading coins. I think there are just a few coins that are a “sure thing” to still be in his top set 10 years from now. It don’t matter if they are condition census or not, if a better coin becomes available, the coin is subject to be replaced.
There are many of us that don’t understand that concept. There are a few current collectors that I see that are always looking for better coins. For example Dr. Charles Link is a long time collector that replaces coins in his collecting, even rare coins he owned for a long time. I will say once again, collectors like Dr. Link and Mr. Hansen are always looking to improve their collections. It must be a lot of fun to be able to do that.
I don’t feel this to be an overstatement nor exaggeration. We have witness firsthand the assembling one of the best collections of Barber Half Dollars, ever. We can go back to the summer of 2018 when the Hansen Collection upgraded 59 of 73 coins according to a Perfection posting. Most if not all were CACs. The upgraded included 15 Top Pop 1/0 PCGS certified coins! Another 17 upgrades are tied with this finest known. That was the catalyst of this great collection of Barber Half Dollars. A few months later I reported that there were 9 upgrades, five PCGS finest, three tied- PCGS finest (2/0) and one is POP 1/1. These upgrades put the Hansen Set over the top for the all-time finest PCGS Barber Half Dollars Basic Set. The previous All-Time Finest, Hall of Fame set, Dr. and Mrs. Steven L. Duckor Collection with a weighted grade of 66.78. The Hansen set was then couple ticks better at 66.81. Today, the set is 66.91 and I know he has a couple higher graded coins than in his top set.
1895-S Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 2/0 CAC – realized $85,187.50, Ex: SHIREMAN -DUCKOR
1896-O Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 1/0 CAC – realized $123,375 Ex: ELIASBERG- STELLAR
1903-O Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 1/0 CAC – realized $47,000 Ex: DUCKOR-PRICE.
1906-D Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 1/0 CAC – realized $49,937.50 Ex: GARDNER
1908-S Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 2/0 CAC – realized $18,212.50 Ex: PRICE -GARDNER
1911-D Barber Half Dollar MS67POP 3/0 CAC – realized $25,850 Ex: ELIASBERG
1912-D Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 1/0 CAC – realized $18,212.50 Ex: FORMULA 1 COLLECTION
1913-S Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 1/0 CAC – realized $28,200 Ex: DUCKER - FRIEND
1915-S Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 2/0 CAC – realized $15,862.50 Ex: SHIREMAN
In 2018, Hansen added the Major Varieties set to his All-Time Finest list with the purchase of the 1892-O 50C Micro O MS65 CAC Cert 25200593 POP2/2. Today he leads Major Varieties 66.87 to 66.72. At that time, Hansen still trailed Bruce Scher’s Barber Half Proof All Time Finest set. In Sept 2018, he took the lead in proofs for the first time.
Since early 2019, the collection has maintained the top of the registry page in basic circulation strikes, major varieties, and proof. This would be a good place to stop the Barber Half Dollars and move to something else. Right? Well that did not happen. So, what has happen in the last 12 months?
Today, the Hansen Collection Barber Half Dollars has the three top spots in Barber Half Dollars with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes and Proof (1892-1915) Each set requires 98 coins. The Diana set is a Hansen tribute set. The total coins need to accomplish this task is 294 coins.
These sets are continuing to be upgraded as you can see. I want to focus back on the Circulation Strikes sets a little more. This top circulating strike set alone is breathtaking. Has the Hansen set a bar so high for himself that when he does something amazing, it really doesn’t’ appear amazing anyone? Think about it a minute, it takes a lot of work to build one set to this level of accomplishment, but three? Even if the money was available, the work is still there. Building these duplicate sets have been accomplished without losing focus on the 73 other series in the US collection. With post -1964 coins, I don’t know how series now is needed for complete collection. Appear a new series is added every couple years.
His top set does not have all his top pop coins. This may be contributed to not having time to keep them all organized “collectively”. The registry is not designed for multiple sets. It is a manual process to move coins from one set to another.
Finest Certified by PCGS- The collection has 22 of the 73 basic circulating strike coins that are PCGS POP 1/0 specimens. The latest addition is the 1911-S, Ex: Duckor-Queller. The coin is presently listed in his #3 set. The Finest Certified by PCGS specimens represents 30% of the basic circulating strike set.
Tied Finest Certified by PCGS- The collection has 32 of the 73 basic circulating strike coins that are PCGS POP 2(+) / 0 specimens. I know of at least one of these coins that are not in the top set. The Tied Finest Certified by PCGS specimens represents 44% of the basic circulating strike set.
Tied 2nd Finest Certified by PCGS- The collection has 17 of the 73 basic circulating strike coins that are PCGS POP 1(+) / 1 specimens. These are condition census coins that have only one PCGS POP 1/0 specimen that is better. Another way to look at it, the D. L. Hansen Collection has 22 of the 39 PCGS certified POP 1/0 Barber Half Dollar specimens. The Tied 2nd Finest Certified by PCGS specimens represents 23% of the basic circulating strike set.
Condition Census Certified by PCGS - If you do the math, then you will see 97% of the top specimens are in one the three groups above. Only two coins in the basic that are not. The first is the 1892-O POP 6/2. This coin is Tied 3rd Finest Certified by PCGS. In addition, but not included in the basic set, Hansen’s best 1892-O “Micro O Specimen” is a POP 2/2. The lowest condition census specimen of the top coins is the 1910-S that tied for 4th spot (PCGS POP 2/3) in the Condition Census report. The collection has both the 1910-S POP 2/3 specimens and at least one other lower graded 1910-S coin in the third set.
In addition, when combining the three sets, Mr. Hansen has a complete set of CAC Approved coins. If you considered the CAC in all his sets, 128 coins are identified as CAC Approved which represents 58% of coins in all the CS sets. We don’t know the total coin count of the D. L. Hansen Barber Half Dollars. From the registry alone, there are close to 300 specimens in both finishes. DLRC have about 14 of his Barber Half Dollars duplicates for sale. We do not know how many other duplicates that he may have that are not listed in his top three sets.
1911-S Barber Half Dollar MS67+, PCGS POP 1/0, Ex: Duckor-Queller
The coin was purchase in Heritage’s April 23, Central States US Coins Signature Auction. The coin was describes as: This Superb Gem 1911-S remains the only MS67+ that PCGS has certified, and neither PCGS nor NGC report a finer example. In its 1975 appearance as part of the Dr. E. Yale Clarke Collection, Stack's wrote: "Brilliant Uncirculated gem. A splendid satin-like surface with light golden toning." Years later, the same firm offered this piece as part of the Queller Family Collection, exclaiming: "This outstanding coin is certainly among the finest known of this date and could possibly rival the MS67 Eliasberg piece!" In fact, the coin rivals or exceeds both the Eliasberg and Emery-Nichols coins, which are likely pedigreed directly to the San Francisco Mint. The present coin is the finest certified specimen today by virtue of its Plus designation and CAC endorsement. Sharply struck from perfect, uncracked dies, both sides display essentially full detail. The surfaces are fully brilliant, with satiny silver luster and traces of field reflectivity. Faint iridescent toning is evident amid golden highlights. This will make a wonderful contribution to any high-grade set of Barber half dollars, and it is an unsurpassable Registry Set candidate. The Hansen Collection already had both of the PCGS certified MS 66+ POP 2/1 Specimens. The new POP 1/0 specimen is a point better than his other two. The Collection now has the top three 1911-S Barber Half Dollars certified by PCGS.
Here are the three Hansen’s coins as they appear in PCGS screenshot.
Hansen Top Specimen - 1911-S Half Dollar, Singular MS67+ The Finest Certified, CAC Approved, Ex: Duckor-Queller Certification #36311289, PCGS #6523 PCGS Coin Guide Value: $42,500 / Realized: $43,200 (Auction Record) Provenance: Dr. E. Yale Clarke Collection - Stack's 10/1975:422 - Queller Family Collection - Stack's 10/2002:823, $14,950 - John C. Hugon Collection - Heritage 1/2005:4260, $21,275 - Legend Numismatics, sold privately in 2/2007 - Dr. & Mrs. Steven L. Duckor Collection - Heritage 8/2010:3234, $37,375 - Greensboro Collection, Part V - Heritage 8/2015:4095, $42,300 – Heritage Central States US Coins Signature 4/2020:3720, $43,200 – D. L. Hansen Collection
Friday, I posted an in-depth description of D. L. Hansen Barber Half Dollar Collection. While digging into the collection, I ran across a nice half dollar purchased in Stacks Bowers March 2020 D. Brent Pogue Collection Part VII: Masterpieces of United States Coinage Auction. Being the coin was buried in the #2 Set, I missed the update a few weeks ago. I think the coin will eventually find its way into Hansen’s top set.
This 1904-O Barber Half Dollar specimen is not an attention getter, but the historical coin now and forever will carry a Pogue-Hansen Pedigree. As with many of Pogue’s coins, they have been out of sight for many years. The coin does appear on the PCGS Condition Census report, but no other information is given. Our resident expert Ron Guth had this to say: The 1904-O Half Dollar is decidedly scarce and it is difficult to locate in Mint State grades above MS64. In terms of the total number of Mint State examples, the 1904-O compares favorably with other scarce dates such as 1903-S, 1908-S, and, surprisingly, 1904-S (which is only slighy more rare). Superb quality 1904-O Half Dollars are very rare and top out at MS67. The strike on the 1904-O is usually quite good -- not full, but closer than most O-Mint Barber Halves. Neither of the two PCGS MS67 examples has appeared at auction, and one of them might be the unusual Prooflike Gem from the 1998 sale of John Jay Pittman coins. At that time, the cataloguer, David Akers, called the coin either a Branch Mint Proof or a possible presentation piece. He described the coin as not just being Prooflike, but that it had all the hallmarks of a Proof. That coin brought a record $28,600 almost twenty years ago; who knows what it would bring today? My research does not produced additional information, but I don’t think the Pogue coin is the John Jay Pittman specimen that Mr. Guth spoke of. It would be nice if he has time to confirm or deny, or connect a pedigree prior to Pogue.
1904-O Barber Half Dollar MS67, PCGS POP 2/0, Ex: Pogue
The coin was described in D. Brent Pogue Collection Part VII Auction as: Satin to softly frosted luster blends with powder blue, antique gold, pearl gray and pale pink iridescence on both sides of this gorgeous Superb Gem. The detail is exceptional for a circulation strike half dollar of this design type, especially one from the New Orleans Mint. We note razor sharp definition that extends even to the eagle's left talon and shoulder on the reverse. Virtually pristine, this expertly produced and preserved coin makes a lovely impression. In 1904, the New Orleans Mint produced 1,117,600 half dollars that entered circulation unceremoniously where they saw constant use for decades. Thanks to its fairly substantial mintage, it can be easily found in lower grades, mostly about Good-4. The 1904-O rapidly becomes scarce at the middle circulated grade levels. In Mint State, finding an appealing example becomes quite difficult, with PCGS CoinFacts estimating 120 in all Uncirculated grades, a quarter of these at the Gem level or above. As with many of the coins in the Pogue Collection, this half dollar is at the very peak of quality for preservation and for eye appeal. This outstanding representative will be a trophy in the case of its new owner.
I have not seen the coin in hand, but it does appear to be a beauty. Stack’s estimated the coin to bring between $25,000 - $30,000. The coin realized $23,400. PCGS valued the coin at $35,500, so it appear to me that market for this coin seems a little soft. As result, Hansen landed this coin at a nice price. The coin does not have the CAC Approve sticker, so that may be some of the reason for softness.
If the coin makes Hansen’s top set, it will replace a very nice specimen purchased from the Perfection Collection. The Perfection Specimen is CAC Approve as they are the hallmark for his coins. Also, the Perfection Specimen has an amazing pedigree including Clapp, Eliasberg, and Shireman. The coin is traced back to John M. Clapp purchasing the coin directly from the New Orleans Mint. Mr. Clapp passed in 1906, so these may be some of his last additions purchased by him from the mints.
Both the top two 1904-O Barber Half Dollar specimens in The Collection are truly worthy of the honor. I only hope to see Mr. Hansen someday display them side by side. If he can pickup the Pittman Specimen, than what sight the trio will make.
Hansen Top PCGS Graded Specimen – Superb Gem 1904-O Half Dollar None Graded Finer, MS67, POP 2/0, Ex: Pogue Certification #38634062, PCGS #6499 PCGS Coin Guide Value: $35,500 / Realized: $23,400 Provenance: Stakes Bowers March 2020 - The D. Brent Pogue Collection Part VII: Masterpieces of United States Coinage Auction, Lot 7298 – D. L. Hansen Collection
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. Hansen #2 PCGS Graded Specimen –Gem 1904-O Half Dollar PCGS MS66+, CAC Approved, POP 2/2, Ex: Clapp, Eliasberg, and Shireman Certification #25200219, PCGS #6499 PCGS Coin Guide Value: $27,000 / Realized: Private Sale Provenance: New Orleans Mint - John M. Clapp Collection - John H. Clapp Collection, sold intact in 1942 - Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection - Bowers & Merena 4/1997:2101, $14,850 - David Lawrence, sold privately - Dr. Peter Shireman Collection, sold privately on 4/28/1997 - Dr. Peter & Janice Shireman Collection - Heritage 1/2016:5406, $27,025 - “Perfection” Collection (PCGS Set Registry) Private Sale 2018 – D. L. Hansen Collection
Cutting - What is missing from the Hansen collection of mint state Barber half dollars are the Proof Like
“O” mint half dollars. There is an 1892 o bought by Laura Sperber for more than $100,000 from the Thaine Price collection. The 1894 o from the James B Pryor collection and an 1898 o all of which are six figure coins. Until Hansen has at least one of these coins , he is missing out .
on completion.
@RedCopper said:
Cutting - What is missing from the Hansen collection of mint state Barber half dollars are the Proof Like
“O” mint half dollars. There is an 1892 o bought by Laura Sperber for more than $100,000 from the Thaine Price collection. The 1894 o from the James B Pryor collection and an 1898 o all of which are six figure coins. Until Hansen has at least one of these coins , he is missing out .
on completion.
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I agree these presentation pieces would make very nice additions to this amazing Collection of Barber Half Dollars. I spoke on the 1894-O Pryor Specimen. I think the 1892-O is still in Bob Simpson Collection, so that one may never be available for Dell Loy to even consider. I don’t know anything about the 1898-O. I need to do some research.
He does have the 1900-O presentation piece, the fourth that you did not mention. This one is not six figures, but still a very nice piece with an historic pedigree. Are there more than just these four?
Hansen 1900-O Specimen The Norweb-Price 'Presentation' Specimen PCGS MS66PL (Proof Like), POP 1/0 : 4/1 , CAC Approved Certification #16398776, PCGS #86487 PCGS Coin Guide Value: Unknown / Realized: $43,125 (HA Auction 2010) Provenance: Norweb Collection - Bowers & Merena 11/1988:3621 - Dr. Thaine B. Price - David Akers 5/1998:149 - Dr. Steven Duckor - Heritage 8/2010:3198, $43,125 – D. L. Hansen Collection
Copper guys, this update is just for you. I have given several updates on D. L. Hansen Lincoln Cents, so I will spare you another deep dive today. Let’s just say that he has a very nice collection of Lincolns. The gaping hole is still the 1958DDO. For those of you that follow Lincolns already know a nice selection of early Lincoln Cents from The Dr. and Mrs. Steven Duckor Collection was offered in Heritage’s April 23rd, 2020 Central States US Coins Signature Auction. I had identified maybe a handful or less that would be nice upgrades. A few of them were the 1916d MS67Rd, 1917s MS65+Rd, 1928s MS66Rd, and 1929s MS66+Rd. At this time, the only posting that I have found in Hansen’s collection is the 1917s.
There was another Lincoln Cent update in the past few weeks, the 1928d MS66+Rd. I have not been able to find any information on this specimen. I even consulted a copper specialist to see if anything about the coin is known, but still no additional information. The information offered was: I know he bought the coin. I can tell you it is gorgeous. I own the other 1928 D in MS66+ red. The PCGS POP for the 1928d MS66+Rd is 2/0. Both are in very nice Registry Sets.
1928-D Lincoln Cent, RD MS66+ RD
As previously stated, I do not have a lot of details for this specimen. Jaime Hernandez wrote this on the coin: The 1928-D Lincoln Cent is very common in circulated grades. And even in some lower uncirculated grades, examples can be found with minimal efforts. In MS65 condition however, it becomes much scarcer. Anything above MS65 is very difficult to locate and examples in this condition are usually set for very serious collectors only.
The RD MS66+ RD has never been sold in public auction. The Ductor Specimen sold a couple weeks ago was a MS66 Red PCGS, CAC Approved. According to the description, The Duckor example is one of just five from that trivial population to earn CAC recognition for its strict standard of quality and eye appeal. The Duckor MS66 CAC specimen realized $12,120. Is the Hansen MS66+Rd CAC Specimen worth more? Probably, although the described by Hertiage: its residence in a green label holder adds an additional element of appeal. So, without John Brush letting us know what was paid for the coin, we can only speculate. It really doesn’t matter, as our copper specialist said, I can tell you it is gorgeous.
Gorgeous 1928-D Lincoln Cent, MS66+ RD, CAC Approved Tied for Finest Certified, POP 2/0 Certification #38129760, PCGS #2590 PCGS Coin Guide Value: Unknown / Realized: Unknown Provenance: Unknown
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. 1917-S Lincoln Cent, RD MS6+ RD
As previous described, this specimen is from the Duckor Collection and was recently sold in the Heritage Auction. This Lincoln Cent may be the only Ductor coin purchase to upgrade the top Lincoln set in the Hansen Collection. There could be more, they just have not posted. Jaime Hernandez describes the coins as: The 1917-S Lincoln cent is one of the semi key dates in the wheat Lincoln Cent series. As it is, most San Francisco struck cents from the teens and twenties are very difficult to find in uncirculated grades and many times even in circulated grades. In circulated grades the 1917-S becomes a bit difficult to find in XF condition and higher. In uncirculated grades most examples range from MS60-64 with possibly just under 1,000 examples surviving in these grade ranges. It will require a lot of searching and several hundred dollars to acquire an example in MS60-MS64condition. Examples in MS65 condition are considered elusive as there are probably about 50 examples in this grade only, with very few being finer. In MS66 condition it is considered very scarce as of 2011 PCGS has only graded one lone example in MS66 condition.
All the Ductor cents have spectacular eye appear. This one is no exception. Heritage describes the specimen as: This piece is softly lustrous with rich copper-orange and reddish coloration. Although some die erosion is present in the fields, the main devices are well-defined. Neither side exhibits bothersome abrasions. Some faint amber-colored toning in the reverse field just left of the C in CENT serves as a pedigree marker on this piece, although its distinction as the Duckor coin will, in time, serve as a greater distinguishing attribute.
The coin realized $13,200. PCGS Price guide places the coin value at $21,500. To me it appears the realized price as a little soft for a Ductor CAC Specimen. Thoughts? The other 1917-S 1C MS65+ Red PCGS sold in Heritage Auction in January 2020 for $9,000. That coin is not CAC Approved. Maybe the $13,200 value is on spot.
1917-S Lincoln Cent, MS65+ RD, CAC Approved Just One Example Known Finer, POP 2/1 Sole Gem Red Coin With CAC Approval Certification #37470383, PCGS #2503 PCGS Coin Guide Value: $21,500 / Realized: $13,200 Provenance: Dr. and Mrs. Steven Duckor Collection
This is a series that you have not heard much about for a couple of reasons. First, this is not one of D. L. Hansen stronger series. I am not confident why, but I have a couple of theories. Secondly, for the Full Head Basic Circulating Strikes, we have not seen very many upgrades. This single coin is the first upgrade in 2020. For all of 2019, there were only seven changes in the 27 piece set. I cannot confirm if all of them were upgrades. So again, we don’t see a lot of activity in this series.
Present day, Mr. Hansen is not one of the top three collectors in Standing Liberty Quarter Dollars. I would give honors to Ohio, High Desert, and Semperfi. Mr. Hansen is a solid fourth in registry. As for outside the registry; I can’t say. I have mentioned in previously posting; it is rarely to see the Hansen Collection not having at least one PCGS POP 1/0 Specimen in a series. This 37 piece collection is one of the few that don’t, and the set has less than a handful of finest PCGS certified, 1923 MS67FH POP 9/0, 1928-S MS67+FH POP 5/0, and 1929-S MS67FH POP 21/0. Before today, the set did not have any specimens that could claim to be in PCGS Condition Census Top 5. This is not the norm for a Hansen set. The new coin is a PCGS POP 4/1, CAC Approved, which may be the best coin the set. The collection has not been updated to include the new coin in the FH Basic set.
The Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar is known to be a beautiful design. This is PCGS description of the set: What is America's most beautiful coin? While the Walking Liberty half dollar, the Oregon Trail commemorative half dollar, and the $20 St. Gaudens gold piece will receive lots of votes, there's also heavy support for the Standing Liberty quarter. Hermon MacNeil's inspired design has been equally inspiring to collectors, who have sought to find examples of this coin in the finest condition possible. This series is collected with or without full head detail (depending on how important the collector thinks it is) and with or without the overdate of 1918. Either way, few things are more beautiful than a set of Standing Liberty quarters. The key dates of the set are the 1916, 1918/7-S, 1919-D, 1919-S, and 1927-S. In full head condition, the 1918/7-S and 1927-S are ultra-rarities, and other keys include the 1920-S, 1926-D, and 1926-S.
1930 Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar, MS67+ FH, CAC Approved
The coin was offered retailed for $18,500 by David Lawrence Rare Coins. The coin was described as: Typically a type coin, but scarcer than the average date when it comes to such quality. Four pieces are graded as such by PCGS with only a single coin grading higher, this piece is certainly worthy of the most impressive of Registry Sets. CAC approved for quality. PCGS+ grade for premium quality at the top of end of the assigned grade. We really have no way to know exactly the price Mr. Hansen paid for the coin in a private transaction with DLRC.
DLRC describes the coin as a typically type coin. Our resident expert Ron Guth had this to say: The 1930 Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar is the most common date of the series in Mint State. PCGS alone has certified over 4,000 Uncirculated 1930 Quarters, most often in MS-64 and usually with a Full Head. High grade examples feature a crisp, sharp luster and great eye appeal in a variety of untoned and toned formats. According to the June 1934 issue of The Numismatist (p. 416), collectors could still purchase Uncirculated 1930 Quarter Dollars for "the face value of the coins and an amount sufficient to cover the mail charges by first-class mail." Is this a start to something special with the Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar set? Let’s watch and see if Mr. Hansen becomes more aggressive in 2020.
Two Seated Liberty Quarter Dollars were purchased from the Mahal Collection in Heritage’s April 23rd 2020 Central States US Coins Signature Auction. The enjoyment of posting this thread is not only watching one of the greatest all time collections being assembled, but also learning about some other fantastic collections that are seldom seen or written about. I had not heard of the Mahal Collection before seeing these coins offered in the Heritage Sale. I still was not able to find a lot of other details. The collection was mentioned in a CoinWeek article from last summer when Heritage Auctions first featured the collection: Collectors of Philippine coinage will find a wealth of opportunities in The Mahal Collection. The United States struck Philippine coinage at the San Francisco and Philadelphia Mints, and later at the Manila Mint that opened in 1920. In all, the Philippines were under U.S. sovereignty from 1903 to 1936. This interesting collection presents a partial history of those years through its coinage. The April 2020 sale was featured as Part 2, with a few US issues offered. Mr. Hansen purchase two of the three Seated Liberty Quarter Dollars.
I have always seen the Seated Liberty coins as a strong series for the Hansen Collection. PCGS describes the quarters as: you build a type set of this series you are taking on a serious collection. If you build this date set you are dedicated, well-to-do and almost certain to be rewarded. Classic coins abound, including the extremely rare 1873-CC No Arrows and the almost as rare 1870-CC and 1873-CC With Arrows. The list of challenging coins goes on and on, but the set has been completed before and you can be next. The same could be said for the other denominations, Half Dimes, Dimes, Half Dollars, and Dollars. All his Seated Liberty Series are pretty strong. Still, he is constant looking to improve.
1843-O Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar MS64, Tied Finest PCGS Certified, POP 2/0 Replaces 1843-O 25C Large O FS-501, MS63+ Cert #33738869, PCGS #395927, POP 1/2, CAC Hansen’s #3 Specimen - 1843-O 25C MS62 Certification #82125828, PCGS #5405
The 1843-O Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar is fairly rare in mint state. The Hansen collection now has specimens in MS62, MS63+ and a MS64. The new MS64 specimen is tied for finest certified by PCGS. Our resident expert Ron Guth describes the coin as: The 1843-O Quarter Dollar appears to have survived in numbers similar to those of most of the other dates from the 1840's. In circulated grades, this date can be found with relative ease up to Extremely Fine. However, in Mint State, this date becomes decidedly rare. According to the PCGS Population Report, the 1843-O Quarter is the third rarest of all the O-Mint Quarters from the 1840s (exceeded only by the 1849-O and the 1847-O). To date, PCGS has certified only 6 Mint State 1843-O Quarter Dollars, the finest of which is a single PCGS MS64.
The coin was purchase in Heritage’s April 23rd 2020 Central States US Coins Signature Auction, and realized $7,200. This coin is a different variety than Hansen’s MS63+ Specimen. The coin is described as “Small O, Cracked Reverse Die”. This distinction is not indicated on the holder. Heritage described the coin as: The Small O is the usual variety of 1843-O quarters encountered in the numismatic world, yet they are extremely rare in Mint State grades. PCGS has only certified eight Mint State 1843-O Small O quarters, and a single Mint State 1843-O “Large O” quarter. This Choice Mint State piece has frosty silver luster that shines through vivid gold toning over both surfaces. The reverse exhibits several die cracks. The single Mint State 1843-O Large O quarter is Hansen’s MS63+. The MS63+ is an ex: Eliasberg specimen last sold at auction in 2017 for $16,450. The coin is listed as a Die Variety.
PCGS Price Guide places the coin value at $9,500. We know the coin is from the Mahal Collection, but no additional pedigree information is given. The coin appear to be (need to be verified by expert) the same coin sold in Heritage 6/2000:7252, $6,440 and appeared in Stack's/Bowers 2/2015:1510. The coin is not CAC Approved.
1843-O Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar MS64 Condition Census, Tied Finest PCGS Certified, POP 2/0 Certification #39215515, PCGS #5405 PCGS Coin Guide Value $9,500 / Realized: $7,200 Provenance: The Mahal Collection
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. 1870 Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar MS66+, Finest PCGS Certified, POP 1/0, CAC Approved Replaces 1870 Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar MS62 Certification #36380057, PCGS #5476 Hansen’s #3 Specimen - 1870 Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar MS61 Cert #81763775, PCGS #5476
The 1870 Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar is not as rare as the 1843-O, but still not what would be called common. The Hansen collection now has specimens in MS61, MS62 and a MS64. This upgrade is a very nice improvement. The new MS64 specimen is a PCGS POP 1/0 Specimen. Our resident expert Ron Guth describes the coin as: In 1870, the Philadelphia Mint produced 86,400 Quarter Dollars for circulation, plus an additional 1,000 Proofs for sale to collectors. This was a significant increase in production over the previous year, but still a relatively small number of coins. The 1870 tracks fairly closely with the 1868 in terms of value and survival rates, even though the 1868 has a much smaller mintage. Mint State examples of the 1870 Quarter are somewhat scarce, and they tend to be low-end (MS-62 or lower). Gem examples are very scarce and they appear on the market very infrequently. The strike quality for this year is inconsistent and some coins show weakness on some or all of the obverse stars. Thus, fully struck examples should be worth a premium.
The coin was purchase in Heritage’s April 23rd 2020 Central States US Coins Signature Auction, and realized $14,400. The coin is described as “Briggs 1-A, Rusted Liberty”. I don’t know if this is a new variety in Mr. Hansen’s collection. Is there a Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar variety expert in the house? Heritage described the coin as: 1870 25C MS66+ PCGS. CAC. Briggs 1-A. The obverse has considerable die rust covering much of Liberty, with other die characteristics consistent with the Briggs 1-A die pair. This Premium Gem is stunning and displays brilliant and frosty silver luster with bold design definition. Both sides have considerable silver surfaces with splashes of light golden toning at the upper obverse and lower reverse. This splendid piece will appeal to the Liberty Seated quarter lover and connoisseur.
PCGS Price Guide does not provide a value for a MS66+. PCGS value the MS66 at $10,000. We know the coin is from the Mahal Collection, but no additional pedigree information is given. The coin is CAC Approved.
1870 Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar MS66+, CAC Approved Finest PCGS Certified, POP 1/0 Certification #25253887, PCGS #5476 PCGS Coin Guide Value unknown / Realized: $14,400 Provenance: The Mahal Collection
The Briggs book only lists 2 die pairs for 1870:
1-A business strike
2-B proof dies
I don't know if any business strikes were produced with the proof dies, but it is possible.
Both obverse dies have the same date position.
The dies differ based on the amount of rust on Ms. Liberty, recut elements on the reverse, and die polish lines.
@yosclimber said:
The Briggs book only lists 2 die pairs for 1870:
1-A business strike
2-B proof dies
I don't know if any business strikes were produced with the proof dies, but it is possible.
Both obverse dies have the same date position.
The dies differ based on the amount of rust on Ms. Liberty, recut elements on the reverse, and die polish lines.
Thanks of the info Clint. It is interesting that HA place such emphasis on the variety Briggs 1-A, Rusted Liberty when there is only one in business strike. Seem unusual to me. Any thoughts to why?
I may discovered the answer to my question. Maybe they are using the Rust Die variety to explain the condition of the coin.
@RedCopper said:
Cutting - What is missing from the Hansen collection of mint state Barber half dollars are the Proof Like
“O” mint half dollars. There is an 1892 o bought by Laura Sperber for more than $100,000 from the Thaine Price collection. The 1894 o from the James B Pryor collection and an 1898 o all of which are six figure coins. Until Hansen has at least one of these coins , he is missing out .
on completion.
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I agree these presentation pieces would make very nice additions to this amazing Collection of Barber Half Dollars. I spoke on the 1894-O Pryor Specimen. I think the 1892-O is still in Bob Simpson Collection, so that one may never be available for Dell Loy to even consider. I don’t know anything about the 1898-O. I need to do some research.
He does have the 1900-O presentation piece, the fourth that you did not mention. This one is not six figures, but still a very nice piece with an historic pedigree. Are there more than just these four?
Hansen 1900-O Specimen The Norweb-Price 'Presentation' Specimen PCGS MS66PL (Proof Like), POP 1/0 : 4/1 , CAC Approved Certification #16398776, PCGS #86487 PCGS Coin Guide Value: Unknown / Realized: $43,125 (HA Auction 2010) Provenance: Norweb Collection - Bowers & Merena 11/1988:3621 - Dr. Thaine B. Price - David Akers 5/1998:149 - Dr. Steven Duckor - Heritage 8/2010:3198, $43,125 – D. L. Hansen Collection
If the coin was designated by PCGS as “PL”, that’s not the same thing as designating it as “Specimen”.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
@RedCopper said:
Mark- A specimen can be PL ?
A PL is not necessarily a specimen ?
Would you say if we asked
6 Numismatists which is which
what would be the answers ?
A “specimen“ can be (and is almost always) PL.
A PL is certainly, not necessarily a “Specimen”.
The answers of the 6 numismatists would be dependent on the numismatists and the coins.😉
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
We should know Dell Loy Hansen’s goals as a collector by now. Presently, the primary activity that I see is upgrades, upgrades, and more upgrades. In March, he made a significant addition with the purchase of the 1854-S Half Eagle. Hopefully we will get to see another major U.S. rarity added in 2020 (Hint: GreatCollections has one listed). Even if we don’t, we can be sure to see more upgrades, upgrades, and upgrades. As of today, The D. L. Hansen Collection has 1621 PCGS registry sets, and growing. Many are 100% complete. The little sets can easily get lost in the forest. I will draw your attention to one of those smaller and some would say insignificant sets, the Liberty Head $2-1/2 Gold 20th Century Set, Circulation Strikes (1900-1907). This is a boutique 8-piece set that PCGS describes as: The "short set" of Liberty Quarter Eagles is indeed short and sweet. Eight dates, all from Philadelphia and all abundant, even in higher grades. No, this is certainly not the toughest set in the Registry, but it is gold and any gold set is worthy of respect. And of course, worthy of a great deal of respect with a set rating above MS-66 which several discriminating collectors have managed to accomplish. Hansen has completed two MS67 sets. Is that “worthy of a great deal of respect”?
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. D. L. Hansen #1 Liberty Head $2-1/2 Gold 20th Century Set, Circulation Strikes (1900-1907)
In his top set, six out of eight Hansen’s coins are finest certified by PCGS, with two being POP 1/0 specimens. With this recent purchase, he replaces a MS67+ with a MS68 POP 2/0. Now, five coins are PCGS graded MS68 and the remaining three are MS67+. There are three MS68 coins out there somewhere and Mr. Hansen need two of them to improve his collection. Do you have one?
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. D. L. Hansen #2 Liberty Head $2-1/2 Gold 20th Century Set, Circulation Strikes (1900-1907)
The replaced (MS67+) coin moves into his #2 set with two other MS67+ specimens and two MS68s. Yes, the number 2 set has two PCGS MS68 POP 2/0 specimens. I guess when it is hard to decide the best of two coins, buy both. Three MS67 specimens rounds out the 8-piece set. Amazing Collection of Liberty Head $2-1/2 Gold 20th Century. It would not surprise me that he is working on a third set.
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. 1907 Liberty Head Quarter Eagle, MS68, Ex: D. Brent Pogue
In a recent blog, Dave Hall called this coin a monster. He wrote: Not sure picture does it justice, but this one is so iridescent it probably glows in the dark. Look for gold coins with great luster and color. People go wild over this look. Just bought this monster. I would love to see this little lady in person and up close. The picture makes the coin look wild (and people go wild); it has to be a WOW coin. I don’t know for a fact, but I believe David Hall may have been the winner of this coin in the Stacks Bowers March 2020 Auction of The D. Brent Pogue Collection Part VII: Masterpieces of United States Coinage. The coin was described as: Luxurious frosty surfaces are exceptionally vivid with rose-gold and powder blue iridescence on both sides. Fully struck and very close to perfection, this is an exquisite example that belongs in another world class numismatic cabinet. SBG estimated the coin at $7,000-$10,000 and the coin realized $17,400. I feel several of SBG estimates in the Pogue sale were low, and this was one of them. The coin do not have CAC Approval. Any guesses as to why not?
I am not sure how this coin came be a Hansen Coin. My best guess it was a private sale by David Hall Rare Coins. The coin appeared on his business website around April 3, 2020. The coin was listed for $28,500. Nice little short term profit if the sale was near that amount. The DHRC description: The best $2.5 Lib we’ve ever seen!!!!! OK we’ve been looking at coins…always focusing on Gem quality… for over 50 years. An every once in a while, we see something we haven’t seen before. And this is one of those cases. This is an amazing Liberty gold coin. The surfaces are totally mark-free. The strike is off-the-strike amazing, with every star detail 100% full, as are every detail of the hair, feathers and claws. And the color and luster is beyond amazing…rich and iridescent. This is one of the finest Liberty gold coins we’ve seen and absolutely the finest $2.5 Liberty we have ever seen. But, not all there for a CAC sticker. Humm.
As stated, we don’t know where the negotiation ended on this coin. PCGS Price Guide values the coin at $25,000 and David Hall was asking $28,500. Being the coin is not CAC Approved; maybe the guide price could be a little high. With the coin now in the Hansen Collection, we can be certain a “fair price” was reached by David and John. It is very nice to see DH has a good business relationship with the Hansen people. This is an amazing Liberty gold coin (as described by DH) that now will be for a long time in an amazing Liberty gold collection. Hopefully DH can find more amazing coins to sell to the Hansen Collection.
Superb Gem Mint State 1907 Quarter Eagle Tied for Finest Certified at PCGS, MS68, POP 2/0, Ex: Pogue Certification #38634087, PCGS #7859 PCGS Coin Guide Value: $25,000 / Realized unknown Provenance: Stakes Bowers March 2020 - The D. Brent Pogue Collection Part VII: Masterpieces of United States Coinage Auction, Lot 7328 – D. L. Hansen Collection
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Note to @KindaNewish, I dug deep into the barrel of adjectives for boutique. Can you give me a Kudo too?
@Currin said: Lincoln Cent Upgrades.
. 1917-S Lincoln Cent, RD MS6+ RD
As previous described, this specimen is from the Duckor Collection and was recently sold in the Heritage Auction. This Lincoln Cent may be the only Ductor coin purchase to upgrade the top Lincoln set in the Hansen Collection. There could be more, they just have not posted. Jaime Hernandez describes the coins as: The 1917-S Lincoln cent is one of the semi key dates in the wheat Lincoln Cent series. As it is, most San Francisco struck cents from the teens and twenties are very difficult to find in uncirculated grades and many times even in circulated grades. In circulated grades the 1917-S becomes a bit difficult to find in XF condition and higher. In uncirculated grades most examples range from MS60-64 with possibly just under 1,000 examples surviving in these grade ranges. It will require a lot of searching and several hundred dollars to acquire an example in MS60-MS64 condition. Examples in MS65 condition are considered elusive as there are probably about 50 examples in this grade only, with very few being finer. In MS66 condition it is considered very scarce as of 2011 PCGS has only graded one lone example in MS66 condition.
All the Ductor cents have spectacular eye appear. This one is no exception. Heritage describes the specimen as: This piece is softly lustrous with rich copper-orange and reddish coloration. Although some die erosion is present in the fields, the main devices are well-defined. Neither side exhibits bothersome abrasions. Some faint amber-colored toning in the reverse field just left of the C in CENT serves as a pedigree marker on this piece, although its distinction as the Duckor coin will, in time, serve as a greater distinguishing attribute.
The coin realized $13,200. PCGS Price guide places the coin value at $21,500. To me it appears the realized price as a little soft for a Ductor CAC Specimen. Thoughts? The other 1917-S 1C MS65+ Red PCGS sold in Heritage Auction in January 2020 for $9,000. That coin is not CAC Approved. Maybe the $13,200 value is on spot.
1917-S Lincoln Cent, MS65+ RD, CAC Approved Just One Example Known Finer, POP 2/1 Sole Gem Red Coin With CAC Approval Certification #37470383, PCGS #2503 PCGS Coin Guide Value: $21,500 / Realized: $13,200 Provenance: Dr. and Mrs. Steven Duckor Collection
@Currin Based solely upon the Truview image, my opinion is that the reduced realized price was due to it's limited eye appeal.
August, 2019 was the last discussion on Hansen’s Carson City set. I think it is about time to bring this set back in the light of the day. In several ways, Carson City coins are very special in a historic sense. When I think of Carson City coins, I can picture in my mind a dusty cowboy walking into a crusty saloon in Laramie Wyoming, and tossing an old CC Silver Dollar on the counter for the finest bottle of whiskey. If you are not an historic person, that’s OK, because I think you can still enjoy these coins. I read an article a few years ago that suggested that when CC coins were first minted, they really were not thought to be collectable. They were spent. This may contribute to the rarity of the coins that we see today.
The Historic Carson City set require 111 coins. One of the 111 coins is the Unique 1873-CC "No Arrows" Dime. This is the show stopper in completing the set. In the sale of the Battle Born Collection by Stacks Bowers in 2012, it was stated: Today the Battle Born Collection stands as only the second collection in numismatic history to have an absolutely complete presentation of Carson City coinage, this 1873-CC No Arrows dime being definitive. Naturally, Eliasberg had this coin and the first comprehensive complete set of not only Carson City, but all mints. The 111 coins in the Battle Born Collection realized almost $10M in the 2012 sale.
D. L. Hansen Collection has a complete 114 piece Carson City PCGS Registry Set. The big difference in the registry set is not requiring the Unique 1873-CC "No Arrows" Dime. The set has four additional major varieties. So, you may ask how Mr. Hansen progressing on set improvement. With this new specimen, this will be the fourth Carson City coin that Mr. Hansen has upgraded in 2020. He replaced 23 coins in 2019. So, you can see that this #1 registry set is getting better. So, how good is his 114 piece collection? The set has 16 PCGS coins that are graded POP 1/0 PCGS finest and another 20 tied for finest. It will take the purchase in the 1873-CC "No Arrows" Dime to put this collection over the top. Let’s watch and see what this collection achieves in the future.
1878-CC Seated Liberty Dime MS66
This is a rag to riches story. I not sure, but I believe Mr. Hansen acquired this coin somewhere in late fall of 2019. The coin was placed in just very few of his top sets. The only one that I can confirm is the small CC Dime set, which the coin appeared to have been updated and added to the top set in Oct, 2019. Prior to this week, the coin has hung out is most of Hansen’s #2 sets. The coin caught my attention a few days ago when it started appearing as the 1878-CC Seated Liberty Dime specimen in more of Hansen’s top sets (also, the top coin was deleted from all sets).
The coin can easily be overlooked, but the more I viewed the coin, the more I was drawn to it. Ron Guth described the coin as: In 1878, the Carson City Mint struck the last Dimes it would ever produce. As a "going-away" present, the Mint dropped the mintage of the Dimes to a mere fraction of those of the preceding years, this making the 1878-CC the sixth smallest mintage out of nine dates (counting each of the two types of 1873). Thus, the 1878-CC Dimes enjoys strong demand from collectors of products from this popular Mint. In Mint State, the 1878-CC Dime is scarce and expensive but not inaccessible. Grades above MS64 are truly rare, and the finest example is a remarkable PCGS MS68 (most likely the Eliasberg coin).
I can confirm the 1878-CC Dime in Hansen’s sets from the 2017-2018 era was a PCGS MS66 cert # 25686287. Interesting this coin sold in Heritage’s Jan, 2019 sale. I do recall JB saying Mr. Hansen sold a few coins in early 2019. I cannot determine for certain the top coin that appeared in most of Hansen top sets the past 12 months (deleted from all sets). There is an 1878-CC MS66 dime on David Lawrence Website, cert #85190844. I am not sure if that coin was in Mr. Hansen Collection, or one of the other three MS66 Specimens. We can be certain that at least three of the six PCGS MS66 certified specimens have been in the Hansen Collection.
In Heritage’s April 2008 (CSNS) Signature Coin Auction in Rosemont, IL, the new top Hansen coin was described as Gem 1878-CC Dime with Rare Type One Reverse. In doing some unscientific research of past auctions of MS65/MS66 specimens, I am not sure if the type one is more rare that the type two. This is where I need an expert. In the 2008 sale, the coin was a NGC MS65. Heritage described the coin as: Type One reverse (Very Rare). E in ONE nearly touches wreath. The last dime issued from the Carson City Mint, and a low mintage issue of only 200,000 pieces. Richly toned in shades of rose-gray and cobalt-blue. The design elements are boldly struck, and multiple die clash marks are easily noticeable in the right obverse field, as well as on the reverse. Impressively preserved and free of post-strike abrasions.
Fast forward about four years, OriginalDan bought the coin from Southgate Coins somewhere around 2012. The coin had been crossed over to a PCGS MS65 before Dan’s purchase. From their website: For years, Southgate Coins and Collectibles have been recognized nationwide as the premier source for Carson City coins. Specializing in everything related to the Carson City Mint, Rusty Goe has assisted collectors in building some of the finest sets of "CC" coins in history. He has placed some of the scarcest and most celebrated pieces from that legendary Nevada institution with his clients. Rusty was the chief architect for the historic Battle Born collection of Carson City coins, which sold for $10 million in August 2012, and included the prestigious 1873-CC Without Arrows dime and quarter. If you are looking for Caron City Coins, this may be the place to go. I wonder if Mr. Goe can hook Mr. Hansen up with the 1873-CC Without Arrows dime.
OriginalDan held onto the coin for several years. The story goes; he traded the coin to a vest pocket dealer that goes by shish here on the forum. OriginalDan traded this dime and some cash for an MS63 1876 Type II/II trade dollar. Shish submitted the coin for regrade. It was upgraded to MS-65+ and received a CAC sticker. He sold the coin at the 2017 Baltimore show to a “west coast dealer”. In past two years, the coin has been upgraded to MS66 by PCGS. I cannot be certain if this upgrade occurred after the Hansen purchase. I hope you enjoyed this brief and partial story how this coin went from NGC MS65 to be a featured coin in "The Greatest Collection of U.S. Coins Ever Assembled". Mr. Hansen had at least two or maybe three other MS66. Do you agree that his choice to keep this specimen was a good one?
This coin is valued around $12,000. The asking price for the one on DLRC website is $11,000. If this coin becomes the choice of the MS66s, as it appears so, then it should be solid specimen in the Hansen Collection until the MS68 PCGS specimen becomes available. As stated by Mr. Guth that one is most likely the Eliasberg coin. It is valued at about $25,000.
1878-CC Liberty Seated Dims MS66 (Gold Shield) Tied for 2nd Finest PCGS Certified, POP 6/1 Certification #11501542, PCGS #4686, CAC Approved PCGS Price Guide Value: $11,500
I know a couple you have owned this coin. Please comment on the In-Hand appeal. Thanks for letting me share your story.
@Currin said: Lincoln Cent Upgrades.
. 1917-S Lincoln Cent, RD MS6+ RD
As previous described, this specimen is from the Duckor Collection and was recently sold in the Heritage Auction. This Lincoln Cent may be the only Ductor coin purchase to upgrade the top Lincoln set in the Hansen Collection. There could be more, they just have not posted. Jaime Hernandez describes the coins as: The 1917-S Lincoln cent is one of the semi key dates in the wheat Lincoln Cent series. As it is, most San Francisco struck cents from the teens and twenties are very difficult to find in uncirculated grades and many times even in circulated grades. In circulated grades the 1917-S becomes a bit difficult to find in XF condition and higher. In uncirculated grades most examples range from MS60-64 with possibly just under 1,000 examples surviving in these grade ranges. It will require a lot of searching and several hundred dollars to acquire an example in MS60-MS64 condition. Examples in MS65 condition are considered elusive as there are probably about 50 examples in this grade only, with very few being finer. In MS66 condition it is considered very scarce as of 2011 PCGS has only graded one lone example in MS66 condition.
All the Ductor cents have spectacular eye appear. This one is no exception. Heritage describes the specimen as: This piece is softly lustrous with rich copper-orange and reddish coloration. Although some die erosion is present in the fields, the main devices are well-defined. Neither side exhibits bothersome abrasions. Some faint amber-colored toning in the reverse field just left of the C in CENT serves as a pedigree marker on this piece, although its distinction as the Duckor coin will, in time, serve as a greater distinguishing attribute.
The coin realized $13,200. PCGS Price guide places the coin value at $21,500. To me it appears the realized price as a little soft for a Ductor CAC Specimen. Thoughts? The other 1917-S 1C MS65+ Red PCGS sold in Heritage Auction in January 2020 for $9,000. That coin is not CAC Approved. Maybe the $13,200 value is on spot.
1917-S Lincoln Cent, MS65+ RD, CAC Approved Just One Example Known Finer, POP 2/1 Sole Gem Red Coin With CAC Approval Certification #37470383, PCGS #2503 PCGS Coin Guide Value: $21,500 / Realized: $13,200 Provenance: Dr. and Mrs. Steven Duckor Collection
@Currin Based solely upon the Truview image, my opinion is that the reduced realized price was due to it's limited eye appeal.
It looks RB to me and the reverse splotch doesn't help. I'm surprised this stickered. JA is usually very fussy over Lincolns.
When I reference the Hansen sets, I often use the phase “for the time being”. He is constantly upgrading and changing his sets. From my observation, “for the time being“, I see both coins remaining in the Hansen Collection. Naturally, the higher grade coin with the most points will go in the top set, and the other specimen will go in the #2 set. They both are in the Hansen Collection. If the commonly agreed best coin, Joseph C. Thomas Specimen comes available, especially in an auction, I would not be at all surprise that coin would be purchased and placed in Hansen’s top set.
How many really commonly agree that the Joe Thomas NGC MS67 coin is the finest coin? I viewed that coin at the 2003 ANA and did not like it at all as a gem. MS64 imo. It had both obvious high point rub and missing field luster....very obvious imo. As I recall around 80% field luster. Maybe it was graded very high because of the color and the collection it came from? Compared to the very original MS63 I once owned (and now a MS64) I only saw those 2 coins at most 1 technical grade apart. In my mind, if the Hansen MS65's are gem, that's realistically the finest graded. The last time I saw the Thomas coin auctioned around 7-10 yrs ago it fetched "decent" MS65 money.....around half of what he paid for it. I view the MS67 grade on the Thomas coin as a "legacy grade." Finding ANY 1939 ND half with full luster and zero rub is quite difficult....in any grade.
When I reference the Hansen sets, I often use the phase “for the time being”. He is constantly upgrading and changing his sets. From my observation, “for the time being“, I see both coins remaining in the Hansen Collection. Naturally, the higher grade coin with the most points will go in the top set, and the other specimen will go in the #2 set. They both are in the Hansen Collection. If the commonly agreed best coin, Joseph C. Thomas Specimen comes available, especially in an auction, I would not be at all surprise that coin would be purchased and placed in Hansen’s top set.
How many really commonly agree that the Joe Thomas NGC MS67 coin is the finest coin? I viewed that coin at the 2003 ANA and did not like it at all as a gem. MS64 imo. It had both obvious high point rub and missing field luster....very obvious imo. As I recall around 80% field luster. Maybe it was graded very high because of the color and the collection it came from? Compared to the very original MS63 I once owned (and now a MS64) I only saw those 2 coins at most 1 technical grade apart. In my mind, if the Hansen MS65's are gem, that's realistically the finest graded. The last time I saw the Thomas coin auctioned around 7-10 yrs ago it fetched "decent" MS65 money.....around half of what he paid for it. I view the MS67 grade on the Thomas coin as a "legacy grade" of the Knoxville Collection.
Is the 67 ex: The Norman Stack Type Collection? He did have an NGC 67. Should be plated in his book, if anyone here has it and can check. And FWIW, I only ask because if it's ex: Stack, Knoxville had nothing to do with the grade.
Andy Lustig
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
It's probably the same coin. The 2003 NGC pop reports showed a lone MS67 with next best at 64. No doubt that was the Knoxville coin....and probably ex-Stack. I don't recall there ever being 2 MS67s listed.
The current NGC pop report shows 0 MS67's which means the lone 67 was down graded/crossed at lower grade. Even if it was lowered to a MS66, CAC hasn't stickered a single ND half above the 64 grade. Which sort of supports what I was saying....a true MS65 ND half might just be the finest known.
A couple months ago I provided an update on Hansen’s Buffalo Nickel Collection. Not much has changed. As I wrote, the #1 Registry Buffalo Nickel Set is the HOF Forsythe Set. The set is a long standing set that has maintained the award of the best of the registry since 2005. The set received its HOF status in 2005. It will be difficult, really impossible for Hansen to overcome this set. To make matters even grimmer, JDG Trust Collection has an amazing set of Buffalos that is rank #2. As I stated, not much has changed in the rankings.
The only possible change under these circumstances is for Hansen to slowly peg away with upgrades. It appear that he may be be getting a little more aggressive with this series. In March, he provided the first upgrades for 2020 by replacing three coins. They were 1925-S MS65 POP 33/3, 1931-S MS67 POP 13/0, and the amazing 1917 MS68 POP 4/0. In the past few weeks, his upgrade total has increase to seven including the March updates that I mentioned.
The “Finest” and “Tied for Finest” coins are just not available. I thought it would be interesting for you to see these four recent upgrades . Only one specimen is “Tied for Finest” certified by PCGS. I will feature the 1914-S because I like that one the best even though the coin is not CAC Approved. Also, I am a softy for old San Francisco Buffalos.
1914-S MS66+ Certification #36182487, PCGS #3926, POP 10/2
• Sold by GreatCollections Auctions, 10/2018 realized $9,000
• Listed on EBay, Apr 19, 2020, listed for $14,975 (seller coinerstone-enterprise)
1918 66+ Certification #38684977, PCGS #3937, POP 13/11
1929 MS67 Certification #38398485, PCGS #3966, POP 15/1
• Sold by Stacks Bowers March 2020 Auction, realized $4,800
1934 MS67+ Certification #38698426, PCGS #3972, POP 8/0, CAC Approved
• Sold by GreatCollections Auctions, 3/8/2020 realized $7,031
• Sold by David Lawrence Rare Auctions, 5/10/2020 realized $ $10,050
I will restate this is a set that really all Mr. Hansen can hope to do is chip away with better coins when available. He replaced nine coins in 2019 and seven so far in 2020. With eleven of the PCGS POP 1/0 Specimens are tied up in the top two sets, the expectations should not be set but so high. As I stated a couple times before, to even overcome the #2 set may be an impossible challenge.
1914-S Buffalo Nickel, MS66+
This is a second year for Buffalo from San Francisco mint. David Hall’s expert comments: The 1914-S is quite a bit easier to locate in circulated grades than the 1914-D, but it is somewhat rarer in mint state grades. Gem MS65 or better specimens are rare. Strike is somewhat soft, as is the case with most S-mint Buffalos. The luster can vary from satiny to somewhat frosty. I am by far from being an expert, but as I said before, I like the coin. I think the strike is pretty strong for this coin. The horn looks all there to me, but as I stated, I am not an expert. I know consideration for CAC Approved does not count much for a strong strike. I may be seeing something that is not proven yet, but I think the Hansen team may favor strike over CAC Approval. Just speaking for myself, I favor a nice coin with a strong strike. Apparently, that may not be the most popular point of view now days.
The Ebayer described the coin as: Nearly Irreplaceable Registry Set Quality!....An absolutely stunningly FLASHY & BRIGHT SPECIMEN with a pleasingly COLORFUL periphery from a really low PCG population..... PCGS has graded only 10 of this date at 66+ with a mere 2 specimens graded higher!!….. And as a matter of reference, the current PCGS price guide VALUE is $18,000.00!! No mention of strike. I am not surprised.
When I reference the Hansen sets, I often use the phase “for the time being”. He is constantly upgrading and changing his sets. From my observation, “for the time being“, I see both coins remaining in the Hansen Collection. Naturally, the higher grade coin with the most points will go in the top set, and the other specimen will go in the #2 set. They both are in the Hansen Collection. If the commonly agreed best coin, Joseph C. Thomas Specimen comes available, especially in an auction, I would not be at all surprise that coin would be purchased and placed in Hansen’s top set.
How many really commonly agree that the Joe Thomas NGC MS67 coin is the finest coin? I viewed that coin at the 2003 ANA and did not like it at all as a gem. MS64 imo. It had both obvious high point rub and missing field luster....very obvious imo. As I recall around 80% field luster. Maybe it was graded very high because of the color and the collection it came from? Compared to the very original MS63 I once owned (and now a MS64) I only saw those 2 coins at most 1 technical grade apart. In my mind, if the Hansen MS65's are gem, that's realistically the finest graded. The last time I saw the Thomas coin auctioned around 7-10 yrs ago it fetched "decent" MS65 money.....around half of what he paid for it. I view the MS67 grade on the Thomas coin as a "legacy grade." Finding ANY 1939 ND half with full luster and zero rub is quite difficult....in any grade.
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There have been some discussion on the Thomas 1839 Seated Liberty, No Drapery NGC MS67. I used the terms “commonly agree best coin”; I agree this is debatable and could be better worded. I based the comment on PCGS recognizing the NGC MS67 as an estimated MS66 which will be a POP 1/0, if crossed. It is the finest NGC graded specimen by at least a couple points. In the Heritage description: A powerfully appealing example of this issue, and the single finest known of this historic first-year type. To say the coin is commonly agreed finest grade coin would be more absolute.
To let everyone decide for themselves, I thought I would post the coin. The strike is pretty good. The coin realized $172,500 in a Heritage Jan 2011 Auction. This is an Auction Record for the coin. It later appeared in a Heritage August 2011 Auction, and the coin did not sale. Present whereabouts unknown to me. Continue the share any additional thoughts you may have.
Don't let the "2 points higher than anything else" cloud our judgement. I ran into that same situation back in 2006 on another "finest known for the date" better date seated half in NGC MS66....2 points higher than anything else graded at either service. Came out of a major old time auction sale in the 1990's. It had all the ingredients to be "the" coin. When I got that coin in hand I was stunned - it was MS63/64, no better. Missing field luster and signs it was at least modestly wiped in its life reducing the luster. That coin was eventually downgraded to NGC MS65....and it's still the lone MS65 at either service. And its Heritage auction price (as MS65) within 6 months of that previous MS66 appearance was 1/3 the price - essentially MS64 money. No bidders were fooled. So this does happen. And NGC has stickered none above 64, suggesting that as both a 66 or 65, that "finest" graded is just another 64. So this does happen.
There are still no CAC 65's or better of an 1839 ND - despite at one time their being a MS67. My recollection of the once NGC MS67 ND half is much the same. I didn't like the coin as a 65. But, I'm ok if someone else does like it as a 65/66. We all see things differently. CAC apparently doesn't like it as a 66 or you can bet it would be stickered. Maybe it eventually crosses to PCGS MS66 and rates as the "best?" For now, CAC doesn't certify ANY of the MS65 or higher ND halves....and I'm not surprised. The video of the MS67 really doesn't show it well. It was a fairly deeply toned coin too. For a better view of the coin I'd go back to the Heritage archives when the coin was sold in the 2009-2011 period....see link and color photo below. But in the end, only an impartial, in-hand inspection really counts.
In reviewing the auction links below it refreshed my memory. The obverse field luster on that were broken up quite a bit. There is a very wide and long flat spot on Liberty's right leg - not just from strike imo....and in a totally different color than the surrounding areas. It looks worn and oxidized there. And that same reddish color appears in patches in the right obv field....not good since one is a coin high point and the other a low point. If they are the same it suggests the "luster" there (or lack of it) is the same. Note too that the flat rims look smooth and rounded - those really should be rough and covered in luster on a real gem specimen....often the first place the luster starts to go.
The reverse is very sharp with no corresponding strike flatness in that same area. Overall, very clean on marks as I recall. If this coin were cross-worthy into a PCGS MS66 it would have already been done. No doubt many here would call the coin AU58 if they were going by the auction color photo below and not knowing the assigned grade. Here's a case where the auction photo highlights the flaws. Even the reverse video photo shows luster weakening across the lower protected fields.
Thanks for the discussion roadrunner. It is great when a knowledgeable contributor with lots of experience chimes in. Sounds like with Hansen two coins, the Horatio Morgan and Pogue specimens, he may have the 1839 50C No Drapery covered. Do you know any other specimen that could make the PCGS MS66 ranks? It does not sound like there is a perfect coin for this date. This may be one of those dates where there is not one coin that stands out the best.
This is not the first update on the Jefferson Nickels series, but they are rare. As we have seen with some other modern series, Hansen works hard on updating and improving his modern collection. As I have stated before, I think this demonstrates “The Collection” has something for everybody. In a collection with coins valued hundreds thousands of dollars as well as a few in the millions of dollars, a series as Jefferson Nickels could be very low on Hansen’s priority list. That does not seem to be the case. This update will feature two new coins.
Hansen has the All-Time Finest Set in all eras for Jefferson Nickels FS Basic, Circulation Strikes (1938-present). The set can be thought of as being in two parts. The first being 1938-1964, where Hansen is solid at the #1 spot. The other being 1965-Present, where Hansen is in second behind the Ray Overby Collection. To break this down even further, the 1965-1967 can be thought of as a mini-set. Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez provided this explanation that recently appeared in CoinWeek. The mid-1960s was a colorful time in American numismatics, with the United States Mint making a series of changes to accommodate a terrible coin shortage brought on by widespread hoarding of 90% silver circulating dimes, quarters, and half dollars as the price of silver rose. To lessen the cost of producing circulating coinage, the Mint switched the composition of the dime and quarter to copper-nickel clad, and reduced the amount of silver in the half dollar to only 40%. And to help dissuade the removal of coins from circulation, the mint temporarily removed mintmarks from all coins beginning in 1965.
The Jefferson Nickels for these three years are very difficult to find with Full Steps strikes. According to POP report, PCGS have certified only two 1965 Full Steps, one MS65FS and one MS66FS. 1966 was the bonanza year with seven certified, 2-MS64FS, 4-MS65FS, and one MS66FS. There are no 1967 PCGS certified Full Step Jefferson Nickels in any grades. The total run for this short series is only 10 Full Steps. Only two MS66FS coins have been PCGS certified and Mr. Hansen recently acquired both.
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. 1966 Jefferson Nickel, MS66FS
I will say that I am not captivated with the inconsistent toning on this coin. The inconsistency appears on both the obverse and reverse. I know the coin is not judged on the toning rather the strike, and more precisely, the details in the steps. Not being an expert, it does appear the steps are all there. Our forum expert Ron Guth provided this comment: The 1966 Nickel is an extreme rarity with Full Steps. PCGS has certified only six examples, the best of which are four in PCGS MS65FS. Since this comment was published, Mr. Hansen has somewhere found a MS66FS.
The only history that I can find on the coin is that it sold in a GreatCollections Auction. Ian Russell must be extremely proud and excited with the great auction site they have built. I am seeing quite a few coins being actioned by GCA that is ending up in the Hansen Collection. It would make my research easier if PCGS would include GCA in their auction result report. It is about time to get it done. The coin sold Nov 03, 2019, so I am very hesitate to say that Mr. Hansen purchased the coin in the auction. The coin realized $9568 with buyer’s fees.
1966 Jefferson Nickel, MS66FS (Gold Shield) Certification #37816880 / PCGS #84078 / POP 1/0
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1965 Jefferson Nickel, MS66FS
This is the monster coin of the two Top POPs. Were the coins purchased as a pair? Did they come from the modern monster coin dealer? Very possible, but maybe not. David Lawrence Rare Coins had the coin briefly listed on their website. The coin was described as: An extremely rare date with full steps, this example of the 1965 Jefferson is certainly high end for the grade and the finest graded by PCGS. Extremely Rare means only two in all grades! Also, the coin had a brief appearance on eBay in an offer by NFC Coins. The ask on the coin was $40,000, and the listing was ended by the seller “because the item is no longer available”.
Ron Guth comment: The 1965 Nickel is an extreme rarity with Full Steps. PCGS has certified only one example, a single PCGS MS65FS. I am not sure when Mr. Guth made the comments on PCGS webpage, but both of Hansen’s POP 1/0 specimens has been certified after the comments.
Now, that is a very short roster. If you want a 1965 MS-FS for your collection, good luck in trying to get one from either of these great collections. Other than mention above, I cannot find any 1965 MS-FS have ever appeared in auction. PCGS Price Guide values the coin a $40,000.
1965 Jefferson Nickel, MS66FS (Gold Shield) Certification #37334057 / PCGS #84077 / POP 1/0
The complete basic set for this mint contains 50 items, and there are four additional items for the major varieties set. Even with this somewhat low count, only six registry collections have met the challenge for completion (Bass, Smithsonian, Eliasberg, Southern Collection, NC Collection and JJ Pitman). Hansen is number seven and currently has ascended to the top of the registry for the basic 50 coin set. Harry W. Bass was previously honored for assembling a compete set of the highest quality gold coins minted at the Charlotte mint.
Presently, Hansen’s basic set is GPA rated at 60.29 and the Bass set is 59.66. I cannot make a claim that the Hansen set is better than the Bass set, because we know comparing coins from different eras can be difficult and highly debatable. The only fact that can be concluded is that D. L. Hansen Collection of Charlotte Gold is the #1 registry set of all-times.
For the major variety set, Hansen still needs two varieties (1849-C Open Wreath $1 and 1839/8 $2.5). Bass owned neither the 1949-C Open Wreath $1 or 1839/8 $2.5. If Hansen can complete the set with last two items, he will accomplish a goal that no has ever been able to achieve (Note: According to PCGS registry). This will be interesting to watch to see if the last two coins are obtainable at some point.
1851-C $5 MS63+, CAC Approved, POP 1/1
This coin is not PCGS TOP POP 1/0 specimen, but I do believe it to be the best PCGS graded specimen with CAC Approval. This upgrade should give us assurance that Mr. Hansen has not abandoned the Charlotte Collection because he has achieved the registry top set. This is the fourth Charlotte coin to be upgraded in 2020. The coin is described as Variety 1; "earring" in Liberty's lobe. The coin recently appeared in inventory on Douglas Winters Numismatics Website (www.raregoldcoins.com). The seller described the 1851-C coins as: With the exception of the 1852-C (of which two small hoards once existed), all Charlotte half eagles are rare and under-appreciated in properly graded MS63 and finer. Probably half (or more) of the third-party graded Charlotte half eagles in these lofty grades have been processed or messed with, and only a small number are seen with natural color and choice surfaces. As a date, the 1851-C half eagle is very rare in Uncirculated with an estimated 6 to 8 known. The highest graded is the PCGS MS64 Elrod coin, also graded MS64 by NGC, which set a record for the date when it brought $69,000 in January 2003. The coin offered for sale here is clearly the second best 1851-C half eagle, and it is the only other example of this date graded higher than MS62 by PCGS. This coin has a remarkably fresh appearance with lovely rich natural green-gold hues which are exactly right for the date. The strike is razor sharp which is unusual for the issue. The surfaces are very clean with a near-total absence of marks. There is an interesting small mint-made area of frost in a crescent shape hanging from the lower beak of the eagle. This coin is really exceptional in every respect, and you wouldn’t as much as blink if you saw this in an MS64 holder.
I am unsure why Charlotte coins are not as popular as other series, but here are some clues. PCGS describes the coins as: This historic Mint met the same end as that of Dahlonega, in that both were captured by the Confederacy during the Civil War and never reopened. Today, collectors from across the country remember this tumultuous time through the magnificent coins of the Charlotte Mint. There are only six current collectors in the registry, with only three that are more than 50% complete. Collector #6 has only one coin, so not sure that one should even be counted. Mr. Winter discussed his thoughts on these old gold coins. He wrote: When the finest graded Elrod 1851-C half eagle was in an NGC MS63 holder, it still brought $46,000 all the way back in February 1999. That exact coin has sold no fewer than six times since early 1999; most recently for $41,400 in January 2005. There are no APRs for any PCGS graded Uncirculated example of the 1851-C. Ever. This brings us to an interesting discussion. Top grade (MS63 and finer) Charlotte (and to some degree Dahlonega) half eagles trade at the same or even lower levels than they did at turn of the century (that’s 1999 for the math-challenged). I believe the reason for this is two-fold: first, current collectors prefer assembling sets of these issues in EF and AU grades due to cost factors; second, with so many of the higher grade pieces from these mints ruined by having been doctored, the really nice coins stay depressed from a price perspective. This should be a $75,000 coin in my opinion as it represents the finest available example of an issue which is genuinely rare in Uncirculated.
The ask price on the coin was $42,500. We don’t know exactly what Mr. Hansen actually paid, but according to Mr. Winter, it was a pretty good deal because the coin should be valued at $75,000. Lastly, Mr. Winter provided a small peek at the coin’s history. I quietly sold this piece a few years back to a serious gold coin collector who has decided to focus on the issues from his home state mint. I acquired this from a dealer who had purchased it from an old Southern family who had likely owned it since its date of issuance. I believe this to be a very nice and solid addition to the Hansen Collection.
1851-C Liberty Half Eagle, Variety 1, MS63+ 2nd Finest PCGS Certified, Top Graded CAC Approved Certification #83577716, PCGS #8247, POP 1/1 PCGS Price Guide Value: $46,500 / Ask $42,500 Provenance: Old Southern Family – Douglas Winter sold to a gold coin collector - Douglas Winter sold to D. L. Hansen (5/2020)
I think Hansen should be very happy at his great accomplishment with Charlotte Gold, without going down the rabbit hole of varieties. If he were to pursue varieties in all of his sets, they would not be completed with his time on this Earth. With some series there are as many varieties as there are are "basic" date-mint mark coins.
A couple updates ago, I provided a discussion on the small 15-coin 1965-1967 Mint Set. This is not a registry set. I am not sure why, there is a 15-coin 1965-1967 SMS Set, but not for mint state. In the last couple weeks, we saw The Hansen Collection replaced two Jefferson Nickels FS in this short date range. Both were PCGS POP 1/0 specimens. This new coin is not a POP 1/0; but the coin is every bit as nice and tied for finest known Roosevelt Dime, POP 3/0.
Last week, I shared that Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez provided this account in a recent appearance of CoinWeek. The mid-1960s was a colorful time in American numismatics, with the United States Mint making a series of changes to accommodate a terrible coin shortage brought on by widespread hoarding of 90% silver circulating dimes, quarters, and half dollars as the price of silver rose. To lessen the cost of producing circulating coinage, the Mint switched the composition of the dime and quarter to copper-nickel clad, and reduced the amount of silver in the half dollar to only 40%. And to help dissuade the removal of coins from circulation, the mint temporarily removed mintmarks from all coins beginning in 1965.
The image below is a snapshot for the 15 coins from Hansen’s large 1792-Present complete set. As you can see the Hansen team is a little slow in updating. Including today’s new coin, here are the three coins that I have identified that should show up at some point in the future. When these updates are added to the 15 coin set, the Collection will have eight tied for finest specimens, and two POP 1/0 coins.
1965 Jefferson Nickel, MS66FS, Certification #37334057 / PCGS #84077 / POP 1/0
1966 Jefferson Nickel, MS66FS, Certification #37816880 / PCGS #84078 / POP 1/0
1965 Roosevelt Dime, MS68FB, Certification #37717559, PCGS #85130 / POP 3/0
1965 Roosevelt Dime, MS68FB
In the 3 coin set for 1965-1967 Roosevelt Dimes, this is the second MS68FB tied for finest known dime. The other is beautiful 1967 Dime MS68FB Certification #03675362. I have seen better Full Bands before, but I believe they are all there. Coin Expert Jaime Hernandez commented: The 1965 Roosevelt Dime has an extremely large mintage of over a billion coins struck. However, they are very difficult to find displaying Full Bands details on the reverse design. Only well struck examples display Full Bands and usually these are the earler stuck examples from a pair of dies. For the 1965-P Roosevelt Dime, PCGS has graded less than 100 coins in total with the FB designation in all grades combined. The PCGS POP Report is showing 93 as of today.
This 1965 Roosevelt Dime, MS68FB appeared in auction in 2019. The other 1965 MS68FB coin is blast white example that sold in Heritage’s March 2013 US Coin Signature Auction in Dallas. This specimen is presently in The Halcyon Collection. The coin realized $3,819 and may be the Auction Record for a non-error coin. There is no public information on the third 1965 MS68FB coin. The coin does not appear to be listed in the registry.
The Hansen specimen is only the second time that a 1965 Roosevelt Dime, MS68FB PCGS coin has appeared in public auction. The coin sold in Legend Rare Coin Regency 32 Auction on May 2019. The auctioneer described the coin as: WOW! What else can you say about this amazing dime? The quality and eye appeal are simply stunning! Sharply struck, frosty lustrous and awash in beautiful rose and gold toning with arcs of teal, magenta, and pale blue throughout F.D.R.'s hair lines. The surfaces are PRISTINE and the eye appeal is beyond compare! This is tied for FINEST graded, from an original mintage of over 1.65 BILLION. The first year of the new composition, this coin is an important first year of type coin. The only PCGS MS68 to ever sell in auction brought $3,819 back in March 2013-that was half a dozen years ago. The current PCGS Price Guide value is listed at $4,150. NONE are finer at PCGS, and this is worthy of the FINEST of sets. We can see this coin bringing a RECORD price when the hammer finally falls. Good luck!
Legend’s estimated the coin value at $3,500 - $4,000. The coin realized $2,937.50. I don’t think the coin was purchase directly by the Hansen Team from Legend a year ago. I believe the coin was picked up recently and more than likely by private transaction. This is a great addition to the modern portion of the D. L. Hansen Collection of US Coins.
1851-C Liberty Half Eagle, Variety 1, MS63+
2nd Finest PCGS Certified, Top Graded CAC Approved
Certification #83577716, PCGS #8247, POP 1/1
PCGS Price Guide Value: $46,500 / Ask $42,500
Provenance: Old Southern Family – David Winter sold to a gold coin collector - David Winter sold to D. L. Hansen (5/2020)
Just a few weeks ago The Hansen Collection upgraded with a 1956 MS67+ FBL Franklin Half Dollar Specimen, CAC Approved, POP 5/0. At that time, I provided a very detail update for the Franklin Half Dollars FBL series. PCGS describes the set as: Mintages are irrelevant when gauging the rarity of a Franklin issue in MS 65 or MS 65 FBL (or higher grade). Original BU rolls of Franklin half dollars rarely contain even a single MS 65 coin. Because this series is both challenging and affordable, it has become one of the most popular of all U. S. coins sets to assemble. As this is being written only twenty sets can be put together in MS65FBL, and one set is possible in MS66FBL! Most collectors assemble this set with as many FBL pieces as possible, then fill in the holes with non-FBL specimens until the right coins come along.
Todays upgrade makes the third specimen in 2020 that Mr. Hansen has swapped in the Franklin Half Dollars FBL Basic, Circulation Strikes (1948-1963) Set. There are 14 coins in the top set that are tied for the finest certified by PCGS. If you count the 1961 50C, FBL MS66+ FBL Certification #38130039, POP 4/0 that is presently in set #2, there are 15 out 35 coins that are tied for finest certified by PCGS. The collection still does not have a POP 1/0 PCGS specimen.
1958 Half Dollar MS67+ FBL
This coin was added to the collection late Friday night, May 29th. The coin was last sold publicly by Legend Rare Coin Regency 35 Auction on 12/12/2019. The coin was described as: Tied for FINEST graded with the monster toned example that brought a world record price of $129,250. Like that coin, this one is beautifully toned with amazing eye appeal. Boldly lustrous surfaces gleam with a strong, brilliant vibrance. Every detail is sharply struck up from a precision blow from the dies. Again, like the other example, this coin's eye appeal is mostly imparted by a dramatic palette of color. Sunset orange dominates and is joined by emerald green, violet, and magenta tones on the obverse, while the reverse has some pale blue within the olive-gold shades that dominate The surfaces are clean and smooth, free of any distracting marks, lines or anything else. This coin is totally worthy of its lofty grade. There are three coins graded total in MS67+ FBL, only one of which has ever sold in auction, the world record breaking example that brought $129,250 after multiple rounds of fierce bidding. Collectors Universe value has not been adjusted. As one of the FINEST of all Franklin half dollars known, this coin will see very strong bidding when the hammer falls. Good luck! The record breaking result was in a September 2018 Legend Auction, and the PCGS certification number is no longer valid. The record coin has a new PCGS number, 38129993. The coin is in The Linda Gail Collection of Franklin Half Dollars. The third specimen does not appear to be in the registry.
In the December 2019 sale, the coin that now belongs to Mr. Hansen realized $10,575. The CAC Approved coin was estimate by Legend to realized $15,000 - $20,000. Expert Jaime Hernandez Comments: The 1958-P Franklin Half Dollar has one of the lowest mintages in the series. It's mintage was 4,042,000 but if compared to other coins in the series like the 1963-D which had a mintage of over 67,000,000 the 1958-P's mintage is relatively small. Most 1958-P Franklin Half's came in nice quality. Only in MS65 grades and higher does it appear to be scarce. In MS66 condition it is scarce but there are still hundreds of examples that exist in this condition. In MS67 condition they are very scarce with less than a few dozen known.
It appear Dell Loy Hansen purchase the coin from David Lawrence Rare Coins. The ask price on the coin was $13,000. I wonder how much a discount that he gets at DLRC. The DLRC listing on Ebay was ended this morning (5/30) with the statement: This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available. The coin was described as: Boldly lustrous, superb gem! Smooth surfaces display brilliant luster and vibrant toning in shades of orange, olive, magenta and pale blue. The strike is full and precise and the eye appeal is phenomenal! Tied for finest known with just two other pieces. CAC approved for quality. It a little amazing and also unexplainable for me how one out of three coins realizes $129,250 and just a little over a year later, one of the other coins with CAC Approval has an ask price of $13,000. I am not Mr. Hansen, but I would rather have the $13K specimen and pocket the additional $115K. Anyone agree or disagree?
1958 MS67+ FBL Franklin Half Dollar Specimen, CAC Approved Certification #38264719, PCGS #86674, POP 3/0 PCGS Coin Guide Value: $13,000 / Ask $13,000
Tied for FINEST graded with the monster toned example that brought a world record price of $129,250. Like that coin, this one is beautifully toned with amazing eye appeal.
Boldly lustrous surfaces gleam with a strong, brilliant vibrance. Every detail is sharply struck up from a precision blow from the dies. Again, like the other example, this coin's eye appeal is mostly imparted by a dramatic palette of color. Sunset orange dominates and is joined by emerald green, violet, and magenta tones on the obverse, while the reverse has some pale blue within the olive-gold shades that dominate The surfaces are clean and smooth, free of any distracting marks, lines or anything else. This coin is totally worthy of its lofty grade.
PCGS 25, NGC 7, CAC 13. There are three coins graded total in MS67+ FBL, only one of which has ever sold in auction, the world record breaking example that brought $129,250 after multiple rounds of fierce bidding. Collectors Universe value has not been adjusted. As one of the FINEST of all Franklin half dollars known, this coin will see very strong bidding when the hammer falls. Good luck!
1958 Franklin Half - PCGS MS67+FBL CAC - Linda Gail Specimen
We unhesitatingly pronounce this the BEST and wildest 1958 Frankie in existence! EVERYTHING about this coin is mind boggling! EVERYTHING! 1000% PERFECT surfaces adorn both sides. Use a neutron microscope and you will find NO flaws of any size, any where. An intense luster nearly blinds you from all over. The color rivals ANY of the BEST Northern Lights coins-really! Electric shades of killer neon like violet/pearl green/raw blue explode all over the obverse in a sparkly way. The reverse has a killer mix of iridescent reddish rims, with phenomenal nearly neon like greenish gold centers. We rank the colors a 10+ on our 1-10 color scale we used for our North Lights coins. Do not just take our word on wild colors-see this coin. Also, ALL of the details are sharply struck. The eye appeal is outrageous! PCGS 18, NGC 4, CAC 20 (obviously resubs). The PCGS Population in MS67+ FBL is two, with NONE FINER; NGC has graded nothing finer than MS67 FBL. In the ENTIRE SERIES, none have been graded finer than MS67+ FBL. The current Collectors universe Value is $17,000. We can easily see this coin blowing past that long before the sale even starts. Again, we rank this coin as great as any of the top Northern Lights Dollars which sold for "beyond moon money." Be prepared!
@Currin said:
I am not Mr. Hansen, but I would rather have the $13K specimen and pocket the additional $115K. Anyone agree or >disagree?
The more expensive coin has too many distracting marks. (the one on the forehead really bothers me)
I'd grade the Hansen a 67A and the other a 67C although the multicolored one has a nicer strike on the reverse.
Dr. Charles Link is one of my favorite PCGS Registry Collectors. He has several PCGS Hall of Fame sets in the Capped Bust Half Dollars by Overton Varieties. According to my count, he has four sets that has been award the Hall of Fame honor. I think it’s time for him to be awarded the HOF award as a Specialized Area Collector. If there is a way that I can lobby for that to happen next month, sign me up. I know of no collector that deserves the honor more that Dr. Link.
The Link Collection dates back at least a couple decades. Some people that know Chuck, describe him as a true CBH nut! He told me once that anything after 1839 is modern to him. He has many great early Bust Specimens and has a couple registry sets that have surpassed Brett Pogue. Now, that is saying something. I know a few of you don’t give a rip for provenance and pedigrees. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but it is my opinion that if you can get your hands on an Ex: Link, then you have something special.
This upgrade is the 1817/3 Half Dollar Overton 101a. I have written about The Hansen Collection of Early Half Dollars a few months ago, so I will not bore you again with the details. The short of the story is that he is three coins away from a complete set. This coin is an upgrade and not a new addition. Ron Guth had this to say about this variety: The 1817/3 Half Dollar is an enigmatic overdate that defies explanation. If it were a leftover die from 1813, one would expect the 13th obverse star to show the notched point that is believed to be the "signature" of engraver John Reich. Reich resigned his position in March 1817, after which the notching of the stars ended. This suggests that the new engraver simply made an error by punching a 3 into the die, then corrected it with the proper 7 punch. But, why would the engraver have picked up a punch for a 3? That would have been an egregious oversight on the engraver's part, especially since he was four year's away from a need for a 3, plus there is no U.S. coin from 1817 where a 3 might be used in either a legend, motto, or denomination. Regardless of the reason for this variety, it is extremely popular with collectors. Only one die combination (Overton 101, and it's later die state Overton 101a) utilize this obverse. In most grades, the 1817/3 Half Dollar is fairly common, but in Mint State, it becomes very rare.
1817/3 O-101a Bust Half Dollar, MS63+, Ex: Link
Chuck liquidated this coin a few years ago, and the specimen has been searching for a home since. It finally found its way into the Hansen Collection. The coin has appeared in auction three times since first appearance in September 2018 Legend Rare Coin Auction. In the Legend Auction, the coin realized almost as much as the last two auctions combine ($22,913). Maybe the Legend description makes all the difference: One of the FINEST KNOWN examples of this very popular overdate. Clearly in the Condition Census, this 63+ is very CHOICE for the variety. The quality and eye appeal are truly dramatic! Indeed the only "flaw" are a pair of mint made slag marks on the reverse which are part of the planchet production process (this is where some impurities in the silver came out to the surface as the silver ingot was being drawn to prepare the planchets). Both sides offer a deep blue and orange-amber toning that captivates the viewer's attention. Sharply struck, the devices are crisply impressed by the screw press. The 7 over 3 in the date is visible even at arm's length. A bold satin luster brings the beautiful toning to life with a vivid brilliance. The dies were sharply clashed before this one was struck. Try as we might, we cannot find a prior pedigree to this high grade, beautiful CHOICE Mint State 1817/3. It does not match the Queller or Vermeulle coins which were both described as Very Choice Brilliant Uncirculated, but were uncertified when they sold in 2002 and 2001 respectively. PCGS 3, NGC 0. None of the three MS63+s have ever sold in auction. In September 2016, we sold a PCGS MS63 for $27,025 in Regency Auction XVIII. In July 2013, a PCGS/CAC MS64 sold for $61,688. This high grade example will see considerable bidding when it crosses the auction block. The dramatic boldness of the overdate and strong eye appeal will entice a very strong hammer price when the auctioneer calls the last bid! Good luck.
The coin appeared in two Heritage Auctions this year. In the Jan 2020 Auction, the coin realized $13,800. I believed the coin was purchased by Mr. Hansen in Heritage April 23 2020, Central States (CSNS) U.S. Coins Signature Auction in Dallas, TX. In this auction, the price realized was down to $11,100. I am lost to the reason the coin has devalued more than 50% in 2020. The description from Heritage Auction: Shades of violet and royal-blue combine at the margins for stunning visual effect, while amber-gold luster fills open areas in the lilac-gray toning that imbues the centers of this high-end, Select Uncirculated 1817/3 half. The reverse adds sea-green shades to the palette. The obverse stars are razor-sharp, and the all-important overdate unmistakable on this luminous, collector-favorite O-101a. A remarkable array of quadruple die clashing visits both sides, plus a few reverse die cracks confirm the late die state. The strike is sharp but not quite full, with a touch of high-point weakness on Liberty's curls. The eagle's head and wing shoulder show only minor incompleteness. A few light marks are well-concealed beneath the colorful, attractive patina. This coin sits at the lower-end of the Condition Census for the O-101a variety, according to Stephen Herrman's Autumn 2019 Census.
1817/3 O-101a Bust Half Dollar, MS63+(Gold Shield) Outstanding Color and Eye Appeal, Ex: Link, PCGS POP 3/1 Certification #28524361, PCGS # 39512 (Variety of: 6111) PCGS Price Guide Value $27,500 / Realized $11,100
Hi, I'm Greg and have been on these lovely forums for over 10 years now. Over the last day, I have read all 67 pages of this thread. Okay, well, some pages were skimmed when they deviated from my interests. I have not spent time in this thread before now as I have taken time off in the last 18 months or so. Anyway, I took a few notes while reading and I thought I would share a few things from my perspective and about the knowledge I have in a more narrow area. I hope Mr. Hansen truly has an interest and reads this.
I have 35+ years of experience with Mercury Dimes. For the last 15 years that has included all Mercury Dime Varieties. I participated in the complete merc variety set a few years back. I had about 13 Top Pop Varieites which was more than anyone else, not to mention plenty of other examples. It is only because of people like me (keyman64), Dimeman, fcloud, Larry Martin and a few others that Hansen has the coins he has to complete his set. These varieties have been known about for decades+ (mostly circulated) but it wasn't until about 10-15 years ago that truly nice examples were located through years and years and years of extremely hard work and numismatic study. I unfortunately sold my Top Pop varieties 5+ years ago.
In regards to ****PROVENANCE****, I can say that Mr. Hansen has 5 of my coins in his set that I cherrypicked. So if there is an interest in providing proper credit and preserving history, reference keyman64 instead of just putting D.L. Hansen on the labels, sets, comments, notes. I would be honored to be a tiny footnote in the collection.
1931-S FS-101 MS66FB (Current Pop 3/0*). I cherrypicked this coin out of a Heritage Auction in 2011. Without the attribution on the label, most people were hesitant to risk it. I knew it was the variety, bought it and had it attributed. Why do I say hesitant?...because I have had to council our host on proper variety attribution a few times, no need to go into that here but I was always successful. *I know where additional unattributed examples reside and who owns them in MS66+FB, MS67FB and MS67+FB More on that later. https://www.pcgs.com/cert/06756163
1936-S FS-110 MS67FB (Current Pop 1/0) I cherrypicked this out of a Heritage Auction in January 2013, unfortunately others also noticed the variety. Lol. I also owned a MS65FB that I pulled out of an NGC holder in 2010. https://www.pcgs.com/cert/06756163
1939-D/D FS-501 MS65FB (Current Pop 3/0) I cherrypicked this at a local show in November 2011 when it was in a SEGS 64FB holder, cracked it out and sent it in to PCGS for grading and attribution. https://www.pcgs.com/cert/28204298
1941 DDO FS-101 MS65 (Current Pop 1/0) I cherrypicked this RAW at Winter FUN 2014 for $50. I had to pay so much because it was a toner. I did not have a True View taken because I was more than capable at photography, hence the reason most of my coins did not have TVs. Until that moment, NO MINT STATE EXAMPLES were ever known to exist. I know this from my conversations with the tight variety community here and my conversations with Bill Fivaz and Kevin Flynn back in those days. The rarity of this coin is not understood. I can tell you that 10s of thousands of 1941 Mercury Dimes have been searched over the last couple of decades by just a half dozen people or so. You may think there are rolls of these out there somewhere but there aren't, at least we haven't found them yet. Some of us continue to look. I auctioned this coin and most of my others at Great Collections. I hope Mr. Hansen takes a moment to look at this coin with a 10x AND 20x loupe to truly appreciate it as I did. This is a very important coin for the set. This one sold for about $1800. Not bad for my $50 investment. https://www.pcgs.com/cert/28901864
Here are my Photos:
The underside of UST is where it is most noticeable and the die lines through the motto are the quick big pick up points when lighting is challenging..
1942-D/D FS-501 MS66FB (Current Pop 5/2) This was a much more scarce coin 10 years ago. I cherrypicked a 64FB in 2010 which was Top Pop and then this 66FB in June 2013 which became the new Top Pop for a couple of years. https://www.pcgs.com/cert/26475175
Out of the 30-40 or so Mint State Mercury Dime Varieties I had, IIRC, 13 were top pop, I would have to research to confirm. I have traced 8 of my other top coins to other Mercury Dime Variety Registry Sets owned by Jwinter, Dimeman, Sandman, Larry Martin and others. Some of which are better than examples that Mr. Hansen currently owns. I noticed one variety selling at Heritage tonight was 67FB where Mr. Hansen only owns a MS66 example 1943-S/S FS-501 in his set. Hopefully he has good people around him and bought it? Ihttps://coins.ha.com/itm/mercury-dimes/1943-s-s-10c-repunched-mintmark-fs-501-ms67-full-bands-pcgs-pcgs-population-1-0-and-1-0-ngc-census-0-0-and-0-0-/a/132023-21178.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116 I thought about buying it out of the Heritage auction tonight but passed since there is still one finer. I located another Cherrypick Variety today that is graded 1 point higher than what he has in his set currently and will be Top Pop when attributed. As soon as I find more time, I'm certain I will easily find more and I might put together another set. I'm not sure. Knowledge is power.
@Currin said on January 6, 2019 at 7:37PM on P30 of this thread mentions that the 1916-D Mercury Dime is the _ rarest_ of the series. and then @Currin said on June 30, 2019 at 7:04PM on P45 of this thread: With the recent auction sale of a PCGS MS66FB 1919-D dime for $212,500 this series is suddenly being looked upon with a new appreciation. _ With as many things that have been called out or disputed etc in this thread, I would like to provide some general knowledge to those that are here. Many of the participants in this thread are quite influential and I hoped to put some Mercury Dime misconceptions to rest back in 2012 but the thread really never took off and It doesn't help when numismatic writers and professionals also parrot the assumed impression that we all learned at age 8 while reading the Red Book and seeing that the 1916-D has the lowest mintage figure by a large margin and therefore must be the _RAREST. I need to revisit this analysis 8-9 years later now to see how numbers and populations have changed and then take the analysis even deeper as I suggested in my 2012 thread. There were some decent replies in 2012 and I even got David W. Lange from ATS to share his thoughts. He is the author of The Complete Guide to Mercury Dimes Second Edition, among other books. Anyway, bottom line...the 1916-D is NOT the Key or Rarest of the Mercury Dime series and I hope people can stop spreading this information. Here is my 2012 post: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/858446/mercury-dime-key-semi-key-analysis/p1
@Currin was asked by Stewart Blay if it was known how many Eliasberg coins are in the collection on October 20, 2019 at 9:10PM on P54 of this thread and Currin answered that it was not known, indicating that it might be a chore to figure this out. I would argue otherwise, assuming PCGS has quality records within their database. A simple database query could be executed by PCGS if they so desire. Select all coins where pedigree like Eliasberg innerjoined with all of the coins currently in Mr. Hansen's inventory. That's how I would do it. Trying to go through each coin would be madness. If historical pedigrees have been destroyed and overwritten with Hansen...well, then that's going to be a problem.
@Currin asked for opinions about labels on November 8. 2019 at 8:20PM on P58
My only thoughts are that a Hansen label is great but when it comes to provenance/pedigree, history should be preserved. This kinda ties together the above comment and what I mentioned about provenance near the beginning of this post. Many of the coins in this vast collection took YEARS and YEARS to FIND by numismatists that were true specialists in their areas of focus. A nod of respect should be provided to those and all of their hard work. Learning varieties, pick up points, nuances that make some coin examples better than others such as rusted dies in the 1800s being viewed as inferior qualities for some coins etc etc etc. The list goes on. I do not believe that the mere purchasing of coins should allow for their history to be hidden or destroyed. Many of us are history nuts. To go against all of that does not make sense to me.
I have read through this thread and seen so many times where it really does seem like Mr. Hansen has great passion for this hobby and that makes me feel much better about the effort than what I felt when I first learned about the endeavor a couple of years ago. I suspect this passion might be limited to only the BIG COINS though. With Mr. Hansen taking on all of the variety sets as well, something Eliasberg certainly never did, it bothers me a little. Variety collectors are truly passionate about all of the attributes in coins of their focus. From what I have read in this thread, I do not think I see the same level of passion for the varieties and question the real reasons for ownership. I went into varieties because I could not compete with the bank accounts of others. After years of study and searching however, I can compete and more often than not, beat those with deep pockets. This brought great joy since hard work can prevail. I almost feel like instead of bringing passion to the variety scene, he might just be crushing the passion of others with the goal to just own everything. I hope Mr. Hansen truly builds a collection with passion and proves me wrong, instead of just building a giant accumulation that his bank account allows. There is a difference. History is being written here. I hope the history of each coin's past is not destroyed and credit is given where credit is due.
Another topic,,, as has been referenced in this thread many times. He owns soooo many duplicates and not all of them are for sale on eBay or DLRC. It's his prerogative of course and a good bit goes into the market timing. But with the move into all of the varieites, I wonder if he even knows what he owns...or if the people that are helping him even know what he owns. I'm a Mercury Dime nut so I will continue with an example from this series. So, with Mercury Dime registry sets, FBs are important for points. He owns some coins in NON-FB for some reason(I forgot to take notes on those and don't want to go through them again now), in addition to multiple FB examples. Strange to me unless they were largely the same top pop grade and he was sending them in for reconsideration to see if he can get an upgrade or two before selling the lower items. Let's talk about a specific date.
1931-S FB. A quick look though Coin Facts shows he owns the following:
67+ FB Cert# 13196867 https://www.pcgs.com/cert/13196867
67 FB Cert# 84033402 https://www.pcgs.com/cert/84033402
66+FB Cert# 36606865 https://www.pcgs.com/cert/36606865
Anyone want to actually guess HOW MANY FS-101 Examples he owns? I'll give you a hint, it is AT LEAST 3 but I believe 4. The 66+FB example looks to be it but I won't say 100% as I have been fooled by photos before. There is a good chance that he owns 4 DDOs. And this is only out of the coins that are shown in Coin Facts. If he owns more 1931-S coins then it could be that he has more? You want to know why I only had a 66FB when I had my set? I couldn't afford any of the other unattributed examples in higher grades. Poor man problems. Lol
I'd love to truly go through his Mercury Dimes and identify all of the varieties he has, not to mention every other series! If he wants to maximize Registry points and potentially a good bit of value, this should be done. If for no other reason than the fact that he should know what he owns. I wish Mr. Hansen nothing but the best in his endeavor. I hope he is able to bring fantastic passion to the hobby. With his expanded focus into varieties, I hope he can learn to appreciate and be passionate about them as well. I hope this isn't just a power play accumulation. I'd like to see history to be written favorably in every aspect of his endeavor.
"If it's not fun, it's not worth it." - KeyMan64 Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
I think keyman64 makes some interesting points. One idea his comment leaves me with is that documenting a collection like this is a huge undertaking and completely worthwhile. It wouldn't be out of the question to employ a numismatist to document, research, and catalog everything. It would be a nominal cost relative to the value of the collection. For all I know they already have someone from DLRC on it.
Keyman64 brings up some good points. And one of those is losing all the previous pedigree history. In reading current "pedigrees" you would think all that matters is Pogue, Gardner, and Hansen...among a few others. A lot came before them....Eiasberg, Garrett, Norweb, James Stack, Robison, etc. I recognize quite a few coins in Hansen from earlier appearances in the 1970's and 1980's....a lot of that information essentially lost. Here are few:
Hansen's 1857-s MS64 quarter is ex-Reed Hawn, lot 333, Stacks March 1977....and earlier at New Netherlands Dec '63. It's made a lot of other appearances after Reed Hawn.
Hansen's 1858-0 MS65 quarter was owned by me from 1982-1990. I bought it out of Superior's A. Houston Barry Estate Sale Jan. 1983 lot 305 at $4200. Sold to Andy Lustig/Stuart Levine in spring 1990 at the Boston Bay State show along with a MS65 1856-0....both pop 1's for that time. Eventually both of those coins found their way to Gene Gardner's set. Interesting story with these 2. I originally received MS64 grades on them in 1988....PCGS MS64 on the 58-0. And NGC MS64 on the 56-0. I swapped services on them and then got 65 on each. NGC 65 on the 58-0 and PCGS 65 on the 56-0.
Hansen's 1858-0 MS66+ dime was owned by me from 1982-2004. I purchased it out of the Stack's Feb 1982 Robison sale. Slabbed out NGC 65 in 1988. Quite a number of rarities in that sale. I auctioned it off via Heritage in spring 2004 as an NGC MS66 where Gene Gardner got it.
Hansen's 1855-s MS65 quarter showed up at least once in the mid-1980's Apostrophe sales. I recall Jay Miller buying it for just under $10,000 and offering it to me. I'd already just bought the rarer and nicer MS66 1867-s out of Auction '86 for $9,650. I got the coin I wanted. I auctioned the 1867-s at Heritage in 2004 where Gene Gardner bought it for $74,500. The 1867-s was briefly with Legend, then to Hansen. There's a twin 1865-s to this 1867-s out there....both out of James A. Stack March 1975. I don't believe the 1865-s has ever resurfaced since Akers bought it for Paramount's inventory in '75/'76. Though there is a current MS66 owned by Hansen that was once handled by Larry Whitlow....finest graded. Unless the Stack 65-s was dipped out along the way, that doesn't quite look like the same coin. As pictured in the James Stack sale, that 65-s had a black toned rim and some dark obverse high points - very unusual on a mostly white original coin. Would be cool to see that show up someday to be reunited with its gem twin 1867-s. More on this to follow.
So many gem seated coins I recognize in Hansen. Can't track them all down to before Gardner. It's not that big a pool of coins. The seats have changed over the years though.
@roadrunner said:
Keyman64 brings up some good points. And one of those is losing all the previous pedigree history.
Provenances usually reference auctions of major collections, so if the Mercury varieties didn't sell on Heritage, that info would normally be lost.
Some other method might be created to save it, such as by writing a Varieties Guide. I do something like that in my Liberty Seated Half Dime Attribution Guide, where I have a roster of the top 10+ for each variety and their auction histories in the past 10 years. It could be extended further into the past. https://sites.google.com/view/clintcummins/half-dime-attribution-guide
In reading current "pedigrees" you would think all that matters is Pogue, Gardner, and Hansen...among a few others. A lot came before them. I recognize quite a few coins in Hansen from earlier appearances in the 1970's and 1980's....a lot of that information now lost.
The provenances of those coins may not be as lost as you think.
Ron Guth @BestGerman saved many of them, in PCGS CoinFacts.
Here are few:
Hansen's 1857-s MS64 quarter is ex-Reed Hawn, lot 333, Stacks March 1977....and earlier at New Netherlands Dec '63
This one is not in CoinFacts.
Hansen's 1858-0 MS65 quarter was owned by me from 1982-1990. I bought it out of Superior's A. Houston Barry Estate Sale Jan. 1983 lot 305 at $4200. Sold to Andy Lustig/Stuart Levine in spring 1990 at the Boston Bay State show along with a MS65 1856-0....both pop 1's for that time. Eventually both of those coins found their way to Gene Gardner's set. Interesting story with these 2. I originally received MS64 grades on them in 1988....PCGS MS64 on the 58-0. And NGC MS64 on the 56-0. I swapped services on them and then got 65 on each. NGC 65 on the 58-0 and PCGS 65 on the 56-0.
Partly saved; could go further back:
Condition Census What Is This?
POS GRADE IMAGE PEDIGREE AND HISTORY
1 MS65 PCGS grade MS65 PCGS grade
Heritage 9/2011:3399, $20,700 - Heritage 10/2012:4132, $25,850 - Eugene H. Gardner Collection, Part III - Heritage 5/2015:98346, $21,150 - Heritage 11/2016:5230, $21,150 - D.L. Hansen Collection https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1858-o-25c/5446
Hansen's 1858-0 MS66+ dime was owned by me from 1982-2004. I purchased it out of the Stack's Feb 1982 Robison sale. Slabbed out NGC 65 in 1988. Quite a number of rarities in that sale. I auctioned it off via Heritage in spring 2004 as an NGC MS66 where Gene Gardner got it. Could never get the 58-0 dime to cross in either 65 or 66 grade.
Partly saved; could go further back:
1 MS66+ PCGS grade
Heritage 6/2004:6043 - Eugene H. Gardner Collection - Heritage 6/2014:30257, $21,150 - Legend Rare Coin Auctions 12/2014:38, not sold https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1858-o-10c/4617
Hansen's 1855-s MS65 quarter showed up a couple times in the 1980's Apostrophe sales - probably 1985/1986. I recall Jay Miller buying it for just under $10,000 and offering it to me.
I'd already just bought the rarer and nicer MS66 1867-s out of Auction '86 for $9,650. I got the coin I wanted. I auctioned the 1867-s at Heritage in 2004 where Gene Gardner bought it for $74,500. The 1867-s was briefly with Legend, then to Hansen. There's a twin 1865-s to this 1867-s out there....both out of James A. Stack March 1975. I don't believe the 65-s has ever resurfaced since Akers bought it for Paramount in '75/'76. Though there is a current MS66 owned by Hansen that was once handled by Larry Whitlow....finest graded. Unless the Stack 65-s was dipped out along the way, that's not the same coin. As pictured in the James Stack sale, that 65-s had a black toned rim - very unusual on a mostly white original coin. Would be cool to see that show up someday to be reunited with its gem twin 1867-s.
Partly saved:
1 MS67 PCGS grade
James A. Stack Sale - Stack's 3/1975 - I. Kleinman - Corky Vena - New England Rare Coin Fund I (1977-1980), sold for $30,000 - Marty Haber - Auction '86 - Jay Miller - Brian Keefe - Heritage 6/2004:6063, $74,750 - Eugene H. Gardner Collection - Heritage 5/2015:98352, $88,125 https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1867-s-25c/5471
Hansen's 1850-0 MS66+ half dollar (ex-Gardner) looks to be Stacks ex-Halsell collection sale ('83/84) and later appearing in Auction '84/85 Apostrophe sales, where I picked it up. Oddly, it only graded MS64 for me in 1988 though I bought it as full gem a few years earlier. Colonel Jessup bought it at a Stacks 1988 auction where I had consigned it raw after cracking it out....to hide "the evidence" of its former 64 grade. He soon got it into a MS65 holder to about double up from $6500 to $12,000. From 64+ to 66+ over about 30 yrs.
@roadrunner said:
In reading current "pedigrees" you would think all that matters is Pogue, Gardner, and Hansen...among a few others. A lot came before them. I recognize quite a few coins in Hansen from earlier appearances in the 1970's and 1980's....a lot of that information now lost.
The provenances of those coins may not be as lost as you think.
Ron Guth @BestGerman saved many of them, in PCGS CoinFacts.
Agreed. Ron / @BestGerman did a great job adding provenance / pedigree history to CoinFacts. There's a lot of rich information there.
The Hansen 1850-0 half is not the same coin as the Auction '85 / Stack's March 1984 Glen Halsell collection. Dug out the catalog this morning. Though, almost a twin in overall look....but the toning spots don't match up. One nice thing about the "Apostrophe" sale catalogs of '79 - '90 is that they photographed the coins much better than usually seen up to that point....especially the Paramount Sections that David Akers put together. And the best coins of the 1970's and 1980's seemed to often end up in those sales....a plus for tracking pedigrees.
I wrote the Pedigree section for Heritage in 2004 on the 1867-s quarter and 1858-0 dime knowing that otherwise, a big chunk of their owner history (including mine) on probable finest known specimens would eventually disappear. I went through Coin Facts last night before posting....trying to fill in some of those holes other Hansen seated coins might have.
Hansen's 1865-s MS66 quarter goes back before Whitlow in the later 1980's. It's ex-Auction '85 lot 1161 at $9750, bought by dealer Jay Miller for resale. It's pedigree is further listed there as ex-NERCA July 1980 (Jim Halperin's Rare Coin Investment Fund) and ex-Auction '84. I have a hand written note on the lot also calling it ex-Stacks Spring 1978 sale (?). The 3 left obv field toning spots uniquely identify this one. To me, it doesn't appear to be ex-James Stacks. Yet Aker's description of the coin in Auction '85 includes the fact they had seen all the unc specimens over the previous 20 yrs and this was the finest by far. In fact, Akers bought the superb gem 1865-s out of James A. Stack in March 1975 for a very strong $2600 and then appearing in his early 1976 Rare Coin Catalog for $5000+.....clearly signaling that was a full gem coin If the Auction '85 specimen was the James Stack coin, they surely would have listed that fact in the Auction '85 lot description. Taking Aker's comments literally, there are 2 superb gem 65-s quarters out there, with the Auction '85/Hansen specimen being the finest. I'd like to nail this one down once and for all.
Comments
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When I reference the Hansen sets, I often use the phase “for the time being”. He is constantly upgrading and changing his sets. From my observation, “for the time being“, I see both coins remaining in the Hansen Collection. Naturally, the higher grade coin with the most points will go in the top set, and the other specimen will go in the #2 set. They both are in the Hansen Collection. If the commonly agreed best coin, Joseph C. Thomas Specimen comes available, especially in an auction, I would not be at all surprise that coin would be purchased and placed in Hansen’s top set.
One thing that is a fact, there is no fear in Mr. Hansen upgrading coins. I think there are just a few coins that are a “sure thing” to still be in his top set 10 years from now. It don’t matter if they are condition census or not, if a better coin becomes available, the coin is subject to be replaced.
There are many of us that don’t understand that concept. There are a few current collectors that I see that are always looking for better coins. For example Dr. Charles Link is a long time collector that replaces coins in his collecting, even rare coins he owned for a long time. I will say once again, collectors like Dr. Link and Mr. Hansen are always looking to improve their collections. It must be a lot of fun to be able to do that.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
A Colossal Barber Half Dollar Collection
I don’t feel this to be an overstatement nor exaggeration. We have witness firsthand the assembling one of the best collections of Barber Half Dollars, ever. We can go back to the summer of 2018 when the Hansen Collection upgraded 59 of 73 coins according to a Perfection posting. Most if not all were CACs. The upgraded included 15 Top Pop 1/0 PCGS certified coins! Another 17 upgrades are tied with this finest known. That was the catalyst of this great collection of Barber Half Dollars. A few months later I reported that there were 9 upgrades, five PCGS finest, three tied- PCGS finest (2/0) and one is POP 1/1. These upgrades put the Hansen Set over the top for the all-time finest PCGS Barber Half Dollars Basic Set. The previous All-Time Finest, Hall of Fame set, Dr. and Mrs. Steven L. Duckor Collection with a weighted grade of 66.78. The Hansen set was then couple ticks better at 66.81. Today, the set is 66.91 and I know he has a couple higher graded coins than in his top set.
1895-S Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 2/0 CAC – realized $85,187.50, Ex: SHIREMAN -DUCKOR
1896-O Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 1/0 CAC – realized $123,375 Ex: ELIASBERG- STELLAR
1903-O Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 1/0 CAC – realized $47,000 Ex: DUCKOR-PRICE.
1906-D Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 1/0 CAC – realized $49,937.50 Ex: GARDNER
1908-S Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 2/0 CAC – realized $18,212.50 Ex: PRICE -GARDNER
1911-D Barber Half Dollar MS67POP 3/0 CAC – realized $25,850 Ex: ELIASBERG
1912-D Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 1/0 CAC – realized $18,212.50 Ex: FORMULA 1 COLLECTION
1913-S Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 1/0 CAC – realized $28,200 Ex: DUCKER - FRIEND
1915-S Barber Half Dollar MS67 POP 2/0 CAC – realized $15,862.50 Ex: SHIREMAN
In 2018, Hansen added the Major Varieties set to his All-Time Finest list with the purchase of the 1892-O 50C Micro O MS65 CAC Cert 25200593 POP2/2. Today he leads Major Varieties 66.87 to 66.72. At that time, Hansen still trailed Bruce Scher’s Barber Half Proof All Time Finest set. In Sept 2018, he took the lead in proofs for the first time.
Since early 2019, the collection has maintained the top of the registry page in basic circulation strikes, major varieties, and proof. This would be a good place to stop the Barber Half Dollars and move to something else. Right? Well that did not happen. So, what has happen in the last 12 months?
Today, the Hansen Collection Barber Half Dollars has the three top spots in Barber Half Dollars with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes and Proof (1892-1915) Each set requires 98 coins. The Diana set is a Hansen tribute set. The total coins need to accomplish this task is 294 coins.
These sets are continuing to be upgraded as you can see. I want to focus back on the Circulation Strikes sets a little more. This top circulating strike set alone is breathtaking. Has the Hansen set a bar so high for himself that when he does something amazing, it really doesn’t’ appear amazing anyone? Think about it a minute, it takes a lot of work to build one set to this level of accomplishment, but three? Even if the money was available, the work is still there. Building these duplicate sets have been accomplished without losing focus on the 73 other series in the US collection. With post -1964 coins, I don’t know how series now is needed for complete collection. Appear a new series is added every couple years.
His top set does not have all his top pop coins. This may be contributed to not having time to keep them all organized “collectively”. The registry is not designed for multiple sets. It is a manual process to move coins from one set to another.
Finest Certified by PCGS- The collection has 22 of the 73 basic circulating strike coins that are PCGS POP 1/0 specimens. The latest addition is the 1911-S, Ex: Duckor-Queller. The coin is presently listed in his #3 set. The Finest Certified by PCGS specimens represents 30% of the basic circulating strike set.
Tied Finest Certified by PCGS- The collection has 32 of the 73 basic circulating strike coins that are PCGS POP 2(+) / 0 specimens. I know of at least one of these coins that are not in the top set. The Tied Finest Certified by PCGS specimens represents 44% of the basic circulating strike set.
Tied 2nd Finest Certified by PCGS- The collection has 17 of the 73 basic circulating strike coins that are PCGS POP 1(+) / 1 specimens. These are condition census coins that have only one PCGS POP 1/0 specimen that is better. Another way to look at it, the D. L. Hansen Collection has 22 of the 39 PCGS certified POP 1/0 Barber Half Dollar specimens. The Tied 2nd Finest Certified by PCGS specimens represents 23% of the basic circulating strike set.
Condition Census Certified by PCGS - If you do the math, then you will see 97% of the top specimens are in one the three groups above. Only two coins in the basic that are not. The first is the 1892-O POP 6/2. This coin is Tied 3rd Finest Certified by PCGS. In addition, but not included in the basic set, Hansen’s best 1892-O “Micro O Specimen” is a POP 2/2. The lowest condition census specimen of the top coins is the 1910-S that tied for 4th spot (PCGS POP 2/3) in the Condition Census report. The collection has both the 1910-S POP 2/3 specimens and at least one other lower graded 1910-S coin in the third set.
In addition, when combining the three sets, Mr. Hansen has a complete set of CAC Approved coins. If you considered the CAC in all his sets, 128 coins are identified as CAC Approved which represents 58% of coins in all the CS sets. We don’t know the total coin count of the D. L. Hansen Barber Half Dollars. From the registry alone, there are close to 300 specimens in both finishes. DLRC have about 14 of his Barber Half Dollars duplicates for sale. We do not know how many other duplicates that he may have that are not listed in his top three sets.
1911-S Barber Half Dollar MS67+, PCGS POP 1/0, Ex: Duckor-Queller
The coin was purchase in Heritage’s April 23, Central States US Coins Signature Auction. The coin was describes as: This Superb Gem 1911-S remains the only MS67+ that PCGS has certified, and neither PCGS nor NGC report a finer example. In its 1975 appearance as part of the Dr. E. Yale Clarke Collection, Stack's wrote: "Brilliant Uncirculated gem. A splendid satin-like surface with light golden toning." Years later, the same firm offered this piece as part of the Queller Family Collection, exclaiming: "This outstanding coin is certainly among the finest known of this date and could possibly rival the MS67 Eliasberg piece!" In fact, the coin rivals or exceeds both the Eliasberg and Emery-Nichols coins, which are likely pedigreed directly to the San Francisco Mint. The present coin is the finest certified specimen today by virtue of its Plus designation and CAC endorsement. Sharply struck from perfect, uncracked dies, both sides display essentially full detail. The surfaces are fully brilliant, with satiny silver luster and traces of field reflectivity. Faint iridescent toning is evident amid golden highlights. This will make a wonderful contribution to any high-grade set of Barber half dollars, and it is an unsurpassable Registry Set candidate. The Hansen Collection already had both of the PCGS certified MS 66+ POP 2/1 Specimens. The new POP 1/0 specimen is a point better than his other two. The Collection now has the top three 1911-S Barber Half Dollars certified by PCGS.
Here are the three Hansen’s coins as they appear in PCGS screenshot.
Hansen Top Specimen - 1911-S Half Dollar, Singular MS67+
The Finest Certified, CAC Approved, Ex: Duckor-Queller
Certification #36311289, PCGS #6523
PCGS Coin Guide Value: $42,500 / Realized: $43,200 (Auction Record)
Provenance: Dr. E. Yale Clarke Collection - Stack's 10/1975:422 - Queller Family Collection - Stack's 10/2002:823, $14,950 - John C. Hugon Collection - Heritage 1/2005:4260, $21,275 - Legend Numismatics, sold privately in 2/2007 - Dr. & Mrs. Steven L. Duckor Collection - Heritage 8/2010:3234, $37,375 - Greensboro Collection, Part V - Heritage 8/2015:4095, $42,300 – Heritage Central States US Coins Signature 4/2020:3720, $43,200 – D. L. Hansen Collection
Video of this coin was produced by Heritage Auctions. Thanks
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Another Barber Half Dollar Upgrade
Friday, I posted an in-depth description of D. L. Hansen Barber Half Dollar Collection. While digging into the collection, I ran across a nice half dollar purchased in Stacks Bowers March 2020 D. Brent Pogue Collection Part VII: Masterpieces of United States Coinage Auction. Being the coin was buried in the #2 Set, I missed the update a few weeks ago. I think the coin will eventually find its way into Hansen’s top set.
This 1904-O Barber Half Dollar specimen is not an attention getter, but the historical coin now and forever will carry a Pogue-Hansen Pedigree. As with many of Pogue’s coins, they have been out of sight for many years. The coin does appear on the PCGS Condition Census report, but no other information is given. Our resident expert Ron Guth had this to say: The 1904-O Half Dollar is decidedly scarce and it is difficult to locate in Mint State grades above MS64. In terms of the total number of Mint State examples, the 1904-O compares favorably with other scarce dates such as 1903-S, 1908-S, and, surprisingly, 1904-S (which is only slighy more rare). Superb quality 1904-O Half Dollars are very rare and top out at MS67. The strike on the 1904-O is usually quite good -- not full, but closer than most O-Mint Barber Halves. Neither of the two PCGS MS67 examples has appeared at auction, and one of them might be the unusual Prooflike Gem from the 1998 sale of John Jay Pittman coins. At that time, the cataloguer, David Akers, called the coin either a Branch Mint Proof or a possible presentation piece. He described the coin as not just being Prooflike, but that it had all the hallmarks of a Proof. That coin brought a record $28,600 almost twenty years ago; who knows what it would bring today? My research does not produced additional information, but I don’t think the Pogue coin is the John Jay Pittman specimen that Mr. Guth spoke of. It would be nice if he has time to confirm or deny, or connect a pedigree prior to Pogue.
1904-O Barber Half Dollar MS67, PCGS POP 2/0, Ex: Pogue
The coin was described in D. Brent Pogue Collection Part VII Auction as: Satin to softly frosted luster blends with powder blue, antique gold, pearl gray and pale pink iridescence on both sides of this gorgeous Superb Gem. The detail is exceptional for a circulation strike half dollar of this design type, especially one from the New Orleans Mint. We note razor sharp definition that extends even to the eagle's left talon and shoulder on the reverse. Virtually pristine, this expertly produced and preserved coin makes a lovely impression. In 1904, the New Orleans Mint produced 1,117,600 half dollars that entered circulation unceremoniously where they saw constant use for decades. Thanks to its fairly substantial mintage, it can be easily found in lower grades, mostly about Good-4. The 1904-O rapidly becomes scarce at the middle circulated grade levels. In Mint State, finding an appealing example becomes quite difficult, with PCGS CoinFacts estimating 120 in all Uncirculated grades, a quarter of these at the Gem level or above. As with many of the coins in the Pogue Collection, this half dollar is at the very peak of quality for preservation and for eye appeal. This outstanding representative will be a trophy in the case of its new owner.
I have not seen the coin in hand, but it does appear to be a beauty. Stack’s estimated the coin to bring between $25,000 - $30,000. The coin realized $23,400. PCGS valued the coin at $35,500, so it appear to me that market for this coin seems a little soft. As result, Hansen landed this coin at a nice price. The coin does not have the CAC Approve sticker, so that may be some of the reason for softness.
If the coin makes Hansen’s top set, it will replace a very nice specimen purchased from the Perfection Collection. The Perfection Specimen is CAC Approve as they are the hallmark for his coins. Also, the Perfection Specimen has an amazing pedigree including Clapp, Eliasberg, and Shireman. The coin is traced back to John M. Clapp purchasing the coin directly from the New Orleans Mint. Mr. Clapp passed in 1906, so these may be some of his last additions purchased by him from the mints.
Both the top two 1904-O Barber Half Dollar specimens in The Collection are truly worthy of the honor. I only hope to see Mr. Hansen someday display them side by side. If he can pickup the Pittman Specimen, than what sight the trio will make.
Hansen Top PCGS Graded Specimen – Superb Gem 1904-O Half Dollar
None Graded Finer, MS67, POP 2/0, Ex: Pogue
Certification #38634062, PCGS #6499
PCGS Coin Guide Value: $35,500 / Realized: $23,400
Provenance: Stakes Bowers March 2020 - The D. Brent Pogue Collection Part VII: Masterpieces of United States Coinage Auction, Lot 7298 – D. L. Hansen Collection
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Hansen #2 PCGS Graded Specimen –Gem 1904-O Half Dollar
PCGS MS66+, CAC Approved, POP 2/2, Ex: Clapp, Eliasberg, and Shireman
Certification #25200219, PCGS #6499
PCGS Coin Guide Value: $27,000 / Realized: Private Sale
Provenance: New Orleans Mint - John M. Clapp Collection - John H. Clapp Collection, sold intact in 1942 - Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection - Bowers & Merena 4/1997:2101, $14,850 - David Lawrence, sold privately - Dr. Peter Shireman Collection, sold privately on 4/28/1997 - Dr. Peter & Janice Shireman Collection - Heritage 1/2016:5406, $27,025 - “Perfection” Collection (PCGS Set Registry) Private Sale 2018 – D. L. Hansen Collection
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Cutting - What is missing from the Hansen collection of mint state Barber half dollars are the Proof Like
“O” mint half dollars. There is an 1892 o bought by Laura Sperber for more than $100,000 from the Thaine Price collection. The 1894 o from the James B Pryor collection and an 1898 o all of which are six figure coins. Until Hansen has at least one of these coins , he is missing out .
on completion.
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I agree these presentation pieces would make very nice additions to this amazing Collection of Barber Half Dollars. I spoke on the 1894-O Pryor Specimen. I think the 1892-O is still in Bob Simpson Collection, so that one may never be available for Dell Loy to even consider. I don’t know anything about the 1898-O. I need to do some research.
He does have the 1900-O presentation piece, the fourth that you did not mention. This one is not six figures, but still a very nice piece with an historic pedigree. Are there more than just these four?
Hansen 1900-O Specimen
The Norweb-Price 'Presentation' Specimen
PCGS MS66PL (Proof Like), POP 1/0 : 4/1 , CAC Approved
Certification #16398776, PCGS #86487
PCGS Coin Guide Value: Unknown / Realized: $43,125 (HA Auction 2010)
Provenance: Norweb Collection - Bowers & Merena 11/1988:3621 - Dr. Thaine B. Price - David Akers 5/1998:149 - Dr. Steven Duckor - Heritage 8/2010:3198, $43,125 – D. L. Hansen Collection
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Lincoln Cent Upgrades
Copper guys, this update is just for you. I have given several updates on D. L. Hansen Lincoln Cents, so I will spare you another deep dive today. Let’s just say that he has a very nice collection of Lincolns. The gaping hole is still the 1958DDO. For those of you that follow Lincolns already know a nice selection of early Lincoln Cents from The Dr. and Mrs. Steven Duckor Collection was offered in Heritage’s April 23rd, 2020 Central States US Coins Signature Auction. I had identified maybe a handful or less that would be nice upgrades. A few of them were the 1916d MS67Rd, 1917s MS65+Rd, 1928s MS66Rd, and 1929s MS66+Rd. At this time, the only posting that I have found in Hansen’s collection is the 1917s.
There was another Lincoln Cent update in the past few weeks, the 1928d MS66+Rd. I have not been able to find any information on this specimen. I even consulted a copper specialist to see if anything about the coin is known, but still no additional information. The information offered was: I know he bought the coin. I can tell you it is gorgeous. I own the other 1928 D in MS66+ red. The PCGS POP for the 1928d MS66+Rd is 2/0. Both are in very nice Registry Sets.
1928-D Lincoln Cent, RD MS66+ RD
As previously stated, I do not have a lot of details for this specimen. Jaime Hernandez wrote this on the coin: The 1928-D Lincoln Cent is very common in circulated grades. And even in some lower uncirculated grades, examples can be found with minimal efforts. In MS65 condition however, it becomes much scarcer. Anything above MS65 is very difficult to locate and examples in this condition are usually set for very serious collectors only.
The RD MS66+ RD has never been sold in public auction. The Ductor Specimen sold a couple weeks ago was a MS66 Red PCGS, CAC Approved. According to the description, The Duckor example is one of just five from that trivial population to earn CAC recognition for its strict standard of quality and eye appeal. The Duckor MS66 CAC specimen realized $12,120. Is the Hansen MS66+Rd CAC Specimen worth more? Probably, although the described by Hertiage: its residence in a green label holder adds an additional element of appeal. So, without John Brush letting us know what was paid for the coin, we can only speculate. It really doesn’t matter, as our copper specialist said, I can tell you it is gorgeous.
Gorgeous 1928-D Lincoln Cent, MS66+ RD, CAC Approved
Tied for Finest Certified, POP 2/0
Certification #38129760, PCGS #2590
PCGS Coin Guide Value: Unknown / Realized: Unknown
Provenance: Unknown
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1917-S Lincoln Cent, RD MS6+ RD
As previous described, this specimen is from the Duckor Collection and was recently sold in the Heritage Auction. This Lincoln Cent may be the only Ductor coin purchase to upgrade the top Lincoln set in the Hansen Collection. There could be more, they just have not posted. Jaime Hernandez describes the coins as: The 1917-S Lincoln cent is one of the semi key dates in the wheat Lincoln Cent series. As it is, most San Francisco struck cents from the teens and twenties are very difficult to find in uncirculated grades and many times even in circulated grades. In circulated grades the 1917-S becomes a bit difficult to find in XF condition and higher. In uncirculated grades most examples range from MS60-64 with possibly just under 1,000 examples surviving in these grade ranges. It will require a lot of searching and several hundred dollars to acquire an example in MS60-MS64condition. Examples in MS65 condition are considered elusive as there are probably about 50 examples in this grade only, with very few being finer. In MS66 condition it is considered very scarce as of 2011 PCGS has only graded one lone example in MS66 condition.
All the Ductor cents have spectacular eye appear. This one is no exception. Heritage describes the specimen as: This piece is softly lustrous with rich copper-orange and reddish coloration. Although some die erosion is present in the fields, the main devices are well-defined. Neither side exhibits bothersome abrasions. Some faint amber-colored toning in the reverse field just left of the C in CENT serves as a pedigree marker on this piece, although its distinction as the Duckor coin will, in time, serve as a greater distinguishing attribute.
The coin realized $13,200. PCGS Price guide places the coin value at $21,500. To me it appears the realized price as a little soft for a Ductor CAC Specimen. Thoughts? The other 1917-S 1C MS65+ Red PCGS sold in Heritage Auction in January 2020 for $9,000. That coin is not CAC Approved. Maybe the $13,200 value is on spot.
1917-S Lincoln Cent, MS65+ RD, CAC Approved
Just One Example Known Finer, POP 2/1
Sole Gem Red Coin With CAC Approval
Certification #37470383, PCGS #2503
PCGS Coin Guide Value: $21,500 / Realized: $13,200
Provenance: Dr. and Mrs. Steven Duckor Collection
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar Upgrade
This is a series that you have not heard much about for a couple of reasons. First, this is not one of D. L. Hansen stronger series. I am not confident why, but I have a couple of theories. Secondly, for the Full Head Basic Circulating Strikes, we have not seen very many upgrades. This single coin is the first upgrade in 2020. For all of 2019, there were only seven changes in the 27 piece set. I cannot confirm if all of them were upgrades. So again, we don’t see a lot of activity in this series.
Present day, Mr. Hansen is not one of the top three collectors in Standing Liberty Quarter Dollars. I would give honors to Ohio, High Desert, and Semperfi. Mr. Hansen is a solid fourth in registry. As for outside the registry; I can’t say. I have mentioned in previously posting; it is rarely to see the Hansen Collection not having at least one PCGS POP 1/0 Specimen in a series. This 37 piece collection is one of the few that don’t, and the set has less than a handful of finest PCGS certified, 1923 MS67FH POP 9/0, 1928-S MS67+FH POP 5/0, and 1929-S MS67FH POP 21/0. Before today, the set did not have any specimens that could claim to be in PCGS Condition Census Top 5. This is not the norm for a Hansen set. The new coin is a PCGS POP 4/1, CAC Approved, which may be the best coin the set. The collection has not been updated to include the new coin in the FH Basic set.
The Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar is known to be a beautiful design. This is PCGS description of the set: What is America's most beautiful coin? While the Walking Liberty half dollar, the Oregon Trail commemorative half dollar, and the $20 St. Gaudens gold piece will receive lots of votes, there's also heavy support for the Standing Liberty quarter. Hermon MacNeil's inspired design has been equally inspiring to collectors, who have sought to find examples of this coin in the finest condition possible. This series is collected with or without full head detail (depending on how important the collector thinks it is) and with or without the overdate of 1918. Either way, few things are more beautiful than a set of Standing Liberty quarters. The key dates of the set are the 1916, 1918/7-S, 1919-D, 1919-S, and 1927-S. In full head condition, the 1918/7-S and 1927-S are ultra-rarities, and other keys include the 1920-S, 1926-D, and 1926-S.
1930 Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar, MS67+ FH, CAC Approved
The coin was offered retailed for $18,500 by David Lawrence Rare Coins. The coin was described as: Typically a type coin, but scarcer than the average date when it comes to such quality. Four pieces are graded as such by PCGS with only a single coin grading higher, this piece is certainly worthy of the most impressive of Registry Sets. CAC approved for quality. PCGS+ grade for premium quality at the top of end of the assigned grade. We really have no way to know exactly the price Mr. Hansen paid for the coin in a private transaction with DLRC.
DLRC describes the coin as a typically type coin. Our resident expert Ron Guth had this to say: The 1930 Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar is the most common date of the series in Mint State. PCGS alone has certified over 4,000 Uncirculated 1930 Quarters, most often in MS-64 and usually with a Full Head. High grade examples feature a crisp, sharp luster and great eye appeal in a variety of untoned and toned formats. According to the June 1934 issue of The Numismatist (p. 416), collectors could still purchase Uncirculated 1930 Quarter Dollars for "the face value of the coins and an amount sufficient to cover the mail charges by first-class mail." Is this a start to something special with the Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar set? Let’s watch and see if Mr. Hansen becomes more aggressive in 2020.
1930 Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar, MS67+ FH, CAC Approved
Condition Census, Tied for 2nd Finest PCGS Certified, POP 4/1
Certification #30505465, PCGS #5779
PCGS Coin Guide $16,500 / Realized: $18,500 (retailed offer)
Provenance: Unknown
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar Upgrade
Two Seated Liberty Quarter Dollars were purchased from the Mahal Collection in Heritage’s April 23rd 2020 Central States US Coins Signature Auction. The enjoyment of posting this thread is not only watching one of the greatest all time collections being assembled, but also learning about some other fantastic collections that are seldom seen or written about. I had not heard of the Mahal Collection before seeing these coins offered in the Heritage Sale. I still was not able to find a lot of other details. The collection was mentioned in a CoinWeek article from last summer when Heritage Auctions first featured the collection: Collectors of Philippine coinage will find a wealth of opportunities in The Mahal Collection. The United States struck Philippine coinage at the San Francisco and Philadelphia Mints, and later at the Manila Mint that opened in 1920. In all, the Philippines were under U.S. sovereignty from 1903 to 1936. This interesting collection presents a partial history of those years through its coinage. The April 2020 sale was featured as Part 2, with a few US issues offered. Mr. Hansen purchase two of the three Seated Liberty Quarter Dollars.
I have always seen the Seated Liberty coins as a strong series for the Hansen Collection. PCGS describes the quarters as: you build a type set of this series you are taking on a serious collection. If you build this date set you are dedicated, well-to-do and almost certain to be rewarded. Classic coins abound, including the extremely rare 1873-CC No Arrows and the almost as rare 1870-CC and 1873-CC With Arrows. The list of challenging coins goes on and on, but the set has been completed before and you can be next. The same could be said for the other denominations, Half Dimes, Dimes, Half Dollars, and Dollars. All his Seated Liberty Series are pretty strong. Still, he is constant looking to improve.
1843-O Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar MS64, Tied Finest PCGS Certified, POP 2/0
Replaces 1843-O 25C Large O FS-501, MS63+ Cert #33738869, PCGS #395927, POP 1/2, CAC
Hansen’s #3 Specimen - 1843-O 25C MS62 Certification #82125828, PCGS #5405
The 1843-O Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar is fairly rare in mint state. The Hansen collection now has specimens in MS62, MS63+ and a MS64. The new MS64 specimen is tied for finest certified by PCGS. Our resident expert Ron Guth describes the coin as: The 1843-O Quarter Dollar appears to have survived in numbers similar to those of most of the other dates from the 1840's. In circulated grades, this date can be found with relative ease up to Extremely Fine. However, in Mint State, this date becomes decidedly rare. According to the PCGS Population Report, the 1843-O Quarter is the third rarest of all the O-Mint Quarters from the 1840s (exceeded only by the 1849-O and the 1847-O). To date, PCGS has certified only 6 Mint State 1843-O Quarter Dollars, the finest of which is a single PCGS MS64.
The coin was purchase in Heritage’s April 23rd 2020 Central States US Coins Signature Auction, and realized $7,200. This coin is a different variety than Hansen’s MS63+ Specimen. The coin is described as “Small O, Cracked Reverse Die”. This distinction is not indicated on the holder. Heritage described the coin as: The Small O is the usual variety of 1843-O quarters encountered in the numismatic world, yet they are extremely rare in Mint State grades. PCGS has only certified eight Mint State 1843-O Small O quarters, and a single Mint State 1843-O “Large O” quarter. This Choice Mint State piece has frosty silver luster that shines through vivid gold toning over both surfaces. The reverse exhibits several die cracks. The single Mint State 1843-O Large O quarter is Hansen’s MS63+. The MS63+ is an ex: Eliasberg specimen last sold at auction in 2017 for $16,450. The coin is listed as a Die Variety.
PCGS Price Guide places the coin value at $9,500. We know the coin is from the Mahal Collection, but no additional pedigree information is given. The coin appear to be (need to be verified by expert) the same coin sold in Heritage 6/2000:7252, $6,440 and appeared in Stack's/Bowers 2/2015:1510. The coin is not CAC Approved.
1843-O Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar MS64
Condition Census, Tied Finest PCGS Certified, POP 2/0
Certification #39215515, PCGS #5405
PCGS Coin Guide Value $9,500 / Realized: $7,200
Provenance: The Mahal Collection
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1870 Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar MS66+, Finest PCGS Certified, POP 1/0, CAC Approved
Replaces 1870 Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar MS62 Certification #36380057, PCGS #5476
Hansen’s #3 Specimen - 1870 Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar MS61 Cert #81763775, PCGS #5476
The 1870 Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar is not as rare as the 1843-O, but still not what would be called common. The Hansen collection now has specimens in MS61, MS62 and a MS64. This upgrade is a very nice improvement. The new MS64 specimen is a PCGS POP 1/0 Specimen. Our resident expert Ron Guth describes the coin as: In 1870, the Philadelphia Mint produced 86,400 Quarter Dollars for circulation, plus an additional 1,000 Proofs for sale to collectors. This was a significant increase in production over the previous year, but still a relatively small number of coins. The 1870 tracks fairly closely with the 1868 in terms of value and survival rates, even though the 1868 has a much smaller mintage. Mint State examples of the 1870 Quarter are somewhat scarce, and they tend to be low-end (MS-62 or lower). Gem examples are very scarce and they appear on the market very infrequently. The strike quality for this year is inconsistent and some coins show weakness on some or all of the obverse stars. Thus, fully struck examples should be worth a premium.
The coin was purchase in Heritage’s April 23rd 2020 Central States US Coins Signature Auction, and realized $14,400. The coin is described as “Briggs 1-A, Rusted Liberty”. I don’t know if this is a new variety in Mr. Hansen’s collection. Is there a Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar variety expert in the house? Heritage described the coin as: 1870 25C MS66+ PCGS. CAC. Briggs 1-A. The obverse has considerable die rust covering much of Liberty, with other die characteristics consistent with the Briggs 1-A die pair. This Premium Gem is stunning and displays brilliant and frosty silver luster with bold design definition. Both sides have considerable silver surfaces with splashes of light golden toning at the upper obverse and lower reverse. This splendid piece will appeal to the Liberty Seated quarter lover and connoisseur.
PCGS Price Guide does not provide a value for a MS66+. PCGS value the MS66 at $10,000. We know the coin is from the Mahal Collection, but no additional pedigree information is given. The coin is CAC Approved.
1870 Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar MS66+, CAC Approved
Finest PCGS Certified, POP 1/0
Certification #25253887, PCGS #5476
PCGS Coin Guide Value unknown / Realized: $14,400
Provenance: The Mahal Collection
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
The Briggs book only lists 2 die pairs for 1870:
1-A business strike
2-B proof dies
I don't know if any business strikes were produced with the proof dies, but it is possible.
Both obverse dies have the same date position.
The dies differ based on the amount of rust on Ms. Liberty, recut elements on the reverse, and die polish lines.
Thanks of the info Clint. It is interesting that HA place such emphasis on the variety Briggs 1-A, Rusted Liberty when there is only one in business strike. Seem unusual to me. Any thoughts to why?
I may discovered the answer to my question. Maybe they are using the Rust Die variety to explain the condition of the coin.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
If the coin was designated by PCGS as “PL”, that’s not the same thing as designating it as “Specimen”.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Mark- A specimen can be PL ?
A PL is not necessarily a specimen ?
Would you say if we asked
6 Numismatists which is which
what would be the answers ?
A “specimen“ can be (and is almost always) PL.
A PL is certainly, not necessarily a “Specimen”.
The answers of the 6 numismatists would be dependent on the numismatists and the coins.😉
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Why is this 1900 o a Specimen ?
I can see it is PL.
20th Century Gold Upgrade
We should know Dell Loy Hansen’s goals as a collector by now. Presently, the primary activity that I see is upgrades, upgrades, and more upgrades. In March, he made a significant addition with the purchase of the 1854-S Half Eagle. Hopefully we will get to see another major U.S. rarity added in 2020 (Hint: GreatCollections has one listed). Even if we don’t, we can be sure to see more upgrades, upgrades, and upgrades. As of today, The D. L. Hansen Collection has 1621 PCGS registry sets, and growing. Many are 100% complete. The little sets can easily get lost in the forest. I will draw your attention to one of those smaller and some would say insignificant sets, the Liberty Head $2-1/2 Gold 20th Century Set, Circulation Strikes (1900-1907). This is a boutique 8-piece set that PCGS describes as: The "short set" of Liberty Quarter Eagles is indeed short and sweet. Eight dates, all from Philadelphia and all abundant, even in higher grades. No, this is certainly not the toughest set in the Registry, but it is gold and any gold set is worthy of respect. And of course, worthy of a great deal of respect with a set rating above MS-66 which several discriminating collectors have managed to accomplish. Hansen has completed two MS67 sets. Is that “worthy of a great deal of respect”?
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D. L. Hansen #1 Liberty Head $2-1/2 Gold 20th Century Set, Circulation Strikes (1900-1907)
In his top set, six out of eight Hansen’s coins are finest certified by PCGS, with two being POP 1/0 specimens. With this recent purchase, he replaces a MS67+ with a MS68 POP 2/0. Now, five coins are PCGS graded MS68 and the remaining three are MS67+. There are three MS68 coins out there somewhere and Mr. Hansen need two of them to improve his collection. Do you have one?
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D. L. Hansen #2 Liberty Head $2-1/2 Gold 20th Century Set, Circulation Strikes (1900-1907)
The replaced (MS67+) coin moves into his #2 set with two other MS67+ specimens and two MS68s. Yes, the number 2 set has two PCGS MS68 POP 2/0 specimens. I guess when it is hard to decide the best of two coins, buy both. Three MS67 specimens rounds out the 8-piece set. Amazing Collection of Liberty Head $2-1/2 Gold 20th Century. It would not surprise me that he is working on a third set.
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1907 Liberty Head Quarter Eagle, MS68, Ex: D. Brent Pogue
In a recent blog, Dave Hall called this coin a monster. He wrote: Not sure picture does it justice, but this one is so iridescent it probably glows in the dark. Look for gold coins with great luster and color. People go wild over this look. Just bought this monster. I would love to see this little lady in person and up close. The picture makes the coin look wild (and people go wild); it has to be a WOW coin. I don’t know for a fact, but I believe David Hall may have been the winner of this coin in the Stacks Bowers March 2020 Auction of The D. Brent Pogue Collection Part VII: Masterpieces of United States Coinage. The coin was described as: Luxurious frosty surfaces are exceptionally vivid with rose-gold and powder blue iridescence on both sides. Fully struck and very close to perfection, this is an exquisite example that belongs in another world class numismatic cabinet. SBG estimated the coin at $7,000-$10,000 and the coin realized $17,400. I feel several of SBG estimates in the Pogue sale were low, and this was one of them. The coin do not have CAC Approval. Any guesses as to why not?
I am not sure how this coin came be a Hansen Coin. My best guess it was a private sale by David Hall Rare Coins. The coin appeared on his business website around April 3, 2020. The coin was listed for $28,500. Nice little short term profit if the sale was near that amount. The DHRC description: The best $2.5 Lib we’ve ever seen!!!!! OK we’ve been looking at coins…always focusing on Gem quality… for over 50 years. An every once in a while, we see something we haven’t seen before. And this is one of those cases. This is an amazing Liberty gold coin. The surfaces are totally mark-free. The strike is off-the-strike amazing, with every star detail 100% full, as are every detail of the hair, feathers and claws. And the color and luster is beyond amazing…rich and iridescent. This is one of the finest Liberty gold coins we’ve seen and absolutely the finest $2.5 Liberty we have ever seen. But, not all there for a CAC sticker. Humm.
As stated, we don’t know where the negotiation ended on this coin. PCGS Price Guide values the coin at $25,000 and David Hall was asking $28,500. Being the coin is not CAC Approved; maybe the guide price could be a little high. With the coin now in the Hansen Collection, we can be certain a “fair price” was reached by David and John. It is very nice to see DH has a good business relationship with the Hansen people. This is an amazing Liberty gold coin (as described by DH) that now will be for a long time in an amazing Liberty gold collection. Hopefully DH can find more amazing coins to sell to the Hansen Collection.
Superb Gem Mint State 1907 Quarter Eagle
Tied for Finest Certified at PCGS, MS68, POP 2/0, Ex: Pogue
Certification #38634087, PCGS #7859
PCGS Coin Guide Value: $25,000 / Realized unknown
Provenance: Stakes Bowers March 2020 - The D. Brent Pogue Collection Part VII: Masterpieces of United States Coinage Auction, Lot 7328 – D. L. Hansen Collection
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Note to @KindaNewish, I dug deep into the barrel of adjectives for boutique. Can you give me a Kudo too?
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
That 1907 QE is a stunner!
My YouTube Channel
@Currin Based solely upon the Truview image, my opinion is that the reduced realized price was due to it's limited eye appeal.
Love that quarter eagle and also that SLQ is fantastic as well
1878-CC “Carson City” Dime Upgrade
August, 2019 was the last discussion on Hansen’s Carson City set. I think it is about time to bring this set back in the light of the day. In several ways, Carson City coins are very special in a historic sense. When I think of Carson City coins, I can picture in my mind a dusty cowboy walking into a crusty saloon in Laramie Wyoming, and tossing an old CC Silver Dollar on the counter for the finest bottle of whiskey. If you are not an historic person, that’s OK, because I think you can still enjoy these coins. I read an article a few years ago that suggested that when CC coins were first minted, they really were not thought to be collectable. They were spent. This may contribute to the rarity of the coins that we see today.
The Historic Carson City set require 111 coins. One of the 111 coins is the Unique 1873-CC "No Arrows" Dime. This is the show stopper in completing the set. In the sale of the Battle Born Collection by Stacks Bowers in 2012, it was stated: Today the Battle Born Collection stands as only the second collection in numismatic history to have an absolutely complete presentation of Carson City coinage, this 1873-CC No Arrows dime being definitive. Naturally, Eliasberg had this coin and the first comprehensive complete set of not only Carson City, but all mints. The 111 coins in the Battle Born Collection realized almost $10M in the 2012 sale.
D. L. Hansen Collection has a complete 114 piece Carson City PCGS Registry Set. The big difference in the registry set is not requiring the Unique 1873-CC "No Arrows" Dime. The set has four additional major varieties. So, you may ask how Mr. Hansen progressing on set improvement. With this new specimen, this will be the fourth Carson City coin that Mr. Hansen has upgraded in 2020. He replaced 23 coins in 2019. So, you can see that this #1 registry set is getting better. So, how good is his 114 piece collection? The set has 16 PCGS coins that are graded POP 1/0 PCGS finest and another 20 tied for finest. It will take the purchase in the 1873-CC "No Arrows" Dime to put this collection over the top. Let’s watch and see what this collection achieves in the future.
1878-CC Seated Liberty Dime MS66
This is a rag to riches story. I not sure, but I believe Mr. Hansen acquired this coin somewhere in late fall of 2019. The coin was placed in just very few of his top sets. The only one that I can confirm is the small CC Dime set, which the coin appeared to have been updated and added to the top set in Oct, 2019. Prior to this week, the coin has hung out is most of Hansen’s #2 sets. The coin caught my attention a few days ago when it started appearing as the 1878-CC Seated Liberty Dime specimen in more of Hansen’s top sets (also, the top coin was deleted from all sets).
The coin can easily be overlooked, but the more I viewed the coin, the more I was drawn to it. Ron Guth described the coin as: In 1878, the Carson City Mint struck the last Dimes it would ever produce. As a "going-away" present, the Mint dropped the mintage of the Dimes to a mere fraction of those of the preceding years, this making the 1878-CC the sixth smallest mintage out of nine dates (counting each of the two types of 1873). Thus, the 1878-CC Dimes enjoys strong demand from collectors of products from this popular Mint. In Mint State, the 1878-CC Dime is scarce and expensive but not inaccessible. Grades above MS64 are truly rare, and the finest example is a remarkable PCGS MS68 (most likely the Eliasberg coin).
I can confirm the 1878-CC Dime in Hansen’s sets from the 2017-2018 era was a PCGS MS66 cert # 25686287. Interesting this coin sold in Heritage’s Jan, 2019 sale. I do recall JB saying Mr. Hansen sold a few coins in early 2019. I cannot determine for certain the top coin that appeared in most of Hansen top sets the past 12 months (deleted from all sets). There is an 1878-CC MS66 dime on David Lawrence Website, cert #85190844. I am not sure if that coin was in Mr. Hansen Collection, or one of the other three MS66 Specimens. We can be certain that at least three of the six PCGS MS66 certified specimens have been in the Hansen Collection.
In Heritage’s April 2008 (CSNS) Signature Coin Auction in Rosemont, IL, the new top Hansen coin was described as Gem 1878-CC Dime with Rare Type One Reverse. In doing some unscientific research of past auctions of MS65/MS66 specimens, I am not sure if the type one is more rare that the type two. This is where I need an expert. In the 2008 sale, the coin was a NGC MS65. Heritage described the coin as: Type One reverse (Very Rare). E in ONE nearly touches wreath. The last dime issued from the Carson City Mint, and a low mintage issue of only 200,000 pieces. Richly toned in shades of rose-gray and cobalt-blue. The design elements are boldly struck, and multiple die clash marks are easily noticeable in the right obverse field, as well as on the reverse. Impressively preserved and free of post-strike abrasions.
Fast forward about four years, OriginalDan bought the coin from Southgate Coins somewhere around 2012. The coin had been crossed over to a PCGS MS65 before Dan’s purchase. From their website: For years, Southgate Coins and Collectibles have been recognized nationwide as the premier source for Carson City coins. Specializing in everything related to the Carson City Mint, Rusty Goe has assisted collectors in building some of the finest sets of "CC" coins in history. He has placed some of the scarcest and most celebrated pieces from that legendary Nevada institution with his clients. Rusty was the chief architect for the historic Battle Born collection of Carson City coins, which sold for $10 million in August 2012, and included the prestigious 1873-CC Without Arrows dime and quarter. If you are looking for Caron City Coins, this may be the place to go. I wonder if Mr. Goe can hook Mr. Hansen up with the 1873-CC Without Arrows dime.
OriginalDan held onto the coin for several years. The story goes; he traded the coin to a vest pocket dealer that goes by shish here on the forum. OriginalDan traded this dime and some cash for an MS63 1876 Type II/II trade dollar. Shish submitted the coin for regrade. It was upgraded to MS-65+ and received a CAC sticker. He sold the coin at the 2017 Baltimore show to a “west coast dealer”. In past two years, the coin has been upgraded to MS66 by PCGS. I cannot be certain if this upgrade occurred after the Hansen purchase. I hope you enjoyed this brief and partial story how this coin went from NGC MS65 to be a featured coin in "The Greatest Collection of U.S. Coins Ever Assembled". Mr. Hansen had at least two or maybe three other MS66. Do you agree that his choice to keep this specimen was a good one?
This coin is valued around $12,000. The asking price for the one on DLRC website is $11,000. If this coin becomes the choice of the MS66s, as it appears so, then it should be solid specimen in the Hansen Collection until the MS68 PCGS specimen becomes available. As stated by Mr. Guth that one is most likely the Eliasberg coin. It is valued at about $25,000.
1878-CC Liberty Seated Dims MS66 (Gold Shield)
Tied for 2nd Finest PCGS Certified, POP 6/1
Certification #11501542, PCGS #4686, CAC Approved
PCGS Price Guide Value: $11,500
I know a couple you have owned this coin. Please comment on the In-Hand appeal. Thanks for letting me share your story.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Beautiful dime!
It looks RB to me and the reverse splotch doesn't help. I'm surprised this stickered. JA is usually very fussy over Lincolns.
How many really commonly agree that the Joe Thomas NGC MS67 coin is the finest coin? I viewed that coin at the 2003 ANA and did not like it at all as a gem. MS64 imo. It had both obvious high point rub and missing field luster....very obvious imo. As I recall around 80% field luster. Maybe it was graded very high because of the color and the collection it came from? Compared to the very original MS63 I once owned (and now a MS64) I only saw those 2 coins at most 1 technical grade apart. In my mind, if the Hansen MS65's are gem, that's realistically the finest graded. The last time I saw the Thomas coin auctioned around 7-10 yrs ago it fetched "decent" MS65 money.....around half of what he paid for it. I view the MS67 grade on the Thomas coin as a "legacy grade." Finding ANY 1939 ND half with full luster and zero rub is quite difficult....in any grade.
Is the 67 ex: The Norman Stack Type Collection? He did have an NGC 67. Should be plated in his book, if anyone here has it and can check. And FWIW, I only ask because if it's ex: Stack, Knoxville had nothing to do with the grade.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
It's probably the same coin. The 2003 NGC pop reports showed a lone MS67 with next best at 64. No doubt that was the Knoxville coin....and probably ex-Stack. I don't recall there ever being 2 MS67s listed.
The current NGC pop report shows 0 MS67's which means the lone 67 was down graded/crossed at lower grade. Even if it was lowered to a MS66, CAC hasn't stickered a single ND half above the 64 grade. Which sort of supports what I was saying....a true MS65 ND half might just be the finest known.
D. L. Hansen Buffalos Update
A couple months ago I provided an update on Hansen’s Buffalo Nickel Collection. Not much has changed. As I wrote, the #1 Registry Buffalo Nickel Set is the HOF Forsythe Set. The set is a long standing set that has maintained the award of the best of the registry since 2005. The set received its HOF status in 2005. It will be difficult, really impossible for Hansen to overcome this set. To make matters even grimmer, JDG Trust Collection has an amazing set of Buffalos that is rank #2. As I stated, not much has changed in the rankings.
The only possible change under these circumstances is for Hansen to slowly peg away with upgrades. It appear that he may be be getting a little more aggressive with this series. In March, he provided the first upgrades for 2020 by replacing three coins. They were 1925-S MS65 POP 33/3, 1931-S MS67 POP 13/0, and the amazing 1917 MS68 POP 4/0. In the past few weeks, his upgrade total has increase to seven including the March updates that I mentioned.
The “Finest” and “Tied for Finest” coins are just not available. I thought it would be interesting for you to see these four recent upgrades . Only one specimen is “Tied for Finest” certified by PCGS. I will feature the 1914-S because I like that one the best even though the coin is not CAC Approved. Also, I am a softy for old San Francisco Buffalos.
1914-S MS66+ Certification #36182487, PCGS #3926, POP 10/2
• Sold by GreatCollections Auctions, 10/2018 realized $9,000
• Listed on EBay, Apr 19, 2020, listed for $14,975 (seller coinerstone-enterprise)
1918 66+ Certification #38684977, PCGS #3937, POP 13/11
1929 MS67 Certification #38398485, PCGS #3966, POP 15/1
• Sold by Stacks Bowers March 2020 Auction, realized $4,800
1934 MS67+ Certification #38698426, PCGS #3972, POP 8/0, CAC Approved
• Sold by GreatCollections Auctions, 3/8/2020 realized $7,031
• Sold by David Lawrence Rare Auctions, 5/10/2020 realized $ $10,050
I will restate this is a set that really all Mr. Hansen can hope to do is chip away with better coins when available. He replaced nine coins in 2019 and seven so far in 2020. With eleven of the PCGS POP 1/0 Specimens are tied up in the top two sets, the expectations should not be set but so high. As I stated a couple times before, to even overcome the #2 set may be an impossible challenge.
1914-S Buffalo Nickel, MS66+
This is a second year for Buffalo from San Francisco mint. David Hall’s expert comments: The 1914-S is quite a bit easier to locate in circulated grades than the 1914-D, but it is somewhat rarer in mint state grades. Gem MS65 or better specimens are rare. Strike is somewhat soft, as is the case with most S-mint Buffalos. The luster can vary from satiny to somewhat frosty. I am by far from being an expert, but as I said before, I like the coin. I think the strike is pretty strong for this coin. The horn looks all there to me, but as I stated, I am not an expert. I know consideration for CAC Approved does not count much for a strong strike. I may be seeing something that is not proven yet, but I think the Hansen team may favor strike over CAC Approval. Just speaking for myself, I favor a nice coin with a strong strike. Apparently, that may not be the most popular point of view now days.
The Ebayer described the coin as: Nearly Irreplaceable Registry Set Quality!....An absolutely stunningly FLASHY & BRIGHT SPECIMEN with a pleasingly COLORFUL periphery from a really low PCG population..... PCGS has graded only 10 of this date at 66+ with a mere 2 specimens graded higher!!….. And as a matter of reference, the current PCGS price guide VALUE is $18,000.00!! No mention of strike. I am not surprised.
1914-S Buffalo Nickel, MS66+ (Gold Shield)
Certification #36182487, PCGS #3926, POP 10/2
PCGS Price Guide Value: $18,000 / Asking $14,975
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
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There have been some discussion on the Thomas 1839 Seated Liberty, No Drapery NGC MS67. I used the terms “commonly agree best coin”; I agree this is debatable and could be better worded. I based the comment on PCGS recognizing the NGC MS67 as an estimated MS66 which will be a POP 1/0, if crossed. It is the finest NGC graded specimen by at least a couple points. In the Heritage description: A powerfully appealing example of this issue, and the single finest known of this historic first-year type. To say the coin is commonly agreed finest grade coin would be more absolute.
To let everyone decide for themselves, I thought I would post the coin. The strike is pretty good. The coin realized $172,500 in a Heritage Jan 2011 Auction. This is an Auction Record for the coin. It later appeared in a Heritage August 2011 Auction, and the coin did not sale. Present whereabouts unknown to me. Continue the share any additional thoughts you may have.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Don't let the "2 points higher than anything else" cloud our judgement. I ran into that same situation back in 2006 on another "finest known for the date" better date seated half in NGC MS66....2 points higher than anything else graded at either service. Came out of a major old time auction sale in the 1990's. It had all the ingredients to be "the" coin. When I got that coin in hand I was stunned - it was MS63/64, no better. Missing field luster and signs it was at least modestly wiped in its life reducing the luster. That coin was eventually downgraded to NGC MS65....and it's still the lone MS65 at either service. And its Heritage auction price (as MS65) within 6 months of that previous MS66 appearance was 1/3 the price - essentially MS64 money. No bidders were fooled. So this does happen. And NGC has stickered none above 64, suggesting that as both a 66 or 65, that "finest" graded is just another 64. So this does happen.
There are still no CAC 65's or better of an 1839 ND - despite at one time their being a MS67. My recollection of the once NGC MS67 ND half is much the same. I didn't like the coin as a 65. But, I'm ok if someone else does like it as a 65/66. We all see things differently. CAC apparently doesn't like it as a 66 or you can bet it would be stickered. Maybe it eventually crosses to PCGS MS66 and rates as the "best?" For now, CAC doesn't certify ANY of the MS65 or higher ND halves....and I'm not surprised. The video of the MS67 really doesn't show it well. It was a fairly deeply toned coin too. For a better view of the coin I'd go back to the Heritage archives when the coin was sold in the 2009-2011 period....see link and color photo below. But in the end, only an impartial, in-hand inspection really counts.
In reviewing the auction links below it refreshed my memory. The obverse field luster on that were broken up quite a bit. There is a very wide and long flat spot on Liberty's right leg - not just from strike imo....and in a totally different color than the surrounding areas. It looks worn and oxidized there. And that same reddish color appears in patches in the right obv field....not good since one is a coin high point and the other a low point. If they are the same it suggests the "luster" there (or lack of it) is the same. Note too that the flat rims look smooth and rounded - those really should be rough and covered in luster on a real gem specimen....often the first place the luster starts to go.
The reverse is very sharp with no corresponding strike flatness in that same area. Overall, very clean on marks as I recall. If this coin were cross-worthy into a PCGS MS66 it would have already been done. No doubt many here would call the coin AU58 if they were going by the auction color photo below and not knowing the assigned grade. Here's a case where the auction photo highlights the flaws. Even the reverse video photo shows luster weakening across the lower protected fields.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/seated-half-dollars/half-dollars/1839-50c-no-drapery-ms67-ngc-pcgs-6230-/a/1151-5558.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515
Thanks for the discussion roadrunner. It is great when a knowledgeable contributor with lots of experience chimes in. Sounds like with Hansen two coins, the Horatio Morgan and Pogue specimens, he may have the 1839 50C No Drapery covered. Do you know any other specimen that could make the PCGS MS66 ranks? It does not sound like there is a perfect coin for this date. This may be one of those dates where there is not one coin that stands out the best.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Jefferson Nickel Update
This is not the first update on the Jefferson Nickels series, but they are rare. As we have seen with some other modern series, Hansen works hard on updating and improving his modern collection. As I have stated before, I think this demonstrates “The Collection” has something for everybody. In a collection with coins valued hundreds thousands of dollars as well as a few in the millions of dollars, a series as Jefferson Nickels could be very low on Hansen’s priority list. That does not seem to be the case. This update will feature two new coins.
Hansen has the All-Time Finest Set in all eras for Jefferson Nickels FS Basic, Circulation Strikes (1938-present). The set can be thought of as being in two parts. The first being 1938-1964, where Hansen is solid at the #1 spot. The other being 1965-Present, where Hansen is in second behind the Ray Overby Collection. To break this down even further, the 1965-1967 can be thought of as a mini-set. Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez provided this explanation that recently appeared in CoinWeek. The mid-1960s was a colorful time in American numismatics, with the United States Mint making a series of changes to accommodate a terrible coin shortage brought on by widespread hoarding of 90% silver circulating dimes, quarters, and half dollars as the price of silver rose. To lessen the cost of producing circulating coinage, the Mint switched the composition of the dime and quarter to copper-nickel clad, and reduced the amount of silver in the half dollar to only 40%. And to help dissuade the removal of coins from circulation, the mint temporarily removed mintmarks from all coins beginning in 1965.
The Jefferson Nickels for these three years are very difficult to find with Full Steps strikes. According to POP report, PCGS have certified only two 1965 Full Steps, one MS65FS and one MS66FS. 1966 was the bonanza year with seven certified, 2-MS64FS, 4-MS65FS, and one MS66FS. There are no 1967 PCGS certified Full Step Jefferson Nickels in any grades. The total run for this short series is only 10 Full Steps. Only two MS66FS coins have been PCGS certified and Mr. Hansen recently acquired both.
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1966 Jefferson Nickel, MS66FS
I will say that I am not captivated with the inconsistent toning on this coin. The inconsistency appears on both the obverse and reverse. I know the coin is not judged on the toning rather the strike, and more precisely, the details in the steps. Not being an expert, it does appear the steps are all there. Our forum expert Ron Guth provided this comment: The 1966 Nickel is an extreme rarity with Full Steps. PCGS has certified only six examples, the best of which are four in PCGS MS65FS. Since this comment was published, Mr. Hansen has somewhere found a MS66FS.
The only history that I can find on the coin is that it sold in a GreatCollections Auction. Ian Russell must be extremely proud and excited with the great auction site they have built. I am seeing quite a few coins being actioned by GCA that is ending up in the Hansen Collection. It would make my research easier if PCGS would include GCA in their auction result report. It is about time to get it done. The coin sold Nov 03, 2019, so I am very hesitate to say that Mr. Hansen purchased the coin in the auction. The coin realized $9568 with buyer’s fees.
1966 Jefferson Nickel, MS66FS (Gold Shield)
Certification #37816880 / PCGS #84078 / POP 1/0
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1965 Jefferson Nickel, MS66FS
This is the monster coin of the two Top POPs. Were the coins purchased as a pair? Did they come from the modern monster coin dealer? Very possible, but maybe not. David Lawrence Rare Coins had the coin briefly listed on their website. The coin was described as: An extremely rare date with full steps, this example of the 1965 Jefferson is certainly high end for the grade and the finest graded by PCGS. Extremely Rare means only two in all grades! Also, the coin had a brief appearance on eBay in an offer by NFC Coins. The ask on the coin was $40,000, and the listing was ended by the seller “because the item is no longer available”.
Ron Guth comment: The 1965 Nickel is an extreme rarity with Full Steps. PCGS has certified only one example, a single PCGS MS65FS. I am not sure when Mr. Guth made the comments on PCGS webpage, but both of Hansen’s POP 1/0 specimens has been certified after the comments.
The Roster for 1965 Jefferson Nickels Full Step
1- D.L. Hansen Collection, MS66FS, Certification #37334057
2- Ray Overby Collection, MS65FS, Certification #21133128
Now, that is a very short roster. If you want a 1965 MS-FS for your collection, good luck in trying to get one from either of these great collections. Other than mention above, I cannot find any 1965 MS-FS have ever appeared in auction. PCGS Price Guide values the coin a $40,000.
1965 Jefferson Nickel, MS66FS (Gold Shield)
Certification #37334057 / PCGS #84077 / POP 1/0
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Charlotte Mint Upgrade
The complete basic set for this mint contains 50 items, and there are four additional items for the major varieties set. Even with this somewhat low count, only six registry collections have met the challenge for completion (Bass, Smithsonian, Eliasberg, Southern Collection, NC Collection and JJ Pitman). Hansen is number seven and currently has ascended to the top of the registry for the basic 50 coin set. Harry W. Bass was previously honored for assembling a compete set of the highest quality gold coins minted at the Charlotte mint.
Presently, Hansen’s basic set is GPA rated at 60.29 and the Bass set is 59.66. I cannot make a claim that the Hansen set is better than the Bass set, because we know comparing coins from different eras can be difficult and highly debatable. The only fact that can be concluded is that D. L. Hansen Collection of Charlotte Gold is the #1 registry set of all-times.
For the major variety set, Hansen still needs two varieties (1849-C Open Wreath $1 and 1839/8 $2.5). Bass owned neither the 1949-C Open Wreath $1 or 1839/8 $2.5. If Hansen can complete the set with last two items, he will accomplish a goal that no has ever been able to achieve (Note: According to PCGS registry). This will be interesting to watch to see if the last two coins are obtainable at some point.
1851-C $5 MS63+, CAC Approved, POP 1/1
This coin is not PCGS TOP POP 1/0 specimen, but I do believe it to be the best PCGS graded specimen with CAC Approval. This upgrade should give us assurance that Mr. Hansen has not abandoned the Charlotte Collection because he has achieved the registry top set. This is the fourth Charlotte coin to be upgraded in 2020. The coin is described as Variety 1; "earring" in Liberty's lobe. The coin recently appeared in inventory on Douglas Winters Numismatics Website (www.raregoldcoins.com). The seller described the 1851-C coins as: With the exception of the 1852-C (of which two small hoards once existed), all Charlotte half eagles are rare and under-appreciated in properly graded MS63 and finer. Probably half (or more) of the third-party graded Charlotte half eagles in these lofty grades have been processed or messed with, and only a small number are seen with natural color and choice surfaces. As a date, the 1851-C half eagle is very rare in Uncirculated with an estimated 6 to 8 known. The highest graded is the PCGS MS64 Elrod coin, also graded MS64 by NGC, which set a record for the date when it brought $69,000 in January 2003. The coin offered for sale here is clearly the second best 1851-C half eagle, and it is the only other example of this date graded higher than MS62 by PCGS. This coin has a remarkably fresh appearance with lovely rich natural green-gold hues which are exactly right for the date. The strike is razor sharp which is unusual for the issue. The surfaces are very clean with a near-total absence of marks. There is an interesting small mint-made area of frost in a crescent shape hanging from the lower beak of the eagle. This coin is really exceptional in every respect, and you wouldn’t as much as blink if you saw this in an MS64 holder.
I am unsure why Charlotte coins are not as popular as other series, but here are some clues. PCGS describes the coins as: This historic Mint met the same end as that of Dahlonega, in that both were captured by the Confederacy during the Civil War and never reopened. Today, collectors from across the country remember this tumultuous time through the magnificent coins of the Charlotte Mint. There are only six current collectors in the registry, with only three that are more than 50% complete. Collector #6 has only one coin, so not sure that one should even be counted. Mr. Winter discussed his thoughts on these old gold coins. He wrote: When the finest graded Elrod 1851-C half eagle was in an NGC MS63 holder, it still brought $46,000 all the way back in February 1999. That exact coin has sold no fewer than six times since early 1999; most recently for $41,400 in January 2005. There are no APRs for any PCGS graded Uncirculated example of the 1851-C. Ever. This brings us to an interesting discussion. Top grade (MS63 and finer) Charlotte (and to some degree Dahlonega) half eagles trade at the same or even lower levels than they did at turn of the century (that’s 1999 for the math-challenged). I believe the reason for this is two-fold: first, current collectors prefer assembling sets of these issues in EF and AU grades due to cost factors; second, with so many of the higher grade pieces from these mints ruined by having been doctored, the really nice coins stay depressed from a price perspective. This should be a $75,000 coin in my opinion as it represents the finest available example of an issue which is genuinely rare in Uncirculated.
The ask price on the coin was $42,500. We don’t know exactly what Mr. Hansen actually paid, but according to Mr. Winter, it was a pretty good deal because the coin should be valued at $75,000. Lastly, Mr. Winter provided a small peek at the coin’s history. I quietly sold this piece a few years back to a serious gold coin collector who has decided to focus on the issues from his home state mint. I acquired this from a dealer who had purchased it from an old Southern family who had likely owned it since its date of issuance. I believe this to be a very nice and solid addition to the Hansen Collection.
1851-C Liberty Half Eagle, Variety 1, MS63+
2nd Finest PCGS Certified, Top Graded CAC Approved
Certification #83577716, PCGS #8247, POP 1/1
PCGS Price Guide Value: $46,500 / Ask $42,500
Provenance: Old Southern Family – Douglas Winter sold to a gold coin collector - Douglas Winter sold to D. L. Hansen (5/2020)
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
I think Hansen should be very happy at his great accomplishment with Charlotte Gold, without going down the rabbit hole of varieties. If he were to pursue varieties in all of his sets, they would not be completed with his time on this Earth. With some series there are as many varieties as there are are "basic" date-mint mark coins.
OINK
Another 1965-1967 Mint Set Update
A couple updates ago, I provided a discussion on the small 15-coin 1965-1967 Mint Set. This is not a registry set. I am not sure why, there is a 15-coin 1965-1967 SMS Set, but not for mint state. In the last couple weeks, we saw The Hansen Collection replaced two Jefferson Nickels FS in this short date range. Both were PCGS POP 1/0 specimens. This new coin is not a POP 1/0; but the coin is every bit as nice and tied for finest known Roosevelt Dime, POP 3/0.
Last week, I shared that Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez provided this account in a recent appearance of CoinWeek. The mid-1960s was a colorful time in American numismatics, with the United States Mint making a series of changes to accommodate a terrible coin shortage brought on by widespread hoarding of 90% silver circulating dimes, quarters, and half dollars as the price of silver rose. To lessen the cost of producing circulating coinage, the Mint switched the composition of the dime and quarter to copper-nickel clad, and reduced the amount of silver in the half dollar to only 40%. And to help dissuade the removal of coins from circulation, the mint temporarily removed mintmarks from all coins beginning in 1965.
The image below is a snapshot for the 15 coins from Hansen’s large 1792-Present complete set. As you can see the Hansen team is a little slow in updating. Including today’s new coin, here are the three coins that I have identified that should show up at some point in the future. When these updates are added to the 15 coin set, the Collection will have eight tied for finest specimens, and two POP 1/0 coins.
1965 Jefferson Nickel, MS66FS, Certification #37334057 / PCGS #84077 / POP 1/0
1966 Jefferson Nickel, MS66FS, Certification #37816880 / PCGS #84078 / POP 1/0
1965 Roosevelt Dime, MS68FB, Certification #37717559, PCGS #85130 / POP 3/0
1965 Roosevelt Dime, MS68FB
In the 3 coin set for 1965-1967 Roosevelt Dimes, this is the second MS68FB tied for finest known dime. The other is beautiful 1967 Dime MS68FB Certification #03675362. I have seen better Full Bands before, but I believe they are all there. Coin Expert Jaime Hernandez commented: The 1965 Roosevelt Dime has an extremely large mintage of over a billion coins struck. However, they are very difficult to find displaying Full Bands details on the reverse design. Only well struck examples display Full Bands and usually these are the earler stuck examples from a pair of dies. For the 1965-P Roosevelt Dime, PCGS has graded less than 100 coins in total with the FB designation in all grades combined. The PCGS POP Report is showing 93 as of today.
This 1965 Roosevelt Dime, MS68FB appeared in auction in 2019. The other 1965 MS68FB coin is blast white example that sold in Heritage’s March 2013 US Coin Signature Auction in Dallas. This specimen is presently in The Halcyon Collection. The coin realized $3,819 and may be the Auction Record for a non-error coin. There is no public information on the third 1965 MS68FB coin. The coin does not appear to be listed in the registry.
The Hansen specimen is only the second time that a 1965 Roosevelt Dime, MS68FB PCGS coin has appeared in public auction. The coin sold in Legend Rare Coin Regency 32 Auction on May 2019. The auctioneer described the coin as: WOW! What else can you say about this amazing dime? The quality and eye appeal are simply stunning! Sharply struck, frosty lustrous and awash in beautiful rose and gold toning with arcs of teal, magenta, and pale blue throughout F.D.R.'s hair lines. The surfaces are PRISTINE and the eye appeal is beyond compare! This is tied for FINEST graded, from an original mintage of over 1.65 BILLION. The first year of the new composition, this coin is an important first year of type coin. The only PCGS MS68 to ever sell in auction brought $3,819 back in March 2013-that was half a dozen years ago. The current PCGS Price Guide value is listed at $4,150. NONE are finer at PCGS, and this is worthy of the FINEST of sets. We can see this coin bringing a RECORD price when the hammer finally falls. Good luck!
Legend’s estimated the coin value at $3,500 - $4,000. The coin realized $2,937.50. I don’t think the coin was purchase directly by the Hansen Team from Legend a year ago. I believe the coin was picked up recently and more than likely by private transaction. This is a great addition to the modern portion of the D. L. Hansen Collection of US Coins.
1965 Roosevelt Dime, MS68FB (Gold Sheid)
Certification #37717559, PCGS #85130 / POP 3/0
PCGS Price Guide Value: $4,150 / $2,937.50 in 2019 Auction
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
1851-C Liberty Half Eagle, Variety 1, MS63+
2nd Finest PCGS Certified, Top Graded CAC Approved
Certification #83577716, PCGS #8247, POP 1/1
PCGS Price Guide Value: $46,500 / Ask $42,500
Provenance: Old Southern Family – David Winter sold to a gold coin collector - David Winter sold to D. L. Hansen (5/2020)
I think you mean Doug Winter
Latin American Collection
So True. I corrected the error. The wrong Mr. Winter, David is the one that designs the little houses.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Another Franklin Half Dollars
Just a few weeks ago The Hansen Collection upgraded with a 1956 MS67+ FBL Franklin Half Dollar Specimen, CAC Approved, POP 5/0. At that time, I provided a very detail update for the Franklin Half Dollars FBL series. PCGS describes the set as: Mintages are irrelevant when gauging the rarity of a Franklin issue in MS 65 or MS 65 FBL (or higher grade). Original BU rolls of Franklin half dollars rarely contain even a single MS 65 coin. Because this series is both challenging and affordable, it has become one of the most popular of all U. S. coins sets to assemble. As this is being written only twenty sets can be put together in MS65FBL, and one set is possible in MS66FBL! Most collectors assemble this set with as many FBL pieces as possible, then fill in the holes with non-FBL specimens until the right coins come along.
Todays upgrade makes the third specimen in 2020 that Mr. Hansen has swapped in the Franklin Half Dollars FBL Basic, Circulation Strikes (1948-1963) Set. There are 14 coins in the top set that are tied for the finest certified by PCGS. If you count the 1961 50C, FBL MS66+ FBL Certification #38130039, POP 4/0 that is presently in set #2, there are 15 out 35 coins that are tied for finest certified by PCGS. The collection still does not have a POP 1/0 PCGS specimen.
1958 Half Dollar MS67+ FBL
This coin was added to the collection late Friday night, May 29th. The coin was last sold publicly by Legend Rare Coin Regency 35 Auction on 12/12/2019. The coin was described as: Tied for FINEST graded with the monster toned example that brought a world record price of $129,250. Like that coin, this one is beautifully toned with amazing eye appeal. Boldly lustrous surfaces gleam with a strong, brilliant vibrance. Every detail is sharply struck up from a precision blow from the dies. Again, like the other example, this coin's eye appeal is mostly imparted by a dramatic palette of color. Sunset orange dominates and is joined by emerald green, violet, and magenta tones on the obverse, while the reverse has some pale blue within the olive-gold shades that dominate The surfaces are clean and smooth, free of any distracting marks, lines or anything else. This coin is totally worthy of its lofty grade. There are three coins graded total in MS67+ FBL, only one of which has ever sold in auction, the world record breaking example that brought $129,250 after multiple rounds of fierce bidding. Collectors Universe value has not been adjusted. As one of the FINEST of all Franklin half dollars known, this coin will see very strong bidding when the hammer falls. Good luck! The record breaking result was in a September 2018 Legend Auction, and the PCGS certification number is no longer valid. The record coin has a new PCGS number, 38129993. The coin is in The Linda Gail Collection of Franklin Half Dollars. The third specimen does not appear to be in the registry.
In the December 2019 sale, the coin that now belongs to Mr. Hansen realized $10,575. The CAC Approved coin was estimate by Legend to realized $15,000 - $20,000. Expert Jaime Hernandez Comments: The 1958-P Franklin Half Dollar has one of the lowest mintages in the series. It's mintage was 4,042,000 but if compared to other coins in the series like the 1963-D which had a mintage of over 67,000,000 the 1958-P's mintage is relatively small. Most 1958-P Franklin Half's came in nice quality. Only in MS65 grades and higher does it appear to be scarce. In MS66 condition it is scarce but there are still hundreds of examples that exist in this condition. In MS67 condition they are very scarce with less than a few dozen known.
It appear Dell Loy Hansen purchase the coin from David Lawrence Rare Coins. The ask price on the coin was $13,000. I wonder how much a discount that he gets at DLRC. The DLRC listing on Ebay was ended this morning (5/30) with the statement: This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available. The coin was described as: Boldly lustrous, superb gem! Smooth surfaces display brilliant luster and vibrant toning in shades of orange, olive, magenta and pale blue. The strike is full and precise and the eye appeal is phenomenal! Tied for finest known with just two other pieces. CAC approved for quality. It a little amazing and also unexplainable for me how one out of three coins realizes $129,250 and just a little over a year later, one of the other coins with CAC Approval has an ask price of $13,000. I am not Mr. Hansen, but I would rather have the $13K specimen and pocket the additional $115K. Anyone agree or disagree?
1958 MS67+ FBL Franklin Half Dollar Specimen, CAC Approved
Certification #38264719, PCGS #86674, POP 3/0
PCGS Coin Guide Value: $13,000 / Ask $13,000
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Not even in the same galaxy...
To be fair, the Hansen acquisition wasn’t priced in the same galaxy, either.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Glad to see you back! All OK???
Both are PCGS MS67+FBL CAC. Both are in Gen 6.0 holders. Both have modern TrueViews. Both were sold by Legend Auctions. Big difference in price.
1958 Franklin Half - PCGS MS67+FBL CAC - D.L. Hansen Specimen
Legend lot description:
1958 Franklin Half - PCGS MS67+FBL CAC - Linda Gail Specimen
Legend lot description:
The more expensive coin has too many distracting marks. (the one on the forehead really bothers me)
I'd grade the Hansen a 67A and the other a 67C although the multicolored one has a nicer strike on the reverse.
My Saint Set
EX: Dr. Charles Link Half Dollar
Dr. Charles Link is one of my favorite PCGS Registry Collectors. He has several PCGS Hall of Fame sets in the Capped Bust Half Dollars by Overton Varieties. According to my count, he has four sets that has been award the Hall of Fame honor. I think it’s time for him to be awarded the HOF award as a Specialized Area Collector. If there is a way that I can lobby for that to happen next month, sign me up. I know of no collector that deserves the honor more that Dr. Link.
The Link Collection dates back at least a couple decades. Some people that know Chuck, describe him as a true CBH nut! He told me once that anything after 1839 is modern to him. He has many great early Bust Specimens and has a couple registry sets that have surpassed Brett Pogue. Now, that is saying something. I know a few of you don’t give a rip for provenance and pedigrees. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but it is my opinion that if you can get your hands on an Ex: Link, then you have something special.
This upgrade is the 1817/3 Half Dollar Overton 101a. I have written about The Hansen Collection of Early Half Dollars a few months ago, so I will not bore you again with the details. The short of the story is that he is three coins away from a complete set. This coin is an upgrade and not a new addition. Ron Guth had this to say about this variety: The 1817/3 Half Dollar is an enigmatic overdate that defies explanation. If it were a leftover die from 1813, one would expect the 13th obverse star to show the notched point that is believed to be the "signature" of engraver John Reich. Reich resigned his position in March 1817, after which the notching of the stars ended. This suggests that the new engraver simply made an error by punching a 3 into the die, then corrected it with the proper 7 punch. But, why would the engraver have picked up a punch for a 3? That would have been an egregious oversight on the engraver's part, especially since he was four year's away from a need for a 3, plus there is no U.S. coin from 1817 where a 3 might be used in either a legend, motto, or denomination. Regardless of the reason for this variety, it is extremely popular with collectors. Only one die combination (Overton 101, and it's later die state Overton 101a) utilize this obverse. In most grades, the 1817/3 Half Dollar is fairly common, but in Mint State, it becomes very rare.
1817/3 O-101a Bust Half Dollar, MS63+, Ex: Link
Chuck liquidated this coin a few years ago, and the specimen has been searching for a home since. It finally found its way into the Hansen Collection. The coin has appeared in auction three times since first appearance in September 2018 Legend Rare Coin Auction. In the Legend Auction, the coin realized almost as much as the last two auctions combine ($22,913). Maybe the Legend description makes all the difference: One of the FINEST KNOWN examples of this very popular overdate. Clearly in the Condition Census, this 63+ is very CHOICE for the variety. The quality and eye appeal are truly dramatic! Indeed the only "flaw" are a pair of mint made slag marks on the reverse which are part of the planchet production process (this is where some impurities in the silver came out to the surface as the silver ingot was being drawn to prepare the planchets). Both sides offer a deep blue and orange-amber toning that captivates the viewer's attention. Sharply struck, the devices are crisply impressed by the screw press. The 7 over 3 in the date is visible even at arm's length. A bold satin luster brings the beautiful toning to life with a vivid brilliance. The dies were sharply clashed before this one was struck. Try as we might, we cannot find a prior pedigree to this high grade, beautiful CHOICE Mint State 1817/3. It does not match the Queller or Vermeulle coins which were both described as Very Choice Brilliant Uncirculated, but were uncertified when they sold in 2002 and 2001 respectively. PCGS 3, NGC 0. None of the three MS63+s have ever sold in auction. In September 2016, we sold a PCGS MS63 for $27,025 in Regency Auction XVIII. In July 2013, a PCGS/CAC MS64 sold for $61,688. This high grade example will see considerable bidding when it crosses the auction block. The dramatic boldness of the overdate and strong eye appeal will entice a very strong hammer price when the auctioneer calls the last bid! Good luck.
The coin appeared in two Heritage Auctions this year. In the Jan 2020 Auction, the coin realized $13,800. I believed the coin was purchased by Mr. Hansen in Heritage April 23 2020, Central States (CSNS) U.S. Coins Signature Auction in Dallas, TX. In this auction, the price realized was down to $11,100. I am lost to the reason the coin has devalued more than 50% in 2020. The description from Heritage Auction: Shades of violet and royal-blue combine at the margins for stunning visual effect, while amber-gold luster fills open areas in the lilac-gray toning that imbues the centers of this high-end, Select Uncirculated 1817/3 half. The reverse adds sea-green shades to the palette. The obverse stars are razor-sharp, and the all-important overdate unmistakable on this luminous, collector-favorite O-101a. A remarkable array of quadruple die clashing visits both sides, plus a few reverse die cracks confirm the late die state. The strike is sharp but not quite full, with a touch of high-point weakness on Liberty's curls. The eagle's head and wing shoulder show only minor incompleteness. A few light marks are well-concealed beneath the colorful, attractive patina. This coin sits at the lower-end of the Condition Census for the O-101a variety, according to Stephen Herrman's Autumn 2019 Census.
1817/3 O-101a Bust Half Dollar, MS63+(Gold Shield)
Outstanding Color and Eye Appeal, Ex: Link, PCGS POP 3/1
Certification #28524361, PCGS # 39512 (Variety of: 6111)
PCGS Price Guide Value $27,500 / Realized $11,100
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Hi, I'm Greg and have been on these lovely forums for over 10 years now. Over the last day, I have read all 67 pages of this thread. Okay, well, some pages were skimmed when they deviated from my interests.
I have not spent time in this thread before now as I have taken time off in the last 18 months or so. Anyway, I took a few notes while reading and I thought I would share a few things from my perspective and about the knowledge I have in a more narrow area. I hope Mr. Hansen truly has an interest and reads this.
I have 35+ years of experience with Mercury Dimes. For the last 15 years that has included all Mercury Dime Varieties. I participated in the complete merc variety set a few years back. I had about 13 Top Pop Varieites which was more than anyone else, not to mention plenty of other examples. It is only because of people like me (keyman64), Dimeman, fcloud, Larry Martin and a few others that Hansen has the coins he has to complete his set. These varieties have been known about for decades+ (mostly circulated) but it wasn't until about 10-15 years ago that truly nice examples were located through years and years and years of extremely hard work and numismatic study. I unfortunately sold my Top Pop varieties 5+ years ago.
In regards to ****PROVENANCE****, I can say that Mr. Hansen has 5 of my coins in his set that I cherrypicked. So if there is an interest in providing proper credit and preserving history, reference keyman64 instead of just putting D.L. Hansen on the labels, sets, comments, notes. I would be honored to be a tiny footnote in the collection.
More on that later. https://www.pcgs.com/cert/06756163
1931-S FS-101 MS66FB (Current Pop 3/0*). I cherrypicked this coin out of a Heritage Auction in 2011. Without the attribution on the label, most people were hesitant to risk it. I knew it was the variety, bought it and had it attributed. Why do I say hesitant?...because I have had to council our host on proper variety attribution a few times, no need to go into that here but I was always successful. *I know where additional unattributed examples reside and who owns them in MS66+FB, MS67FB and MS67+FB
1936-S FS-110 MS67FB (Current Pop 1/0) I cherrypicked this out of a Heritage Auction in January 2013, unfortunately others also noticed the variety. Lol. I also owned a MS65FB that I pulled out of an NGC holder in 2010. https://www.pcgs.com/cert/06756163
1939-D/D FS-501 MS65FB (Current Pop 3/0) I cherrypicked this at a local show in November 2011 when it was in a SEGS 64FB holder, cracked it out and sent it in to PCGS for grading and attribution. https://www.pcgs.com/cert/28204298
1941 DDO FS-101 MS65 (Current Pop 1/0) I cherrypicked this RAW at Winter FUN 2014 for $50. I had to pay so much because it was a toner. I did not have a True View taken because I was more than capable at photography, hence the reason most of my coins did not have TVs. Until that moment, NO MINT STATE EXAMPLES were ever known to exist. I know this from my conversations with the tight variety community here and my conversations with Bill Fivaz and Kevin Flynn back in those days. The rarity of this coin is not understood. I can tell you that 10s of thousands of 1941 Mercury Dimes have been searched over the last couple of decades by just a half dozen people or so. You may think there are rolls of these out there somewhere but there aren't, at least we haven't found them yet. Some of us continue to look. I auctioned this coin and most of my others at Great Collections. I hope Mr. Hansen takes a moment to look at this coin with a 10x AND 20x loupe to truly appreciate it as I did. This is a very important coin for the set. This one sold for about $1800. Not bad for my $50 investment. https://www.pcgs.com/cert/28901864
Here are my Photos:
The underside of UST is where it is most noticeable and the die lines through the motto are the quick big pick up points when lighting is challenging..
1942-D/D FS-501 MS66FB (Current Pop 5/2) This was a much more scarce coin 10 years ago. I cherrypicked a 64FB in 2010 which was Top Pop and then this 66FB in June 2013 which became the new Top Pop for a couple of years. https://www.pcgs.com/cert/26475175
Out of the 30-40 or so Mint State Mercury Dime Varieties I had, IIRC, 13 were top pop, I would have to research to confirm. I have traced 8 of my other top coins to other Mercury Dime Variety Registry Sets owned by Jwinter, Dimeman, Sandman, Larry Martin and others. Some of which are better than examples that Mr. Hansen currently owns. I noticed one variety selling at Heritage tonight was 67FB where Mr. Hansen only owns a MS66 example 1943-S/S FS-501 in his set. Hopefully he has good people around him and bought it? Ihttps://coins.ha.com/itm/mercury-dimes/1943-s-s-10c-repunched-mintmark-fs-501-ms67-full-bands-pcgs-pcgs-population-1-0-and-1-0-ngc-census-0-0-and-0-0-/a/132023-21178.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116 I thought about buying it out of the Heritage auction tonight but passed since there is still one finer. I located another Cherrypick Variety today that is graded 1 point higher than what he has in his set currently and will be Top Pop when attributed. As soon as I find more time, I'm certain I will easily find more and I might put together another set. I'm not sure. Knowledge is power.
@Currin said on January 6, 2019 at 7:37PM on P30 of this thread mentions that the 1916-D Mercury Dime is the _ rarest_ of the series. and then
@Currin said on June 30, 2019 at 7:04PM on P45 of this thread: With the recent auction sale of a PCGS MS66FB 1919-D dime for $212,500 this series is suddenly being looked upon with a new appreciation. _ With as many things that have been called out or disputed etc in this thread, I would like to provide some general knowledge to those that are here. Many of the participants in this thread are quite influential and I hoped to put some Mercury Dime misconceptions to rest back in 2012 but the thread really never took off and It doesn't help when numismatic writers and professionals also parrot the assumed impression that we all learned at age 8 while reading the Red Book and seeing that the 1916-D has the lowest mintage figure by a large margin and therefore must be the _RAREST. I need to revisit this analysis 8-9 years later now to see how numbers and populations have changed and then take the analysis even deeper as I suggested in my 2012 thread. There were some decent replies in 2012 and I even got David W. Lange from ATS to share his thoughts. He is the author of The Complete Guide to Mercury Dimes Second Edition, among other books. Anyway, bottom line...the 1916-D is NOT the Key or Rarest of the Mercury Dime series and I hope people can stop spreading this information. Here is my 2012 post: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/858446/mercury-dime-key-semi-key-analysis/p1
@Currin was asked by Stewart Blay if it was known how many Eliasberg coins are in the collection on October 20, 2019 at 9:10PM on P54 of this thread and Currin answered that it was not known, indicating that it might be a chore to figure this out. I would argue otherwise, assuming PCGS has quality records within their database. A simple database query could be executed by PCGS if they so desire. Select all coins where pedigree like Eliasberg innerjoined with all of the coins currently in Mr. Hansen's inventory. That's how I would do it. Trying to go through each coin would be madness. If historical pedigrees have been destroyed and overwritten with Hansen...well, then that's going to be a problem.
@Currin asked for opinions about labels on November 8. 2019 at 8:20PM on P58
My only thoughts are that a Hansen label is great but when it comes to provenance/pedigree, history should be preserved. This kinda ties together the above comment and what I mentioned about provenance near the beginning of this post. Many of the coins in this vast collection took YEARS and YEARS to FIND by numismatists that were true specialists in their areas of focus. A nod of respect should be provided to those and all of their hard work. Learning varieties, pick up points, nuances that make some coin examples better than others such as rusted dies in the 1800s being viewed as inferior qualities for some coins etc etc etc. The list goes on. I do not believe that the mere purchasing of coins should allow for their history to be hidden or destroyed. Many of us are history nuts. To go against all of that does not make sense to me.
I have read through this thread and seen so many times where it really does seem like Mr. Hansen has great passion for this hobby and that makes me feel much better about the effort than what I felt when I first learned about the endeavor a couple of years ago. I suspect this passion might be limited to only the BIG COINS though. With Mr. Hansen taking on all of the variety sets as well, something Eliasberg certainly never did, it bothers me a little. Variety collectors are truly passionate about all of the attributes in coins of their focus. From what I have read in this thread, I do not think I see the same level of passion for the varieties and question the real reasons for ownership. I went into varieties because I could not compete with the bank accounts of others. After years of study and searching however, I can compete and more often than not, beat those with deep pockets. This brought great joy since hard work can prevail. I almost feel like instead of bringing passion to the variety scene, he might just be crushing the passion of others with the goal to just own everything. I hope Mr. Hansen truly builds a collection with passion and proves me wrong, instead of just building a giant accumulation that his bank account allows. There is a difference. History is being written here. I hope the history of each coin's past is not destroyed and credit is given where credit is due.
Another topic,,, as has been referenced in this thread many times. He owns soooo many duplicates and not all of them are for sale on eBay or DLRC. It's his prerogative of course and a good bit goes into the market timing. But with the move into all of the varieites, I wonder if he even knows what he owns...or if the people that are helping him even know what he owns. I'm a Mercury Dime nut so I will continue with an example from this series. So, with Mercury Dime registry sets, FBs are important for points. He owns some coins in NON-FB for some reason(I forgot to take notes on those and don't want to go through them again now), in addition to multiple FB examples. Strange to me unless they were largely the same top pop grade and he was sending them in for reconsideration to see if he can get an upgrade or two before selling the lower items. Let's talk about a specific date.
1931-S FB. A quick look though Coin Facts shows he owns the following:
67+ FB Cert# 13196867 https://www.pcgs.com/cert/13196867
67 FB Cert# 84033402 https://www.pcgs.com/cert/84033402
66+FB Cert# 36606865 https://www.pcgs.com/cert/36606865
Then he owns the Ex keyman64 31-S FS-101 in 66FB Attributed https://www.pcgs.com/cert/06756163
Anyone want to actually guess HOW MANY FS-101 Examples he owns? I'll give you a hint, it is AT LEAST 3 but I believe 4. The 66+FB example looks to be it but I won't say 100% as I have been fooled by photos before. There is a good chance that he owns 4 DDOs. And this is only out of the coins that are shown in Coin Facts. If he owns more 1931-S coins then it could be that he has more? You want to know why I only had a 66FB when I had my set? I couldn't afford any of the other unattributed examples in higher grades. Poor man problems. Lol
I'd love to truly go through his Mercury Dimes and identify all of the varieties he has, not to mention every other series! If he wants to maximize Registry points and potentially a good bit of value, this should be done. If for no other reason than the fact that he should know what he owns. I wish Mr. Hansen nothing but the best in his endeavor. I hope he is able to bring fantastic passion to the hobby. With his expanded focus into varieties, I hope he can learn to appreciate and be passionate about them as well. I hope this isn't just a power play accumulation. I'd like to see history to be written favorably in every aspect of his endeavor.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/gold/branch-mint-gold/charlotte-gold-basic-set-circulation-strikes-1838-1861/159
Very impressive set ranking and company.
Never mind.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
I think keyman64 makes some interesting points. One idea his comment leaves me with is that documenting a collection like this is a huge undertaking and completely worthwhile. It wouldn't be out of the question to employ a numismatist to document, research, and catalog everything. It would be a nominal cost relative to the value of the collection. For all I know they already have someone from DLRC on it.
IG: DeCourcyCoinsEbay: neilrobertson
"Numismatic categorizations, if left unconstrained, will increase spontaneously over time." -me
Keyman64 brings up some good points. And one of those is losing all the previous pedigree history. In reading current "pedigrees" you would think all that matters is Pogue, Gardner, and Hansen...among a few others. A lot came before them....Eiasberg, Garrett, Norweb, James Stack, Robison, etc. I recognize quite a few coins in Hansen from earlier appearances in the 1970's and 1980's....a lot of that information essentially lost. Here are few:
Hansen's 1857-s MS64 quarter is ex-Reed Hawn, lot 333, Stacks March 1977....and earlier at New Netherlands Dec '63. It's made a lot of other appearances after Reed Hawn.
Hansen's 1858-0 MS65 quarter was owned by me from 1982-1990. I bought it out of Superior's A. Houston Barry Estate Sale Jan. 1983 lot 305 at $4200. Sold to Andy Lustig/Stuart Levine in spring 1990 at the Boston Bay State show along with a MS65 1856-0....both pop 1's for that time. Eventually both of those coins found their way to Gene Gardner's set. Interesting story with these 2. I originally received MS64 grades on them in 1988....PCGS MS64 on the 58-0. And NGC MS64 on the 56-0. I swapped services on them and then got 65 on each. NGC 65 on the 58-0 and PCGS 65 on the 56-0.
Hansen's 1858-0 MS66+ dime was owned by me from 1982-2004. I purchased it out of the Stack's Feb 1982 Robison sale. Slabbed out NGC 65 in 1988. Quite a number of rarities in that sale. I auctioned it off via Heritage in spring 2004 as an NGC MS66 where Gene Gardner got it.
Hansen's 1855-s MS65 quarter showed up at least once in the mid-1980's Apostrophe sales. I recall Jay Miller buying it for just under $10,000 and offering it to me. I'd already just bought the rarer and nicer MS66 1867-s out of Auction '86 for $9,650. I got the coin I wanted. I auctioned the 1867-s at Heritage in 2004 where Gene Gardner bought it for $74,500. The 1867-s was briefly with Legend, then to Hansen. There's a twin 1865-s to this 1867-s out there....both out of James A. Stack March 1975. I don't believe the 1865-s has ever resurfaced since Akers bought it for Paramount's inventory in '75/'76. Though there is a current MS66 owned by Hansen that was once handled by Larry Whitlow....finest graded. Unless the Stack 65-s was dipped out along the way, that doesn't quite look like the same coin. As pictured in the James Stack sale, that 65-s had a black toned rim and some dark obverse high points - very unusual on a mostly white original coin. Would be cool to see that show up someday to be reunited with its gem twin 1867-s. More on this to follow.
So many gem seated coins I recognize in Hansen. Can't track them all down to before Gardner. It's not that big a pool of coins. The seats have changed over the years though.
Provenances usually reference auctions of major collections, so if the Mercury varieties didn't sell on Heritage, that info would normally be lost.
Some other method might be created to save it, such as by writing a Varieties Guide. I do something like that in my Liberty Seated Half Dime Attribution Guide, where I have a roster of the top 10+ for each variety and their auction histories in the past 10 years. It could be extended further into the past.
https://sites.google.com/view/clintcummins/half-dime-attribution-guide
The provenances of those coins may not be as lost as you think.
Ron Guth @BestGerman saved many of them, in PCGS CoinFacts.
This one is not in CoinFacts.
Partly saved; could go further back:
Condition Census What Is This?
POS GRADE IMAGE PEDIGREE AND HISTORY
1 MS65 PCGS grade MS65 PCGS grade
Heritage 9/2011:3399, $20,700 - Heritage 10/2012:4132, $25,850 - Eugene H. Gardner Collection, Part III - Heritage 5/2015:98346, $21,150 - Heritage 11/2016:5230, $21,150 - D.L. Hansen Collection
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1858-o-25c/5446
Partly saved; could go further back:
1 MS66+ PCGS grade
Heritage 6/2004:6043 - Eugene H. Gardner Collection - Heritage 6/2014:30257, $21,150 - Legend Rare Coin Auctions 12/2014:38, not sold
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1858-o-10c/4617
Missing from CoinFacts.
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1855-s-25c-arrows/5437
Partly saved:
1 MS67 PCGS grade
James A. Stack Sale - Stack's 3/1975 - I. Kleinman - Corky Vena - New England Rare Coin Fund I (1977-1980), sold for $30,000 - Marty Haber - Auction '86 - Jay Miller - Brian Keefe - Heritage 6/2004:6063, $74,750 - Eugene H. Gardner Collection - Heritage 5/2015:98352, $88,125
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1867-s-25c/5471
Partly saved:
1 MS66+ PCGS grade
Heritage 11/2004:7425, $14,950 - Eugene H. Gardner Collection - Heritage 5/2015:98470, $28,200
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1850-o-50c/6265
Agreed. Ron / @BestGerman did a great job adding provenance / pedigree history to CoinFacts. There's a lot of rich information there.
The Hansen 1850-0 half is not the same coin as the Auction '85 / Stack's March 1984 Glen Halsell collection. Dug out the catalog this morning. Though, almost a twin in overall look....but the toning spots don't match up. One nice thing about the "Apostrophe" sale catalogs of '79 - '90 is that they photographed the coins much better than usually seen up to that point....especially the Paramount Sections that David Akers put together. And the best coins of the 1970's and 1980's seemed to often end up in those sales....a plus for tracking pedigrees.
I wrote the Pedigree section for Heritage in 2004 on the 1867-s quarter and 1858-0 dime knowing that otherwise, a big chunk of their owner history (including mine) on probable finest known specimens would eventually disappear. I went through Coin Facts last night before posting....trying to fill in some of those holes other Hansen seated coins might have.
Hansen's 1865-s MS66 quarter goes back before Whitlow in the later 1980's. It's ex-Auction '85 lot 1161 at $9750, bought by dealer Jay Miller for resale. It's pedigree is further listed there as ex-NERCA July 1980 (Jim Halperin's Rare Coin Investment Fund) and ex-Auction '84. I have a hand written note on the lot also calling it ex-Stacks Spring 1978 sale (?). The 3 left obv field toning spots uniquely identify this one. To me, it doesn't appear to be ex-James Stacks. Yet Aker's description of the coin in Auction '85 includes the fact they had seen all the unc specimens over the previous 20 yrs and this was the finest by far. In fact, Akers bought the superb gem 1865-s out of James A. Stack in March 1975 for a very strong $2600 and then appearing in his early 1976 Rare Coin Catalog for $5000+.....clearly signaling that was a full gem coin If the Auction '85 specimen was the James Stack coin, they surely would have listed that fact in the Auction '85 lot description. Taking Aker's comments literally, there are 2 superb gem 65-s quarters out there, with the Auction '85/Hansen specimen being the finest. I'd like to nail this one down once and for all.