@CoinJunkie said:
After reading the article, I think In-N-Out Burger should hire Brush to do a commercial. "Hi, when I had just won a world class coin rarity at a fire sale price of under $2M, where did I go to dinner to celebrate? In-N-Out Burger!" No need to mention that most of the A-list restaurants in LA were closed down at the time.
Joking aside, I really enjoyed the article. It's definitely a rush to win a coin you desperately want for far less than anticipated.
I'd settle for them just opening one in Virginia Beach...of course, then I'd have to fight a lot of inner turmoil on a daily basis in choosing between Chick-Fil-A and In-N-Out...
One nugget that I didn't add to the article is kind of funny.
Laura Sperber (Legend) and I carpooled to lot viewing the first morning after arriving. Well, we needed breakfast, so we stopped at Chick-Fil-A across the street from In-N-Out. I was a bad influence as I showed Laura where she could get a daily Diet Lemonade...while I settled for my Diet Coke. I wish I could share the conversations from that car ride!
John Brush President of David Lawrence Rare Coins www.davidlawrence.com email: John@davidlawrence.com 2022 ANA Dealer of the Year, Past Chair of NCBA (formerly ICTA), PNG Treasurer, Instructor at Witter Coin University, former Instructor/YN Chaperone ANA Summer Seminar, Coin World Most Influential, Curator of the D.L. Hansen Collection
@CoinJunkie said:
After reading the article, I think In-N-Out Burger should hire Brush to do a commercial. "Hi, when I had just won a world class coin rarity at a fire sale price of under $2M, where did I go to dinner to celebrate? In-N-Out Burger!" No need to mention that most of the A-list restaurants in LA were closed down at the time.
Joking aside, I really enjoyed the article. It's definitely a rush to win a coin you desperately want for far less than anticipated.
I'd settle for them just opening one in Virginia Beach...of course, then I'd have to fight a lot of inner turmoil on a daily basis in choosing between Chick-Fil-A and In-N-Out...
One nugget that I didn't add to the article is kind of funny.
Laura Sperber (Legend) and I carpooled to lot viewing the first morning after arriving. Well, we needed breakfast, so we stopped at Chick-Fil-A across the street from In-N-Out. I was a bad influence as I showed Laura where she could get a daily Diet Lemonade...while I settled for my Diet Coke. I wish I could share the conversations from that car ride!
John Brush President of David Lawrence Rare Coins www.davidlawrence.com email: John@davidlawrence.com 2022 ANA Dealer of the Year, Past Chair of NCBA (formerly ICTA), PNG Treasurer, Instructor at Witter Coin University, former Instructor/YN Chaperone ANA Summer Seminar, Coin World Most Influential, Curator of the D.L. Hansen Collection
I started this countdown list for Major Varieties in mid-April. When watching a mega collection, there are hundreds of sub-sets in the collection like these variety sets. At my last check, The Hansen Collection is 1659 sets strong! This new coin addition not only counts down the Complete Major Varieties Set to 38 remaining, but maybe more importantly, this new addition completes the Early Dimes Classic, Circulation Strikes (1796-1837) set. This set requires 46 coins (basic set is 30 coins). PCGS describes the set as: The first United States dime was issued in 1796 while George Washington was still in office as President. This Draped Bust, Small Eagle type was only issued for two years, followed by the Heraldic Eagle reverse of 1798-1807. The Capped Bust coins of 1809-1837 complete this series. The Classic Set adds 16 coins to the Basic Set, and includes most of the major varieties listed in the Redbook including all the Large and Small Date varieties, the variations in the number of reverse stars and berries and the large and small 10C on the reverse. While there are no extraordinary rarities in this set, the 1804s and the 13-star reverses of 1797 and 1798 will prove the toughest coins to acquire in higher grade.
Also, this new addition completes Early Dimes with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1796-1837) set. This set requires 52 coins (an additional six). PCGS describes the set as: The first United States dime was issued in 1796 while George Washington was still in office as President. This Draped Bust, Small Eagle type was only issued for two years, followed by the Heraldic Eagle reverse of 1798-1807. The Capped Bust coins of 1809-1837 complete this series. Stepping up to the Major Varieties Set from the Classic set adds another six coins for a total of 52 pieces. Fortunately, none of the additional varieties are extremely rare, so tackling this set should not prove much more difficult than the Classic Set.
I cannot confirm, but I wonder if this is the first time these sets have been completed. We know that Mr. Hansen is the first and only collector to complete the certified sets in the PCGS registry. In the 52-piece set, Mr. Hansen leads the registry at 100% complete followed by Louis Eliasberg at 84.62% and The Norweb Family at 86.54%. There are a couple other collectors including Dimeman at least 80% complete while attempting to complete the set at a lower grade, 25-35. There is not but a few fish in this pool, and no one is making a big splash to overtake Mr. Hansen. His closes competitor is himself. His second set is 69.23% complete with GPA 54.87. If you have not had a chance to view this 52-coin set, here is a quick link.
Mr. Hansen saved one of the better dimes for last. He has been waiting to add this coin since August 2018 (when the registry sets were one coin short of being 100%). It is very rare that I will reach out to John Brush for comments in my updates. When I saw this coin, I did reach out to him. This is JB’s description of this long wait: It was actually offered to us three years ago with the 1802 Half Dime, but we passed as it was just too pricey. Then again it was offered to us on memo from Legend a year ago or so. I think we made an offer on it at some point for a break-even or a small profit from what it brought in Pogue, but I don’t recall completely….. So, it was just shipped to us at a small savings from the Pogue sale and we wanted to complete the major variety early dime set, so it worked out this time. We’d probably have preferred a lower grade example for the variety, but we never could find one, so this was the only piece that could finish that set.
I reached out to my Capped Bust expect for an opinion. He offered: Very tough redbook variety. Owned most recently by Quint, who had a superb early dime set until he broke it up and started selling coins from it last year. Stacks Bowers at the Pogue sale describe the coin as: “one of the rarest of the bust dime ‘type’ coins” in the JR book, this rare die variety also happens to be a Guide Book variety, the sole marriage combining the 1798/7 overdate obverse with a 13 Star reverse.
The Hansen coin is believed by some experts and collectors to be best. According to SBG: This is the only example graded MS-63 by PCGS and one of just three Mint State pieces certified by them. The JR book notes “at most, three may claim MS-60 or better condition.” Ed Price had a strong positive opinion on the coin: “The dime book lists the Bareford coin as the finest the authors had seen. I owned that coin and the present piece for several years. This example that I retained is clearly superior, and is the finest I have seen or heard of.” This comment is from an owner that had two of the best coins.
SBG describes the coin as: Cartwheel luster spins around both sides like a silver propeller, showcasing the frosty freshness of the surfaces. The obverse shows light toning, just a hint of gold over silver gray, while the reverse reveals a dappling of other subtle colors and sedate stripes of copper and blue. As is standard for JR-2, the central obverse is quite softly defined and the central reverse is similar. This very rare die marriage apparently met its demise early, condemned by several die clashes whose vestiges remain visible on this coin. Only trivial hairlines are seen, along with just a few scattered minor marks, including a short scrape on Liberty’s upper chest and two shallow abrasions at the central reverse.
In the Pogue sale, the coin fetched an Auction Record at $199,750. PCGS Price Guide values the coin at $225,000. We know from JB’s comments that after three years, they agreed to price with a “small savings from the Pogue sale”. It is not my money so it is easy for me to say this; “the coin is well worth price to top off these difficult sets with this special specimen”.
1798/7 Capped Bust Dime, JR-2, 13-Star Reverse MS63 PCGS, POP 1/0, CAC Approved Certification #06506337, PCGS #38751 PCGV: $225,000 / Private Sale Provenance: F.C.C. Boyd Collection - Numismatic Gallery 1/1945:431 - Stuart Levine, sold privately in 8/2002 - Ed Price Collection - Heritage 7/2008:1418, $103,500 - D. Brent Pogue Collection - Stack's/Bowers and Sotheby's 5/2015:1038, $199,750 – D.L. Hansen Collection
.
. The Major Varieties Set is an expansion of the PCGS Basic Set in The D. L. Hansen Collection. To complete, this set would require the 2821 basic coins plus an additional 439 Major Varieties Coins. With this addition, there are 38 remaining coins in this quest. The first two coins are not collectable, so the completion of this set would be 99.94%. PCGS describes this set as: Every classic U.S. coin in Circulation Strike from 1792 through 1964, every date, every Mintmark, every major variety, this set is the ultimate challenge. A collection of this size could take decades to assemble in high grade.
Top 10
1797 Half Eagle "Large Eagle, 15 Stars" (1 Known – Permanently in Smithsonian) Uncollectable
1797 Half Eagle "Large Eagle, 16 Stars" (1 Known – Permanently in Smithsonian) Uncollectable
1861 Double Eagle "Paquet" (2 Known)
1804 Eagle "Plain 4 Proof" (3 Known)
1849-C Gold Dollar "Open Wreath" (4 Known w/ one defective)
1958 Small Cent "Doubled Die Obverse” (3 Known)
1793 Wreath Large Cent "Strawberry Leaf" (4 Known w/ VG Finest Known)
1795 Large Cent "Jefferson, Lettered Edge" (5 Known w/ VF Finest Known)
1810 Half Eagle "Large Date, Small 5" (5 Known w/ AU Finest Known)
1795 Large Cent "Reeded Edge" (8 Known w/ VG Finest Known)
Next 10
1842 Half Dollar "Small Date, Rev of 1839" (Survival est. 10 w/ 1 Mint State)
1804 Quarter Eagle "13 Star Reverse" (Survival est. 11 w/ AU Finest Known)
1831 Half Eagle "Large 5D" (Survival est. 22 all varieties w/ 1 Mint State)
1797 Half Cent "Gripped Edge" (Survival est. 13 w/ VG Finest Known)
1831 Half Eagle "Small 5D" (Survival est. 22 all varieties w/ 3 Mint State)
1853-D Half Eagle "Medium D" (Survival est. 15 w/ AU Finest Known)
1830 Half Eagle "Large 5D" (Survival est. 27 all varieties w/ 5 Mint State)
1830 Half Eagle "Small 5D" (Survival est. 27 all varieties w/ 5 Mint State)
1828 Half Eagle "Normal Date" (Survival est. 14 w/ 5 Mint State)
1793 Chain Large Cent "Periods" (118 PCGS Certified w/ 3 Mint State)
Last 18
1797 Half Eagle "Small Eagle, 15 Stars" (Survival est. 20 w/ 1 Mint State)
1820 Half Eagle "Curl Base 2, Sm Letters" (Survival est. 14 w/ 8 Mint State)
1819 Half Eagle "5D/50" (Survival est. 17 w/ 8 Mint State)
1800 Dollar "Wide Date, Low 8, AMERICAI" (Survival est. 25 w/ AU Finest Known)
1840-D Half Eagle "Small D" (Survival est. 25 w/ AU Finest Known)
1798/7 Eagle "7X6 Stars" (Survival est. 25 w/ 3 Mint State)
1812/1 Half Dollar "Large 8" (Survival est. 35 w/ AU Finest Known)
1795 Large Cent "Jefferson, Plain Edge" (Survival est. 45 w/ VF Finest Known)
1820 Half Eagle "Curl Base 2, Large Letters" (Survival est. 32 w/ 20 Mint State)
1839 Half Dollar "Receeded Edge, Small Letters” (Survival est. 50 w/ 4 Mint State)
1833 Half Eagle "Large Date" (Survival est. 37 w/ 19 Mint State)
1834 Half Eagle "Capped Bust, Plain 4" (Survival est. 37 w/ 19 Mint State)
1798 Quarter Eagle "Wide Date" (Survival est. 50 w/ 8 Mint State)
1794 Large Cent "Starred Reverse" (Survival est. 60 w/ AU Finest Known)
1807/6 Large Cent "Small 7" (Survival est. 100 w/ AU Finest Known)
1798 Dollar "Large Eagle, Knob 9, 4 Lines" (Survival est. 125 w/ 2 Mint State)
1795 Half Dollar "Small Head" (Survival est. 450 w/ 1 Mint State)
1887/6 Three Cent CN (Survival est. 800 w/ 750 Mint State)
Hansen's task could become a bit more complicated and he could be missing a fair number of additional coins soon. Some sets that he has at 100% might not be at 100% within a couple of months.
"If it's not fun, it's not worth it." - KeyMan64 Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Perception. Sometimes we make opinions when we see something. Sometimes we tend to create an opinion when don’t see something. My perception for the last twelve months has been that Mr. Hansen lost focus on completing Major Variety sets, and the challenge to have one of everything. This was due to the fact that we did not see much activity over a period of time. Well, we saw a pretty noteworthy Major Variety addition a couple days ago. Along with the new addition, John Brush shared some background information on what took place to obtain this “one” rarity. So, I now believe it was not a loss of focus, rather patience and endurance to find the right coin, at the right time, and for the right price. All three of these things don’t always come together at a desired pace.
I have been thinking, what is the best way to see the trees in the forest? The Hansen Collection is massive, and when looking at circulation strikes with Major Varieties, there are 3260 coins in the complete set. That is 163 blue boxes just for pre-1964 issues. So today, let’s look at the Early Coinage which is the years 1792 to roughly 1839. I may not be able to prove, but I believe Brett Pogue assembled the greatest basic set of all times, although, he did not have all the major varieties. For example, I cannot find any proof that he owned one of the four known 1793 Strawberry Leaf Cents. Hansen does not own one either, but his collection is in-progress. If he finds the right coin, at the right time, and for the right price, he just might add one to his collection.
After some reflection, I thought a good way to look at the Early Major Varieties in Hansen Collection by denomination. There are 10 different denominations starting with the Half Cent and concluding with the Eagle. Interesting enough, there is not a PCGS Registry Set for this group of early coinage. I cannot explain why other that stating the fact there is not one. So, let’s look at the 10 denominations and understand the status for The D.L. Hansen Collection. Of the 10 denominations, Mr. Hansen has completed three, including Half Dimes, Dimes, and Quarter Dollars. Two others, Half Cents and Eagles, he is only one coin away. He has to two coins remaining in each of the Dollar and Quarter Eagle sets. Three coins away on the Half Dollar. The final two sets are the One Cent and Half Eagle. The one cent is seven coins and the Half Eagle is 10 to 14 depending how we what to count them. The Half Eagle denomination is the only one that is not 100% collectable. The two unique 1797 Large Eagle Major Varieties are impounded in the Smithsonian National Numismatic Collection. Let’s look at the first five denominations.
Early Half Cents with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1793-1835) - Not a Registry Set
I try not to be critical of PCGS and the Registry. That is like criticizing a tender, juicy, perfectly cooked T-Bone steak for the bone being too big. The beef is still the greatest. I feel similar about PCGS. But why this set does not exist, I cannot explain. I would consider early half cents as: Liberty Cap Half Cent (1793 - 1797), Draped Bust Half Cent (1800 - 1808), and Classic Head Half Cent (1809 - 1836). If you desire at registry set of the early half cents, then you have include the eight Braided Hair Half Cent (1840 - 1857) coins or set will be incomplete. Maybe the reason being there is no demand for only the early set. The early half cents requires 46 coins, and the comment PCGS provides for the larger set is: The half cent was one of the first denominations struck at the new United States Mint. This coin was first made in 1793, only months after the Large cents were introduced. It is a series filled with rarities, including both major varieties of 1796. Full red examples are almost impossible from the early years, and it’s not until the 1828 issue that the first MS65RD specimen still survives. Many dates of this series exist in a proof-only format, but some collectors include those issues with their mint state collection.
The D.L. Hansen Collection is 97.82% (45/46) completed with one coin remaining the 1797 Gripped Edge. Mr. Hansen needed five coins before picking up four of them in the StacksBowers’ March 2020 Auction - Rarities Night, Featuring the ESM Collection of Half Cents. The 1797 Gripped Edge ESM Specimen realized $90,000 and Mr. Hansen did not acquire. The ESM Specimen was a G6 PCGS grade and there are a couple better including the finest VG10 PCGS grade. (For more details, look back at the updates on the ESM purchases)
Early Large Cents with Major Varieties (With the four Ultra Rarities), Circulation Strikes (1793-1839) - Not a Registry Set
Same as with the Half Cents, there is not a set for the early cents only that consist of: Flowing Hair Large Cent (1793 - 1796), Draped Bust Cent (1796 - 1807), Classic Head Cent (1808 - 1814), and Coronet Head Cent (1816 - 1839). If you desire at registry set of the early cents, then you have include the 33 Braided Hair Cent (1839 - 1857) coins or set will be incomplete. The early cents requires 114 coins, PCGS describes the set including the Braided Hair Cents as: This is the fantastic complete 1793 to 1857 large cent series, plus the four ultra-rarities of the series. The 1793 Strawberry Leaf (4 known), 1795 Reeded Edge (7 known), 1795 Jefferson Head Lettered Edge (5 known), and the 1795 Jefferson Head Plain Edge (about 30 known) are prohibitively rare, so much so that we have two versions of the Large Cents with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1793-1857) set, one without the four ultra-rarities, and one with.
This is the largest set by required coins for 10 denominations. The D.L. Hansen Collection is 93.85% (107/114) completed. The four ultra-rarities mentioned above are the highlight coins remaining. There is an upcoming opportunity for Mr. Hansen to pick a few or all of the remaining needed coins in StacksBowers August 2020 Auction at Rarities Night, featuring the ESM Collection of Large Cents. He scored very well with the ESM coins in the March Half Cent Auction, winning 80%, four out of five needed. In the upcoming Large Cent Auction, the 1793 Strawberry Leaf Cent is PCGS Price Guide Value at $800,000 is the main attraction. At the writing of this feature, the bidding was at $140,000 with a little less than a month to go.
Early Half Dimes with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1792-1837)
The basic set of half dimes from this era is a major numismatic undertaking, but when the varieties are added the collection grows to even greater stature. While there are still only one 1792 half disme and one 1802 half dime in the set, there are now three 1796 pieces, three 1797 varieties, two 1800 coins and two 1803 specimens plus a handful of additional Capped Bust examples. There is 45 years of American history here in a panorama of intriguing and beautiful designs. A great set! (PCGS)
The D.L. Hansen Collection is 100% (29/29) completed. The set was completed 12/28/2018. One of the highlights of this denomination is the half million dollar 1796 “LIKERTY” MS67+. The coin is from the Texas Collection - Christies 5/1989:98, $198,000 - Knoxville Collection - Jay Parrino (The Mint) - D. Brent Pogue Collection - Stack’s/Bowers/Sotheby’s 5/2015:1005, $411,250. There are four PCGS certified POP 1/0 specimens in the set including multiple coins from Pogue, Simpson and Eliasberg Collections.
Early Dimes with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1796-1837)
The first United States dime was issued in 1796 while George Washington was still in office as President. This Draped Bust, Small Eagle type was only issued for two years, followed by the Heraldic Eagle reverse of 1798-1807. The Capped Bust coins of 1809-1837 complete this series. Stepping up to the Major Varieties Set from the Classic set adds another six coins for a total of 52 pieces. Fortunately, none of the additional varieties are extremely rare, so tackling this set should not prove much more difficult than the Classic Set.
The D.L. Hansen Collection is 100% (52/52) completed. The set was completed just recently on 7/2/2020. The completion of this denomination was the catalyst for this feature. This is the third early major variety denomination set that Mr. Hansen has completed in this quest. The $200,000 1798/7 “JR-2, 13-Star Reverse” MS63 Specimen was the final addition. This is another Pogue coin with a rich history: F.C.C. Boyd Collection - Numismatic Gallery 1/1945:431 - Stuart Levine, sold privately in 8/2002 - Ed Price Collection - Heritage 7/2008:1418, $103,500 - D. Brent Pogue Collection - Stack's/Bowers and Sotheby's 5/2015:1038, $199,750. There are two PCGS certified POP 1/0 specimens and six other coins tied for the finest. The set has multiple specimens from the Pogue Collection.
Early Quarters with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1796-1838)
The classic 1796 quarter starts off this historic set that is overflowing with rarities. After you capture the first prize, you'll be looking for the 1804, 1823/2, and many other toughies. This set covers the Draped Bust and Capped Bust eras, from George Washington through Andrew Jackson. In any grade this is a set that you can treasure forever.
The D.L. Hansen Collection is 100% (31/31) completed. The set was completed 11/21/2017. The quarter dollar set was the first early denomination with Major Varieties completed in The D.L. Hansen Collection. This set is highlighted with three PCGS certified POP 1/0 specimens, 1822 “25/50C”, 1831 “Small Letters” and the 1835 Quarter Dollar. These three coins alone are valued at $300,000. There are four other coins that are tied for finest to round out this amazing set.
Summary
As most collectors know, when you get close to completing a set, it requires patience. Of the these first five sets with three completed, Mr. Hansen is very close to completing the fourth set, the Half Cents. Will he patiently wait on obtaining the last needed 1797 Gripped Edge PCGS VG10 specimen? Time will tell. In the meantime, he will have the opportunity the pickup several needed Large Cents in the upcoming SBG Auction. Will he able to place a winning bids on any of the needed lots? How many? No one know. This is fascinating to watch.
This weekend I started a discussion on Early US Issues, Major Varieties by denomination. In the 10 denominations, Mr. Hansen has completed three sets. All the others, except for two are getting close (three coins or less). The last two sets are the One Cent and Half Eagle. The One Cent set has seven coins left and the Half Eagle set has 10 to 14 depending how we what to count them.
Today, we will look at the last five sets in this discussion: Half Dollars, Dollars, Quarter Eagles, Half Eagles, and Eagles. The Eagle set needs only one difficult coin. The Dollar and Quarter Eagle needs two. The Half Dollar still have three to go. Lastly the Half Eagle Set, WOW what a set. Let’s jump right in.
Early Half Dollars with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1794-1839)
It’s not enough for you to build the basic set? You want more of a challenge? Good! You now get to collect both major varieties of the 1796, the rare 1795 3 Leaf, the RARE 1806 Knob 6 No Stem, the ultra-ultra-rare 1817/4 and dozens of other fun and interesting varieties. When you finish this set you might want to try every Overton variety in existence! Collectors love this series with a passion and we fully expect you to join the crowd. (PCGS)
After two decades on collecting early half dollars, Dr. Charles Link is in complete control of this series. He has 43 of the PCGS POP 1/0 specimens which is more that 40% of the required coins. More than 60% of his set is at least tied for finest certified by PCGS. Another 25% of his set is POP X/1, with only one coin graded better. In some cases, having the #2 coin is by choice because he prefers his coin over the top coin. He once commented:…The Entire Registry REDBOOK SET From 1794 To 1839. Many Have Tried And Very Few Complete It!!! Well, Mr. Hansen has not completed the half dollars yet, but he is on his way. So, where does he stand?
The D.L. Hansen Collection is 97.03% (98/101) completed with three coins remaining the 1795 “Small Head”, 1812/1 “Large 8”, and the 1839 “Reeded Edge, Small Letters”. With patience, Mr. Hansen should be able to locate and purchase all three of these varieties. The 1812/1 “Large 8” may be the toughest to locate in near state condition. The finest PCGS coins are represented by a pair of AU55 specimens, and Chuck owns one of them.
Early Dollars with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1794-1803)
This is one of the "Dream Sets" of American numismatics, with the classic 1794 rarity, the two 1795 types (Flowing Hair and Draped Bust), the transitional coins of 1798, and lots (and lots!) of important varieties. The silver dollar is perhaps the most popular of all numismatic collectibles, and the Bust Dollars rival the Large cents as the most popular of the early coins. Return with us to the days of Washington, Adams and Jefferson and enjoy building this historic set! (PCGS)
Mr. Hansen is two coins way from completing his "Dream Set”. The D.L. Hansen Collection is 94.44% (34/36) completed with two coins remaining 1798 “Large Eagle, Knob 9, 4 Lines” and 1800 “Wide Dt, Low 8,AMERICAI”. The 1798 variety is not common, but come with some difficulty in obtaining a mint state condition coin. There are only two, the Mehl - Cardinal and the Green - Friend Specimens. The 1800 variety also has only a couple Mint States with the Carter Specimen as the finest. In the Hansen Collection, there are three PCGS certified POP 1/0 specimens and one other coin tied for the finest.
Early $2-1/2 Gold with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1796-1839)
This great set includes the first $2½ gold piece (the 1796 No Stars), the other rare issue from the first year (the 1796 Stars), the rare 1797, the ultra-rare 1834 Capped Bust and the first Charlotte, Dahlonega and New Orleans quarter eagles. In addition to those challenges, there are some tremendously rare varieties added to the set, such as the 1798 Close Date, the 1804 13 Stars and the 1806/5 7X6 Stars. When you complete this set you are deserving of numismatic immortality! (PCGS)
Mr. Hansen is two coins way from completing this set to reach numismatic immortality! The D.L. Hansen Collection is 97.14% (33/35) completed with two coins remaining 1798 “Wide Date” and 1804 “13 Star Reverse”. Of the two coins, the 1804 “13 Star Reverse” is the most difficult. The survival estimate is approx. 11 specimens known. The finest example is the New Netherlands - Phillips AU58 Specimen that is presently in Tony’s Registry Set (earlyAurum). There are four other PCGS specimens graded between AU50 – AU55. In the Hansen Collection, there are two PCGS certified POP 1/0 specimens and two other coins tied for the finest.
Early $5 Gold with Major Varieties & 1797 Large Eagles, Circulation Strikes (1795-1838)
As if the Basic Set from 1795 through 1838 isn't challenging enough, this set adds even more MAJOR rarities to the collection. After you locate the "basic" 1822, 1815, 1829 Small Date and 1829 Large Date along with many other treasures, this varieties set adds the 1819 (without the 5D/50) and the 1825/4 to name but two. This will be one of the greatest numismatic accomplishments of the 21st century when you complete it, so let’s get started! (PCGS)
This is the Granddaddy of the early coinage sets. It would be the “greatest numismatic accomplishments of the 21st century” if someone completes this set. That would be nice but one little problem, the set is impossible to complete outside of the Smithsonian. As stated in the first posting, the two unique 1797 Large Eagle Major Varieties are impounded in the Smithsonian National Numismatic Collection. They are the show stoppers for completion. Near show stoppers are the 1798 “Small Eagle” and the 1822. We have discussed these coins couple times because they are the final two coins left in Hansen’s Hall of Fame Basic Set. After all that, there are another ten coins needed! None of them are easy. If I had to pick the next toughest one, it may be the 1810 Half Eagle "Large Date, Small 5" with only five known and the finest in AU condition. The most common of the 12 remaining is the 1834 Half Eagle "Capped Bust, Plain 4" with a survival estimate of 37 with about 19 in Mint State. For a reference point, the starting value given for an AU58 is $70,000 and $185,000 for the one of the three finest known MS64 specimens. On the high end, the 1822 is valued at $6.5 Million. It has been stated that Pogue turned down better offers for his 1822.
The D.L. Hansen Collection is 81.33% (61/75) completed. There are already a few high dollar coins in Hansen’s Early Half Eagle set, including my favorite, Pogue 1829 “Large Size” MS66+ that sold in Pogue Stack's/Bowers & Sotheby's Auction on 5/2016 for $763,750. There are 11 PCGS certified POP 1/0 specimens and six other coins tied for the finest, with multiple specimens from the Pogue and Eliasberg Collections. There will be an opportunity for Mr. Hansen fill a few of his remaining slots in an upcoming Heritage’s 2020 August - US Coins Signature Auction. There are six Half Eagle coins from Mr Hansen’s need list available in this auction. The coins are from The McCoy Family Collection of Capped Head Half Eagles. The most intriguing one is the Garrett - Pogue 1819 Overpunched Denomination (5D/50). The coin realized $423,000 in Stack's/Bowers, 2/2016 Pogue sale.
Early $10 Gold with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1795-1804)
Take the basic ten-coin set (challenging enough!) and add five more rarities to the set and you have a magnificent collection, indeed. You'll have a hard time finding the 1795 9 Leaves and the 1798/7 7X6 Stars, but the hunt is half the fun. These coins can get very pricey, but they are solid values that have stood the test of time. Beautiful and incredibly historic coins from the early days of America! (PCGS)
The D.L. Hansen Collection is 92.86% (13/14) completed with one coin remaining 1798/7 “7X6 Stars”. The survival estimate is approx. 25 specimens known. The finest known specimen may be in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution along with a second mint state. That’s leave only two other mint state specimens: the PCGS MS62 Farouk - Carter Specimen and the PCGS MS61 Garrett - Pogue Specimen. I thought one of these may have been in the Tyrant Collection, but he does not have a Mint State Specimen for this variety. His specimen is an AU58. There are three other AU58 Specimens out there. They are valued at $360,000. One of the AU coins may be where Mr. Hansen will need to look to fill this last slot for Early Eagles. In the Hansen Collection, there is one PCGS certified POP 1/0 specimen and one other coin tied for the finest. This appears to be a difficult set for high grade coins.
Summary
To complete one of these ten "Dream Sets" would be “numismatic immortality!” But to assemble all the collectible coins in all early coinage series would be the “greatest numismatic accomplishments of the 21st century”. This achievement would be up there with Eliasberg and his accomplishments of the 20th century. With three out ten series completed, Mr. Hansen is well on his way. If you been keeping the math, he has 27 remaining slots (less the two not collectible, plus the two basic).
Even though I have witness many of specifics about the Hansen Collection, working on this feature has opened my eyes to some details that I have missed (not seeing the trees for the forest). Instead of saying that Mr. Hansen has holes to fill, he actually has slots. I now have a better appreciation on how difficult these final slots are. The Hansen team is operating with patience and endurance to find the right coin, at the right time, and for the right price. That does not happen quickly. I will conclude with a little eye candy from the Hansen vault. This picture shows Mr. Hansen’s box containing the first 50 coins in his Early Half Eagles with Major Varieties. As you can see, he has empty slots for the two unique 1797 Large Eagle Major Varieties. The slots will never be filled unless new discoveries are made. What are the odds for that to happen? As for the other 12 slots, let’s watch and see.
By the way, there is an slot reserved in this box behind the lifted 1821. You just can no see it in the picture.
Really nice job with breaking the Hansen set down into ten pre-1840 variety sets. The gold really is amazing, not to loose sight of the amazing dimes. Really breathtaking to see the depth in these early years before the explosion of coin collecting onto the American psychy. I suspect he will finish them all. I don't really consider museum only coins as part of sets for all practical purposes, although they are amazing artifacts. Ancient artifact collectors would need a Rosetta stone for their collections if that was the expectation
This is the second Early Dime Update in the past couple weeks. The first was a very significant addition of a coin for an empty slot in The D. L. Hansen Collection of Early Major Variety Coinage. The coin was the 1798/7 “JR-2, 13-Star Reverse” MS63 Specimen. The addition was significant because it completed Mr. Hansen’s 52-piece Early Half Dimes with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1792-1837). Now, this new coin is an upgrade to the collection. The coin replaces an 1804 10C “13-Star Reverse”, Certification #04190263 in XF40 Condition with POP 1/7. The set now has only four coins graded below AU58: 1797 “13 Stars” and 1805 “5 Berries” graded at XF40. The lowest graded coin is the 1798 “Small 8” graded VF20. The fourth and final coin is a PCGS POP 2/0 Specimen, 1829 “Curl Base 2” graded VF35. The 1829 variety is unheard in a higher grade condition. This may one day be the lone example of a highly circulated coin in the 52-piece set.
Coin expert Ron Guth described the 1804 10C “13-Star Reverse” as: In 1804, the Coiner at the US Mint used two different reverse dies to produce Dimes. The most obvious difference between the two dies is the number of stars on the reverse in the field above the eagle. The first variety (JR-1) has 13 stars; the second variety (JR-2) has 14 stars. Both varieties are rare, but he 14 Stars variety enjoys a big premium over the 13 Stars variety in top condition. The highest 13 Stars graded by PCGS include two at the AU53 (now AU55), with none finer. Any example of an 1804 Dime is the mark of an advanced collection. The top condition PCGS coin for the 13 stars are two AU55 specimens. One is the Pittman/Price/Pogue Specimen and the other is this Stack/Hansen Specimen. PCGS Price Guide values the13 stars in PCGS AU55 at $195,000. When looking at the 14 stars, there are two PCGS certified POP 2/0 specimens, with one being the Eliasberg/Pogue/Hansen Specimen. Mr. Guth is correct; there is a premium for the 14 stars, which is valued at $300,000. The pair of Hansen 1804 dimes are valued at a half million dollars collectively! STOP! And think about that for a couple seconds.
1804 Capped Bust Dime, 13-Star Reverse AU55, Ex: James A. Stack
If Mr. Hansen’s goal was to have the nicest pair of 1804 dimes, then he may have achieved. The new 13 star coin is a very nice compliment to his existing 14 star Pogue specimen. Neither coin is graded in MS condition, but both are on top of the PCGS Pop charts. The coin last appeared in Heritage’s 2009 (CSNS) US Coin Auction in Cincinnati, OH. The coin was described as: The 1804 is a key date among early dimes with only 8,265 pieces produced. This JR-1 is one of the finest examples extant; in fact, it may well be tied with one other as the third finest known; near the top of the Condition Census as indicated by the population data from NGC and PCGS. This variety is apparently unknown in Mint State, and it is indicated as probably non-existent in Uncirculated in the JR reference. Good portions of mint luster are still apparent on each side of this piece, giving the turquoise and golden-rose surfaces a vibrancy one seldom sees on dimes of this date. A few shallow crisscrossing scratches are located on the lower right portion of the obverse. This impressive dime was previously sold as part of the James Stack Collection, by the Stack's auction company of New York; and later by American Numismatic Rarities, where it was partially described as follows: "A rarity in any grade, and in high demand not only as a collectible silver issue of this magic date but also the key date of the early dime sequence. ... This specimen comes from the James A. Stack collection, a lesser-known pedigree in the grand scheme but an important one to those familiar with the overall quality of that fine cabinet. Off the market for more than a decade, and now offered to a new generation who have longed for the chance to find this rare dime in superb grade."
In the 2009 Heritage Auction, the coin was graded AU55 NGC. The coin was sold as being from The Joseph C. Thomas Collection, and realized $63,250. As some coins go down, others go up. This one has gone up in value. According to the provenance given, the coin also appeared twice before, in Stack's Auction in 1990 and American Numismatic Rarities Auction in 2003. In the 2003 auction, the coin realized $25,300. I could not find auction results for the 1990 sale.
The coin was recently marketed by Rare Coin Wholesalers. It appears to me this company has become a pipeline for high end coins going into the Hansen Collection. They headlined the coin as: 13 STARS REVERSE. TIED WITH POGUE COIN FOR HIGHEST GRADED AT PCGS. The 13 Star Pogue Specimen is in the JRCSLM32 Registry Set. The Hansen 13 star coin was offered for $195,000 on the RCW website in early June. Also, RCW offered the coin on eBay with an ask price of $204,800. This is another high end upgrade to the D. L. Hansen Collection.
Hansen’s Pair of 1804 Capped Bust Dimes
1804 Capped Bust Dime, 13-Star Reverse AU55 PCGS, POP 2/0, Gold Shield Certification #36657800, PCGS #4474 PCGV: $195,000 / Private Sale Provenance: James A. Stack Collection - Stack's 1/1990:12 - American Numismatic Rarities "Classics Sale" 7/2003:342, $25,300; Joseph C. Thomas Collection, Heritage’s 2009 (CSNS) US Coin; D.L. Hansen Collection
.
. 1804 Capped Bust Dime, 14-Star Reverse AU58 PCGS, POP 2/0, CAC Approved Certification #06936157, PCGS #38767 PCGV: $300,000 / $252,000 Provenance: S.H. Chapman “David S. Wilson Collection” 3/1907:694 - John M. Clapp Collection - John H. Clapp Collection, sold intact in 1942 - Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, found by his son, Richard Eliasberg, circa 2004-2005 in a box full of junk coins - Heritage 1/2007:861, $161,000 - Ed Price Collection - Heritage 7/2008:1443, $632,500 - D. Brent Pogue Collection - Stack’s/Bowers/Sotheby’s 5/2015:1046, $329,000 - Kagin’s, Heritage August 2018 ANA, Rarities Night - D.L. Hansen Collection
@yosclimber thank you I guess. As I wipe away tears and drool I’ve come to realize a 66 is the best I’ll ever get. That coin is the most amazing coin I’ve ever seen! Seriously, thank you for your time and help showing me the light and article.
This is a nice walk down memory lane. The 2019 FUN auction is when Mr. Hansen purchased the Eliasberg 1885 Trade. The feature included “The Pair” and a detail discussion on the Hansen Trade Dollars that are three sets deep. He still have all the Trade Dollar sets in tact. It is very cool collection. Thanks Yos for providing the link. A very nice re-read.
@HashTag said: @yosclimber thank you I guess. As I wipe away tears and drool I’ve come to realize a 66 is the best I’ll ever get. That coin is the most amazing coin I’ve ever seen! Seriously, thank you for your time and help showing me the light and article.
Thanks, although it was a lot faster for me to find the article and link to it than the time it took to create it.
So it is really @Currin that we thank for his dedicated work to show developments in this exceptional collection!
Currin. You were 100% correct with your assessment (prediction) of the Top MS Jefferson nickel set that just finished auctioning off. Virtually (maybe 0) no “bidding wars”, prices overall consistent with estimates (in many cases below), super hard coins (including pop 1’s) selling for very, very “fair” prices. One of the Very best pop 1 coins in the set being a passed lot. Wow.
And, I thought the auction house wrote some good copy on the lot descriptions too.
As always, just my 2 cents.
Wondercoin
Please visit my website at www.wondercoins.com and my ebay auctions under my user name www.wondercoin.com.
@wondercoin said:
Currin. You were 100% correct with your assessment (prediction) of the Top MS Jefferson nickel set that just finished auctioning off. Virtually (maybe 0) no “bidding wars”, prices overall consistent with estimates (in many cases below), super hard coins (including pop 1’s) selling for very, very “fair” prices. One of the Very best pop 1 coins in the set being a passed lot. Wow.
And, I thought the auction house wrote some good copy on the lot descriptions too.
As always, just my 2 cents.
Wondercoin
.
.
Mitch,
I certainly agree with your comments. I tagged seven Jeffersons to watch that would improve the Hansen Collection. As you know, he has the top set already. Of the seven coins, a few of them were top pop 1. I don’t recall exactly how many. I do recall only one pre 1950 coin would improve his set. So, most the coins were post 1950. As I watched the live bidding, I was expecting to see at least a little more action than I did with these seven coin. If I recall, four of them were underachievers and one was passed! The 1943-P finished strong (only pre-1950 coin Mr. Hansen could use) and the 1954-S specimen hit the estimate. It really was disappointing to watch, but if you are a Jefferson Collector, it was a good night to pick up some great deals. Mr. Hansen upgraded only one Jefferson, 1955 MS67FS, POP 1/0. It was one of the underachievers.
It appear Mr. Hansen saw opportunity in the BigMo coins. He purchase more than I expected (he posted his wins last night). I will start reporting on the upgrades tomorrow. The BigMo coins appear to be where his focus was. I can understand and not at all surprised.
Currin. If your reporting of the Jefferson nickels is spot on, in my opinion Mr. Hansen missed a big opportunity by not winning the 1961-D for a touch higher than it fetched (that is, next bid or two). It’s about as nice as they come (ex.Stacks auction a decade or two ago where I won it). The 1955 was quite the bargain though and they also don’t come any nicer. And while the 1954-S did achieve the estimate, the guide was quite a bit higher on the coin in years past than it is now and the full “1 grade under” coin fetched over $30,000 at auction a few years ago. The big pop 1 “pass”, was one of the coolest Jefferson nickels I ever handled. The auction company was right on when they said (paraphrasing) it will likely be the finest known coin for the date forever.
So, your overall assessment of “disappointing to watch” I can not disagree with.
Just my 5 cents.
Wondercoin
Please visit my website at www.wondercoins.com and my ebay auctions under my user name www.wondercoin.com.
Upgrades from the BigMo Civil War Auction – Part 1
Stop the presses! As newspaper and printed material become less appreciated and increasingly cost prohibited, our future generation will not know what that phase means. For this weekend posting, I had planned to share an amazing new Half Eagle. The 1811 PCGS graded MS64+ POP 5/0 is a mid-five figure upgrade. That all changed with the Regency Auction Thursday night. The D.L. Hansen Collection upgraded 18 coins, with 14 upgrades in the circulating strike set and four in the proof finish set. I find this to be great news for the buyer, seller and the auction firm. We have not witnessed a Hansen purchase in a Legend Rare Coin Auction of this magnitude for some time. In a recent posting by John Brush, he referred to Mr. Hansen as a “consummate collector”. It appears the BigMo coins were seen as “an opportunity to find a lot of meaningful coins”. Were any of them must have? Doubtful. Were the 18 upgrades that Mr. Hansen purchased meaningful? Certainly!
I think Laura Sperber personally described the BigMo Civil War Collection as: The BigMo Collection is truly one of the greatest individual collections I have ever seen assembled in my experience in this industry. The set is fully deserving of its Hall of Fame status, and is the type of set most collectors could only dream of completing. I cannot wait to start showcasing this collection around the country, and am ecstatic that Legend Rare Coin Auctions was offered the opportunity to bring this collection to market.
The collection is being offered in two parts. The current consignment is Part I of the collection, and features 93 exquisite coins. The BigMo Collection features over 25 coins that are Top Pop at PCGS, including 14 that are the single finest known for the date and denomination. (LRCA) The Hansen team was successful in winning 9 of the 14 single finest known, POP 1/0 specimens. Eight of the POP 1/0 specimens was posted in the circulating strike set and one POP 1/0 specimen was updated in the proof finish set. All of the winning 18 coins are “solid” PCGS Condition Census Top Five specimens. Can you say that the Hansen team cherry picked 18 of the best coins? You could to say that. Did he get all the best coins? No, for the top two BigMo coins that realized low six figures, the Hansen team either passed or was out bided. As nice as BigMo coins were, I don’t think we saw any coin chasing or crazy bidding wars Thursday night. Well, maybe one.
I plan to cover the four proof upgrades today, and focus will be on the PCGS POP 1/0 specimen. The 1864 Half Dime, PR67CAM Certification #25309610, is tied with one other coin as the finest PCGS certified Cameo. There is one coin certified finer. The coin realized a strong $9,106.25 with an estimate: $6,000 - $7,000. 1863 Dime, PR66+ DCAM Certification #25317738 is tied with one other coin as the second finest PCGS certified Deep Cameo. There is one Deep Cameo coin certified finer. The coin realized respectful $11,162.50 with an estimate: $12,000 - $13,500. Two of the proof upgrades were silver dollars. The first being an 1864 Silver Dollar, PR66CAM Certification #82129154 that is the finest PCGS certified Cameo. There are two coins certified finer. The coin realized $49,937.50 with an estimate: $44,000 - $48,000. The last coin is the 1862 PR66+ Dollar.
1862 $1 PR66+, MONSTER as described by LRCA
The Hansen Collection has a complete run of Proof Silver Dollars starting with 1849. So, there was already a PR-GEM in the collection, 1862 PR65, Certification #84145496, POP 12/3. In Mr. Hansen viewpoint, he saw this coin as an opportunity to acquire meaningful coin as an upgrade. This is the first time this PR66+ Top Pop coin appeared in auction. I know sometimes that factor heavily in the decisions the Hansen team make. Will the top two priced realized coins make into the Hansen Collection someday? Let’s wait and see.
The auctioneer described the coin as: This MONSTER coin is the FINEST KNOWN 1862 Proof Dollar in any designation. BigMo picked the ultimate prize! This is the ONLY PR66+ graded (of course there are NONE higher). The only PR66 to ever sell was in our February 2014 Regency Auction, which realized a world record price of $70,500. If you collect Proof Seated Dollars - make that the FINEST Proof Liberty Seated Dollars (Civil War era too) - this is the coin you want! The current PCGS Price Guide value is $70,000, but keep in mind that BigMo paid up to buy this coin (he had to beat other competition). The reserve is slightly below his cost.
Other than BigMo Civil War Collection pedigree, the coin appeared in a 2010 Heritage Auction described as “Colorful PR66 1862 Seated Dollar” NGC certified. The coin was described in more detail as: Splashes of aquamarine, honey, and fire-red invigorate this needle-sharp Premium Gem. Beneath the patina, the surfaces are essentially pristine, and though a few criss-cross lines are visible on the field beneath the eagle's beak, these were on the planchet prior to the strike, so technical grade is unaffected. An uncommonly attractive representative of this Civil War date, thanks to the wonderful patina, and high-end among the survivors from the mintage of just 550 pieces. The coin realized $19,550, but no other mention of provenance.
There was a PR67 NGC specimen that sold in Heritage’s FUN Auction in 2015. By images, this PCGS PR66+ does not appear to be that PR67 coin. When LRCA is stating finest known, I am not sure they are factoring the NGC coin into that statement. The Hansen coin has colorful unique toning so it should be easy to spot. LRCA described the Hansen CAC Approved coin as: Powerful mirrors look like a sheet of ice. Only with a strong glass can you find any light stray lines. The mirrors are also clean overall, have remarkable clarity, and are incredibly reflective. The obverse has a gorgeous mix of totally original and vibrant royal blue, forest green, deep violet, and gold colors that swirl all over. The reverse was probably sitting on felt for many years and has a firecracker violet, blue, gold, and green color scheme. Miss Liberty and the details are frosty and have exceptional strikes. The eye appeal is fantastic!
The coin realized strong $76,375 with an estimate: $60,000 - $67,500. The auctioneer made a point that BigMo paid up to buy this coin. It appears Mr. Hansen had to do likewise to beat the other competition. From a quick check, it appears to me this was the most expensive coin that Mr. Hansen purchased from the BigMo Civil War Collection. It was the third highest priced coin realized from the collection. Now keep in mind, Part 2 of the sale is still to come. That auction is when most of the gold from this collection will be offered.
1862 $1 PR66+, FINEST KNOWN (LRCA) PCGS POP 1/0, CAC Approved Certification #27400957, PCGS #7005 PCGS Value Guide: $70,000 / realized $76,375 Provenance: Signature ANA US Coin (Heritage, 3/10), lot 1242, realized $19,550; BigMo Civil War Collection - The Regency Auction 39 (Legend 7/2020) lot 31, realized $76,375; D.L. Hansen Collection
Upgrades from the BigMo Civil War Auction – Part 2
After seeing the four impressive proofs from the BigMo Civil War Collection, let’s take a look at the 14 circulating strike coins that he picked up. The Civil War registry set consists of 110 coins. Mr. Hansen moved into first place on 2/2/2020. The BigMo Civil War Collection set was started in mid-2013. It took about seven years to assemble and upgrade the set to present excellence. As Laura Sperber described: The BigMo Collection is truly one of the greatest individual collections I have ever seen assembled in my experience in this industry. You really hate to see a set like this one break up. I imagine the hope would be that the coins would find a new home to appreciate them. It is nice to see that 14 BigMo coins are now in the home of The D.L. Hansen Collection.
PCGS describes the set as: This challenging set represents four years of our country's most trying times, the Civil War. It is a sampling of all denominations including some very tough silver issues: the 1861-S and 1864-S Seated quarters and most all the Seated dollars. Many of the gold issues are downright rare including the 1864-S Liberty Head $10. Completing this set will be an accomplishment as well also an historic representation of a difficult war that took place over 150 years ago. Mr. Hansen completed this set in late January , 2019. Then, it took almost twelve months to the day to grow the set into first place in the registry. After reaching first place in early February 2020, Mr. Hansen had upgraded four coins. This one time upgrade of 14 coins provides a special and rare opportunity. Will there be more upgrades to come in BigMo Civil War Collection Part 2? We will watch and see.
In this posting, let’s look at the three coins dated 1861, the first year of the US civil war. From information on the US mint website, this was very eventful year. According to facts provided, the Confederate forces seize the branch mints at Charlotte, NC; Dahlonega, GA; and New Orleans, LA. It is reported that coining operations continue for about a month. On May 21, 1861, Confederate troops occupy the Charlotte Mint and use it for their headquarters during the Civil War. A few days later on May 31, The Confederate Government closes all three of the southern branch mints. The mint in New Orleans, LA was the only southern branch mint to reopen, coining the first issue since the start of the war in 1879.
The new 1861 coins are a Three Cent Silver, a San Francisco Dime, and an amazing little gold dollar. All three coins are CAC Approved. The gold dollar is a PCGS POP 1/0 specimen that will be featured today. The colorful 1861 Three Cent Silver MS67+ Certification #25353317 is tied with one other coin as the second finest PCGS certified. There is one coin certified finer. The coin realized a respectable $12,925 with an estimate: $12,500 - 15,000. The 1861-S Dime, MS64 Certification #28565107 is the third finest PCGS certified. There are two coins certified finer. The coin realized $39,950 with an estimate: $40,000 - $45,000. Lastly, I will feature the 1861 Gold Dollar, MS67+ CAC Approved Specimen.
1861 Gold Dollar MS67+, CAC, Ex. DUCKOR/AKERS
The Hansen Gold Dollars are really shaping up to be a very special collection. This is an amazing gold dollar coin, with an impeccable perigee, but it misses the mark as the best Hansen Gold Dollar won in the LRCA Regency 39 sale by a mile. I am not exaggerating by making this statement. Just watch for a later update. A truly astonishing Gold Dollar is yet to come. Now, let’s get back to this amazing coin. This is a common coin as stated by expert David Akers: This is one of the few Type III gold dollars that could accurately be termed "common" and even gem examples are readily available. The coin is unique at this grade as stated by the auctioneer: There is no finer 1861 Gold dollar! No question this coin borders on MS68. It is unimaginable to us how this coin has survived 159 years in such a pristine state of preservation! If you step back, there is only one PCGS coin grade MS66+ and two graded MS67, and this borderlines on MS68. I would say that is a common coin rarity. The auctioneer described the coin in details as: The surfaces are satiny smooth and are super clean. The only thing you will find with a strong glass is some serious die clashing (Mint made). In fact it'-s wicked cool below right of the date on the reverse you can see the full letters impression of the obverse headband. A full glowing luster vividly beams from all over. Both sides are a GEM original gold/pale orange gold color. There are NO spots or discolorations. Miss Liberty and every detail is powerfully struck and stands out. The eye appeal is remarkable!
This coin has a rich history which traces to Donald Kutz Collection. If that is not good enough, the coin was also part of the amazing Duckor Family Collection of Gold Dollars. The coin was offered in the Heritage August 2015 ANA US Coins Signature Auction in Chicago. The coin headlined as The Sole Finest PCGS Example and described as: This frosty Superb Gem 1861 gold dollar is exceptional, showing brilliant straw-gold luster and delicate pale blue and rose overtones. Both sides exhibit exceptional design definition and pristine surfaces. This is one of the best 1861 gold dollars that I've seen, if not the best. It is fresh and essentially "as made" with noticeable clash marks. As on many examples, the letters from LIBERTY are clashed into the reverse below the date. To my mind, this adds further appeal to the coin. The coin realized $32,900 which was the Auction Record until Thursday night.
In the LRCA Regency 39 sale, the coin realized new Auction Record of $35,250 with an estimate: $30,000 - $33,600. You could say the coin sold for a small premium. The auctioneer pointed out: This is the only PCGS MS67+ and it last sold for $32,900 in the 2015 ANA auction. The current Collectors Universe Value is $35,000. It should be noted that a regular (NO +) PCGS CAC MS67 sold for $26,400 in October 2019. The intense quality and rarity of this coin are undisputed. This coin will be a super star in any GEM Gold dollar, Civil War, or box of 20 collection. Good luck! This is a super star coin that is now in a super star collection. Great Job Hansen Team!
1861 Gold Dollar MS67+, CAC, Ex. DUCKOR/AKERS PCGS POP 1/0, CAC Approved Certification #24463221, PCGS #7558 PCGS Value Guide: $35,000 / realized $35,250 Provenance: Donald Kutz - Duckor Family Collection of Gold Dollars - Heritage 8/2015:4261, $32,900; BigMo Civil War Collection - The Regency Auction 39 (Legend 7/2020) lot 14, realized $35,250; D.L. Hansen Collection
Good morning the Big Mo Collection was Outstanding. What a good set to collect! Congrats to Laura for helping building it and also a wonderful sale.
Congrats also to John B. and DLH for acquiring quite a few wonderful coins. I want to thank them for not bidding higher
on the 1863 1.00 67+CAM. I felt the price was a tad high. However 67's are quite rare, especially with no Motto. I have had the top CAC set for eight years I felt this coins belongs in it with my three other 67's.
Mr. Perfection.
@Currin said:
The collection is being offered in two parts. The current consignment is Part I of the collection, and features 93 exquisite coins. The BigMo Collection features over 25 coins that are Top Pop at PCGS, including 14 that are the single finest known for the date and denomination. (LRCA) The Hansen team was successful in winning 9 of the 14 single finest known, POP 1/0 specimens. Eight of the POP 1/0 specimens was posted in the circulating strike set and one POP 1/0 specimen was updated in the proof finish set. All of the winning 18 coins are “solid” PCGS Condition Census Top Five specimens. Can you say that the Hansen team cherry picked 18 of the best coins? You could to say that. Did he get all the best coins? No, for the top two BigMo coins that realized low six figures, the Hansen team either passed or was out bided. As nice as BigMo coins were, I don’t think we saw any coin chasing or crazy bidding wars Thursday night. Well, maybe one.
@Perfection said:
Congrats also to John B. and DLH for acquiring quite a few wonderful coins. I want to thank them for not bidding higher
on the 1863 1.00 67+CAM. I felt the price was a tad high. However 67's are quite rare, especially with no Motto. I have had the top CAC set for eight years I felt this coins belongs in it with my three other 67's.
Mr. Perfection.
@Perfection said:
Good morning the Big Mo Collection was Outstanding. What a good set to collect! Congrats to Laura for helping building it and also a wonderful sale.
Congrats also to John B. and DLH for acquiring quite a few wonderful coins. I want to thank them for not bidding higher
on the 1863 1.00 67+CAM. I felt the price was a tad high. However 67's are quite rare, >especially with no Motto. I have had the top CAC set for eight years I felt this coins belongs in it >with my three other 67's.
Mr. Perfection.
.
.
Nice pick up Perfection. This is top BigMo Civil War coin realized so far. Did you pickup the 1865 Half Dollar as well? If you did, congrats of both.
Upgrades from the BigMo Civil War Auction – Part 3
In this third installment of the coins that Mr. Hansen purchased from the BigMo sale, we will take a look at the four 1862 circulating strike coins. All four of them are impressive PCGS POP 1/0 specimens! This should not be a surprised if you know anything about Monte Weiner. The Civil War set is not his first legendary set. He was the collector that assembled the Bella Collection of Morgan Dollars. The Bella pedigree is still pursued today, even though the set was retired in 2013. Mr. Weiner’s great collections, including the Morgan Dollars, as well as the St. Gaudens Double Eagles, were amazing, although the Civil War set is his only collection to win the PCGS Hall of Fame for Individual Sets. So, it should be no surprise that the Civil War set had so many coins that can be seen as an opportunity for upgrades to the D. L. Hansen Collection.
Monte Weiner was award the Hall of Fame for The BigMo Collection of Civil War coins with Gold in 2016. PCGS described the set as: We’ve seen some cool sets, but this one takes the cake. It takes a Big Mo to tackle this set because many of the coins are inherently rare, and when you add the condition levels found in this set, the rarity goes off the chart. Despite all the intense competition for U.S. coins, this set contains fifteen unique Top Pops, more than 10% of the total set. This is the second gold award for this remarkable collection and it is well-deserved. This write-up was written in 2016 before Mr. Hansen came on the scene. In this registry set, Mr. Weiner added several more POP 1/0 specimens to fifteen mention in this write-up. We know the Part 1 of the sale was described as: The BigMo Collection features over 25 coins that are Top Pop at PCGS, including 14 that are the single finest known for the date and denomination. (LRCA) I am certain we will see more single finest known in Part 2.
In this posting, let’s look at the four coins dated 1862, the second year of the US Civil War. From information on the US mint website, we know the war resulted in the closing of the southern mints in 1861. So, you will not find any coins from the southern mints in the year 1862. The US Mint had to look elsewhere. According to facts provided, on April 21, 1862, Congressional legislation establishes a branch mint at Denver “exclusively for the coinage of gold”, and the sum of $75,000 is appropriated to meet the expenses for fiscal year 1863. Later in November 25, 1862, Congressional committee makes a formal offer of $25,000 for the Clark, Gruber & Co. plant, through the Treasury Secretary. The offer is accepted. There was great uncertainly for the United States of America in 1862.
The new 1862 coins are two dimes, 1862 and 1862-S. There is one quarter dollar: 1862-S. The upgrades are rounded out with another San Francisco branch mint issue: 1862-S Half Dollar. Three of the four coins are CAC Approved. The first PCGS POP 1/0 specimen dime from the Philadelphia mint is a MS67+ Certification #03299550. None is PCGS certified finer. The coin realized a strong $16,450 with an estimate: $10,000 - 12,000. The 1862-S Quarter Dollar, MS64+ Certification #21071674 is the finest PCGS certified. The coin realized bargain price of $41,125 with an estimate: $50,000 - $60,000. The 1862-S Half Dollar, MS66 Certification #04730527 is the finest PCGS certified. The coin realized a respectable $47,000 with an estimate: $50,000 - $60,000. The 1862-S MS65 dime will be the feature for today’s posting.
1862-S Dime MS65, CAC, Ex: Eliasberg
If Hansen participated in a bidding war in the BigMo sale, then this is the coin. LRCA provided this synopsis: While the war raged in the east, leading to mass hoarding of silver and gold coins, the west coast economy was metal based. Gold and silver coinage circulated extensively in day to day commerce. Unlike Philadelphia mint issues, there were no hoards of San Francisco mint coins of this era discovered. Only 180,750 San Francisco mint dimes were struck, and they entered into circulation and remained there for a long time, most survive by sheer chance and happenstance, and most are heavily worn from extensive travels in commercial channels. This coin is the FINEST KNOWN by far, holding that position for decades. Somehow this coin escaped everything to remain a time capsule from the Civil War.
Not only did LRCA described this coin is a rarity in GEM mint state, our expert Ron Guth described the coin as: The 1862-S Dime has a small mintage, a diminutive population in all grades, and a miniscule population in Mint State. Collectors in 1862 were perfectly satisfied to own a Dime from Philadelphia, and paid little attention to branch mint issues, thus most of the entire mintage of 1862-S Dimes was dumped into circulation and stayed there. Today, any Mint State 1862-S Dime is a rarity. The highlight for this date is a single PCGS MS-65 which, coincidentally, holds the record price an 1862-S Dime. That is correct. If you desire a MS65 coin, then this is the only one. PCGS gives the total survival estimate at a miniscule 250 specimens. By survival estimates, there are six in mint state condition, and the Hansen/Eliasberg Specimen is the lone GEM MS65. According to the PCGS POP Report, there is one MS62, one MS63, and two MS64 specimens. In Hansen’s newly created #2 Civil War Set, he has the 1862-S MS62 Certification #25786749 duplicate. He now has two of the five mint states.
This coin has the Eliasberg Collection in its pedigree name. Some say it does not get any better that that. The coin was described as lot 1174 in the May 1996 Bowers and Merena sale of the Eliasberg Collection as: “MS-66. Brilliant and lustrous, absolutely superb. Probably the finest known. We know of no challenger among others in leading collections past and present. An extraordinary coin that will rank as a landmark in anr roster of notable condition rarities within the Liberty Seated series." In the cataloging of the Gene Gardner Collection, where this GEM last appeared, the consignor noted that only one coin comes anywhere close to the quality of this coin, the Allan Lovejoy coin (graded NGC MS64) that has not been seen in auction since 1990! Indeed the ONLY OTHER Mint State coin sold was the Richmond Collection NGC MS63 that sold fifteen years ago! Needless to say these are EXCEPTIONALLY RARE!
There is more going for this coin that just being exceptional rare and an Eliasberg pedigree, the LRCA auctioneer described the coins as: One look at it is easy to agree the surfaces are pristine. Even using a strong glass all you can find are tiny pockets of toning-no problems of any size, anywhere. The surfaces do have thick satiny texture. There actually is some mellow luster glowing from all over. Both sides are an original white with some original silver gray pale toning. Miss Liberty and the details are fully struck and boldly stand out. The eye appeal is impressive!
With all that said, if that’s not enough, the coin was also in the Eugene H. Gardner Collection. The coin at that time was MS65 NGC CAC coin that was assigned to the Heritage October 2014-The Eugene H. Gardner Collection II US Coins Signature Auction in New York. The coin realized an Auction Record of $35,250. The coin made one other auction appearance between the 1996 Eliasberg sale and the 2014 Gardner Sale. The coin appeared in Heritage October 2001, Long Beach Signature Sale. The sale was offered from the Gulf Coast Collection and realized $17,250. The coin was MS65 NGC, but no CAC Approval.
In the LRCA Regency 39 sale, the coin realized an astonishing $58,750 with an estimate: $30,000 - $35,000. So, you can see why I said if there was a bidding war, this was the coin. Mr. Hansen wanted this coin and paid a large premium to get it. You can see why the LRCA auctioneer pointed out: This coin last sold as an NGC/CAC coin at the Gardner sale in October 2014 for $35,250. This well overlooked date and grade certainly has risen in both demand and value since then. The current CAC CPG value is $42,400 and the PCGS Price Guide value is listed at $35,000. No question this coin is irreplaceable! We expect strong bidding here. This is an great addition even at this price!
1862-S Dime MS65, CAC, Ex: Eliasberg PCGS POP 1/0, CAC Approved Certification #25230790, PCGS #4636 PCGS Value Guide: $35,000 / realized $58,750 (Auction Record) Provenance: Louis Eliasberg Collection (Bowers & Merena, 5/1996), lot #1174, realized $14,850; Gulf Coast Collection - Long Beach Signature Sale (Heritage 10/2001), lot 5971, realized $17,250; Heritage October 2014-The Eugene H. Gardner Collection II US Coins Signature Auction (Heritage 10/2014), lot 98265, $35,250; BigMo Civil War Collection - The Regency Auction 39 (Legend 7/2020) lot 25, realized $58,750; D.L. Hansen Collection
Upgrades from the BigMo Civil War Auction – Part 4
In this fourth installment of the coins that Mr. Hansen purchased from the BigMo sale, we will take a look at the four 1863 coins. Two of the four of coins are impressive PCGS POP 1/0 specimens, 1863-S Half Dime and 1863-S Dime. The 1863 Half Dime from the Philadelphia Mint and the 1863-S Quarter Eagle are the other two upgrades. These four coins improved Mr. Hansen’s already amazing set of Civil War coins. Let’s look at how good this 110 piece set of challenging coins.
When taking a look at PCGS POP Specimens (Including the new upgrades from BigMo):
1. 28% - 31 Coins are PCGS finest certified, POP 1/0
2. 14.5% - 16 Coins are tied for PCGS finest certified
3. 41% - 45 additional coins are PCGS Condition Census Top Five
4. 12.5% - 12 additional coins are PCGS Condition Census Top Ten
Only six coins (5.5%) are outside of the TOP Ten in this set: 1861 Dime MS65, POP37/11, 1861-D Half Eagle AU58, POP 5/12, 1863 Three Dollar MS64, POP 8/13, 1861-D Gold Dollar MS60, POP 4/18, and 1963-S Half Dollar MS64, POP 19/24. This may be unbelievable, but the worst coin In the collection is 1865-S MS64 Double Eagle with a POP of 130/24. BigMo’s coin is also a MS64, so no help could be found there.
When taking a look at grades in the Hansen Collection (Including the new upgrades from BigMo):
1. 57% - 63 Coins are PCGS graded GEM or better (MS65 – MS68+)
2. 16% - 18 Coins are PCGS graded Choice (MS63 – MS64+)
3. 12% - 13 Coins are PCGS graded UNC (MS60 – MS62+)
4. 13% - 14 Coins are PCGS graded AU (MS50 – MS58+)
5. Only two coins are in circulating condition: 1864 Quarter Eagle XF45 and 1864-S Eagle XF45.
In this posting, we will see the updates for 1863, the third year of the civil war. From information on the US mint website, we see the US Mint continued to focus out west. According to facts provided, on March 03, 1863, Congressional legislation established a branch mint at Carson City, Nevada. The mint mark is: “CC”. The same year, the US Mint obtained title to the property for a Denver branch mint. Soon after, The Denver Branch Mint opens and “operations are confined to the melting, refining, assaying, and stamping of bullion, and the return of the same to depositors in “unparted bars, stamped with the weight and fineness.” From the US Mints opened in 1863, 19 distinct coins were minted, including nine gold coins. All coins were minted in Philadelphia or the branch mint in San Francisco.
The new 1863 coins are two half dimes, 1863 and 1863-S. There is one Dime: 1863-S. The fourth specimen is the 1863-S Quarter Eagle. The first half dime from the Philadelphia Mint is a MS68 Certification #50069966 is tied with three other coins as finest PCGS certified. The coin realized a strong $22,325 with an estimate: $12,000 - 15,000. The 1863-S Half Dime, MS67+ Certification #25689622 is the finest PCGS certified. The coin realized respectable $23,500 with an estimate: $20,000 - $22,500. The 1863-S Quarter Eagle, MS61 Certification #39222000 is POP 3/2 Coin. This coin replaced one of the few remaining circulating condition coins in Hansen’s set, PCGS graded XF45. The coin realized $16,450 with an estimate: $15,000 - $17,500. The 1863-S MS65+ dime will be the feature coin for today’s posting.
1863-S Dime MS65+, CAC, Ex: Bob Simpson
Our expert Ron Guth describes the coin as: In 1863, the bulk of the Dime production occurred at the San Francisco Mint. In fact, San Francisco Mint employees produced more than ten times the number of Dimes as their counterparts at the Philadelphia Mint. Despite the larger mintage, the 1863-S Dime is more difficult to locate in Mint State than the 1863, nor does it come as nice. The best known 1863-S Dime is a single NGC MS66, but the most valuable is the PCGS MS65+ from the Simpson Collection (sold for a record $48,875 in 2008). Just in comparisons, a coin MS65+ Philadelphia minted coin is valued at $4750. This demonstrates that it is not all about the mintage totals as it is about the survival. We have seen during these years, dimes produced at the San Francisco just did not survive in mint condition. This is one that did. If you did not pick up on it, I will remind you that Mr. Guth mentions the Hansen/Simpson coin in his write-up.
Mr. Guth indicates that “a single NGC MS66” specimen is the best known. The Legend auctioneer did not agree with that. This is what is said: A monster example of this rare issue, and a coin that is the finest specimen of this date graded by PCGS. There are precious few known in Mint State and this one is probably the finest. The only competitor is the Eugene Gardner specimen that resides in an NGC MS66 holder and sold for $30,550 in May 2015. We feel this coin is much nicer, plus it has CAC approval, unlike the Gardner coin. Struck during the depths of the Civil War, but far away from the conflict in the East, these San Francisco dimes entered circulation with little fanfare, and were in great demand to make change in the channels of commerce. The original mintage dribbled to a halt at 157,500 pieces, and from this tally at most twenty still have claims to Mint State. gems are downright rare and between both services only three have been certified.
The coin has appeared in auction a couple times. First appearance was a Heritage Auction, 2/2008, where the coin realized $48,875. The coin was graded MS65 PCGS, CAC. The next appearance was the Legend Rare Coin Auctions in 12/2015. The coin was pedigreed to Bob R. Simpson Collection and realized $43,475. The third time is the charm. Third appearance was last week in Legend’s Sale of the BigMo Collection. The coin was described as: This spectacular GEM 1863-S dime is the FINEST graded 1863-S dime at either PCGS or NGC and is an amazing example! This condition rarity is blazing white in color, with full radiant luster and outstanding surfaces. The color is bright silver white, with just a whisper of gold toning starting to appear. The fields and surfaces have no deep marks, and there is little more than a few trivial luster scuffs to recall being handled. The strike is sharp on the legends and Miss Liberty, as well as the reverse where the durum wheat grains show their individual seed lines--a feature that is often blunt on more typical strikes.
Mr. Hansen did win the coin at a very respectable price of $47,000. This is a little more that Mr. Weiner paid the 2015 Legend sale, and a little less that Mr. Simpson paid in the Heritage 2008 sale. I imagine Mr. Hansen is pretty happy with his bid on this coin. LRCA had this perspective: This is the only MS65+ graded and we believe that it is counted twice on the PCGS Population Report. The other MS65 is likely the above mentioned Gardner coin, which no longer appears on the NGC Census as MS66. The BigMo collector bought this coin out of our December 2015 Regency Auction for $43,475, and this coin still holds the all time record of $48,875 from 2008. If your goal is to own the absolute FINEST set of Seated Liberty dimes, look no further than this coin for your 1863-S! Bidding will be fierce!
1863-S Dime MS65+, CAC, Ex: Simpson PCGS POP 1/0, CAC Approved Certification #06666876, PCGS #4638 PCGS Value Guide: $40,000 / realized $47,000 Provenance: Long Beach Signature Sale (Heritage 2/2008), lot 107, realized $48,875; Bob R. Simpson Collection - The Regency Auction XV (Legend 12/2015), lot 138, realized $43,475; BigMo Civil War Collection - The Regency Auction 39 (Legend 7/2020) lot 43, realized $46.000 - D.L. Hansen Collection
@Currin it would be interesting to have a running total of dollars spent (including estimates) so that we could understand what it is costing him to build this incredible collection.
Seated Half Society member #38 "Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
@Catbert said: @Currin it would be interesting to have a running total of dollars spent (including estimates) so that we could understand what it is costing him to build this incredible collection.
.
.
Catbert,
That would make an interesting exercise, and would take some time. I have estimated the Hansen Collection, with all the duplicates to be north of 10,000 coins. I can not say it can’t be done, all the information is there.
A couple years ago you may recall, I did this for his Trade Dollar Proofs. His collection has three complete sets of 1873-1883, and one of them completed thru 1885. According to auction results and Price Guide information, the total value of the collection is $5,824,600. The top set including the 1884/1885 had PCGS total value of $5,310,000. PCGS Coin Guide places the value of the coins in his second set at $233,000. The third set value was a measly $119,000. This is only 35 coins out of 10,000. It is true the two coins, 1884 & 1885 are valued at $5,350,000. So, the 33 remaining coins are valued at $474,000. That’s $14,381 each and three sets deep.
He has 17 Million Dollar Club coins that I am aware in his published sets. These 17 coins, I would value at $25,000,000. It is really hard to say what the avg. value of the other 10,000 coins would be. At $25,000 each, then you are looking a collection in the excess of $250M. Someday Mr. Hansen may decide to publish the value of his collection. Until them, it just a guess.
$25k average per coin across the collection is likely too high.
Even among the trade dollar proofs 1873-1883, that is 11 coins, so the per coin average is
$21k in the second set and
$10k in the third set.
If we used a $10k per coin average, the total is down to $100M.
@yosclimber said:
$25k average per coin across the collection is likely too high.
Even among the trade dollar proofs 1873-1883, that is 11 coins, so the per coin average is
$21k in the second set and
$10k in the third set.
If we used a $10k per coin average, the total is down to $100M.
There are a lot of cheapies in the moderns, but then again he did spend close to three quarters of a million dollars on two common date Mercury Dimes. It would be interesting to know his insurance value.
Upgrades from the BigMo Civil War Auction – Part 5
In this last installment of the coins that Mr. Hansen purchased from the BigMo sale, we will take a look at two coins from the year 1864 and one coin dated 1865. The two coins from 1864 are the 1864-S Quarter Dollar and the other is an 1864 MS68+ Gold Dollar. This gold dollar is an amazing coin. The last coin is an 1865-S MS66+ Half Dime. These coins complete the 18 coins that Mr. Hansen won in Legend’s Regency Auction 39. I was hoping some information on the BigMo Part 2 sale would be released before this last update. There was no mention of the Big Mo Part 2 in the upcoming Regency 40 Auction at The Bellagio in Las Vegas, NV. I hope it was just an omission in error.
As you have seen in the series of updates the past few days, Mr. Hansen and his team did an excellent job of placing winning bids in this exciting auction. Matthew Bell (Legend) summed the BigMo sale up this way: The BigMo Civil War Set started the auction off with a bang, as that set realized over a dozen record prices all on its own, attesting to how fresh and high quality the coins assembled in that collection were. By my count, Mr. Hansen won six of the twelve auction record setting BigMo Collection coins:
Lot 25. 10C 1862-S PCGS MS65 CAC, realized $58,750
Lot 29. 50C 1862-S PCGS MS66 CAC, realized $47,000
Lot 31. $1 1862 PCGS PR66+ CAC, realized $76,375
Lot 40. H10C 1863-S PCGS MS67+ CAC, realized $23,500
Lot 70. $1 1864 PCGS PR66 CAM CAC, realized $49,937.50
Lot 81. H10C 1865-S PCGS MS66+ CAC, realized $30,550
He was successful in winning all but three of the PCGS POP 1/0 Mint State specimens from the collection. He was under bidder (I assume) on two San Francisco dimes, 1864-S PCGS MS66 CAC that realized $29,375 and 1865-S PCGS MS65+ CAC that realized $55,812.50. I not sure why these two upgrades got away, but I do know for both coins Mr. Hansen has a pair of second finest PCGS POP 1/1 specimens. We know that sometimes Dr. Link will pass on the top coin because he likes his coin better. I am not saying that is what we are seeing here with Mr. Hansen. I just find this to be interesting. The other BigMo PCGS POP 1/0 specimen that slipped from being shipped to the Hansen vault was the 1865 PCGS MS68+ CAC Gold Dollar. The coin was passed. I do not remember the open bid, but I think the opening bid and fees would have surpassed the six figure mark. The estimate was published as $100,000 to $110,000. He did win the 1864 PCGS MS68+ CAC Gold Dollar for $73,437.50, but passed on the 1865. So, at the end of the day, he took home with him eight of the eleven POP 1/0 Mint State specimens (72%). That is not bad.
If the BigMo Part 2 appear in Legend’s Regency 40, I did looked ahead to see what specimens would be available that could upgrade the Hansen Mint State Collection. Not to bore you more details than you need, I found eleven. They are 3) Quarter Eagles, 1) Three Dollar, 4) Half Eagles, 1) Eagle and 2) Double Eagles. Of the eleven, five are PCGS POP 1/0 specimens. There could be some additional proofs, but I did not perform that review. More fun to come?
We have discussed US Mint activities during the troubled years of the US Civil War and it appeared the country continued the press westward. In some of our previous discussions, it has been made obvious that the San Francisco Mint was producing all they could just to keep the west coast commerce functioning. To help address this issue, on July 02, 1864, Congress appropriated $300,000 to purchase a site and constructed buildings for the Branch Mint at San Francisco. Two days later, July 04, 1864, Congressional legislation established a branch mint at Dalles City, Oregon. The Mint was short-lived; Congress donated the building to the State of Oregon for educational purposes in March 1875. A coin with a “DC” mint mark would have been interesting. Some other activities for the US Mint occurred on April 22, 1864 when Congress authorized coinage of the two-cent piece. The Director of the Mint, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, placed the motto “In God We Trust” on the bronze 2-cent piece. This was the first time the motto appeared on a coin. Lastly, on March 03, 1865, Congressional legislation authorized coinage of the three-cent coin.
The first coin is an 1864-S MS64 Quarter Dollar, Certification #11829684 is tied with one other coin as second finest PCGS certified. There is one PCGS finer, Gardner MS64+ Specimen. The best of the best is the NGC MS68 Eliasberg Specimen that sold for over $100K in 2006. The Hansen/BigMo coin realized a respectable $21,737.50 with an estimate: $24,000 - 26,500. An additional important fact on the 1864-S MS64 Quarter Dollar upgrade is that coin replaced an XF45 circulated grade coin. The 1865-S Half Dime, MS66+ Certification #21435037 is the finest PCGS certified. The coin realized $30,550 with an estimate: $20,000 - $22,500. This Ex: Gardner specimen is certainly worthy of a feature, but due to limited time and space, I was not able to feature all of Mr. Hansen’s POP 1/0 purchases. The 1864 MS68+ Gold Dollar is the feature coin for today.
1864 Gold Dollar MS68+, CAC, EX VIRGIL BRAND, DAVID AKERS, DR. STEVEN DUCKOR
This coin is pure numismatic royalty, in addition to its nirvana quality! (LRCA) I tried to figure out how this coin is nirvana quality? The best that I can surmise, the reference means "blowing out" or maybe "quenching". Do you know what the word may have meant in this context? In a description provided by Heritage in a 2015 sale, the coin was described as: A stunning Superb Gem with a historic provenance. Bingo, I certainly agree with that description! Our expert Ron Guth provided these comments: The 1864 Gold Dollar is a scarce, low-mintage date and it is one of the more challenging issues of the decade. Akers addressed the die clashing that affects many of the survivors, including those at the top end of the condition scale. Even the amazing PCGS MS69 example (now in the Simpson Collection) exhibits die clashing on the obverse. Gem and better examples are quite rare and fetch lots of money when they cross the auction block. For example, the Simpson MS69 sold for over $77,000 when it last appeared at auction in 2005. The estate of the late, great David Akers contained a superb example that sold as an NGC MS69 in 2014 for $58,750. Dr. Duckor, collectors extraordinaire, owns a PCGS MS68+ that he purchased from David Akers. These are three of the most impressive 1864 Gold Dollars one is likely to ever encounter.
This coin was described as having a historic provenance. So, true. The coin is traced to the Virgil Brand Collection and more recently to the Dr. & Mrs. Steven L. Duckor Collection. The Legend auctioneer described the coin as: This REMARKABLE SUPERB GEM is the second FINEST KNOWN (from an original small mintage of 5,900), following behind the other monster, the MS69 that is impounded in the Bob R. Simpson Collection. This coin is from one of most famed collections of all time, the Virgil Brand Collection, which was among the most extensive numismatic holdings ever assembled. This coin made its first modern appearance in the November 1983 Bowers and Merena sale of the Virgil Brand Collection. After that, it made its way to David Akers, one of the late 20th century’s most noted numismatic dealers and scholars. Sold to Dr. Steven L. Duckor, it was sold in the August 2015 sale of the Dr. Duckor Collection of Gold Dollars, where it was purchased by our consignor.
The coin realized $73,437.50. Legend’s estimated the coin at $65,000 - $70,000. So, we can see that Mr. Hansen was willing to step it up on 1864 MS68+, but not the 1865 MS68+. LRCA described the coin as: Our jaws dropped to the floor and locked when we examined this out of this world GEM. The surfaces are flawless and satiny smooth. All you can see with a strong glass are light unobtrusive mint made striations. A glowing luster beams from all over with faint traces of prooflike mirrors. Both sides are enriched by a gorgeous mix of totally original two tone gold/pale orange gold colors. There are NO spots or discolorations anywhere. Miss Liberty and the details are frosted and are sharply struck. The eye appeal is phenomenal! PCGS has graded only this one as MS68+ and the Bob Simpson coin is the one MS69 graded higher at PCGS. This coin last sold in the 2015 ANA auction for $70,500. Besides being perfect for GEM Civil War set or gold dollar set; it also works well in any box of 20. Or if you just wish to own a piece of numismatic royalty, this is the coin for you!
1864 Gold Dollar MS68+, CAC, EX VIRGIL BRAND, DAVID AKERS, DR. STEVEN DUCKOR PCGS POP 1/1, CAC Approved Certification #24463224, PCGS #7563 PCGS Value Guide: $70,000 / realized $73,437.50 Provenance: Virgil Brand Collection – (Bowers & Merena 11/1983) lot 30, realized $15,400 - David Akers - Dr. & Mrs. Steven L. Duckor Collection – (Heritage 8/2015) lot 4264, realized $70,500; BigMo Civil War Collection - The Regency Auction 39 (Legend 7/2020) lot 71, realized $73,437.50 - D.L. Hansen Collection
@yosclimber said:
$25k average per coin across the collection is likely too high.
Even among the trade dollar proofs 1873-1883, that is 11 coins, so the per coin average is
$21k in the second set and
$10k in the third set.
If we used a $10k per coin average, the total is down to $100M.
There are a lot of cheapies in the moderns, but then again he did spend close to three quarters of a million dollars on two common date Mercury Dimes. It would be interesting to know his insurance value.
.
.
My reference to the 10,000 coins really did not include post 1964 Moderns, Commemoratives, bullion, etc. We know as a fact that the Hansen Collection had 4103 coins on 6/30/2020 in the set below.
If he has 4K coins in his pre 1964 CS&Proof complete set, then it is not hard for me to believe he has at least 6K in duplicates, triplicates, quadruplicates, etc. (as shown with Trade Dollars). If you give me high/low bet on 6K duplicates, I would pick high. When talking with Mr. Hansen last fall, he gave me an example where he had a Peace Dollar coin (1926 I think), but don’t me hold me to that date. The coin has a large number of finest certified, but no single finest. Mr. Hansen has 5-6 finest certified specimens. Not being sure which one he preferred to keep for his top set, he just kept them all in his collection for now. This coin may be valued at $5k, but he has $25-30K worth of coins for that one date.
As previously stated, I have no verifiable knowledge of the value of his inventory or collection. Is there a difference in inventory vs collection? I can not confirm the collection is valued at $250M, but I am thinking it is closer to $250M than it is to $100M. I think his top 500 coins may be worth close to $100M. Also, I know he has duplicates that are valued at more the $100K each. I have seen a couple of them offered for sale.
@yosclimber said:
$25k average per coin across the collection is likely too high.
Even among the trade dollar proofs 1873-1883, that is 11 coins, so the per coin average is
$21k in the second set and
$10k in the third set.
If we used a $10k per coin average, the total is down to $100M.
Probably best to use a median value rather than average value. That strips out the distortion caused by the very low and very high priced coins.
@yosclimber said:
$25k average per coin across the collection is likely too high.
Even among the trade dollar proofs 1873-1883, that is 11 coins, so the per coin average is
$21k in the second set and
$10k in the third set.
If we used a $10k per coin average, the total is down to $100M.
Probably best to use a median value rather than average value. That strips out the distortion caused by the very low and very high priced coins.
If you are multiplying the average by the number of coins to get to a total value then the median is irrelevant. Only the mean matters.
I really enjoyed spending the past few days assorting through the BigMo purchases. It was fun and I hope you enjoyed seeing and learning about these coins that were minted as the Civil War raged on. I also learned some interesting US Mint facts. For example, Congressional legislation established a branch mint at Dalles City, Oregon. If I knew that before, it was long ago forgotten. As great as the civil war coins are, this new coin added to the Hansen Proof Collection is the Major Leagues compared to the Civil War coins. None of those coins come close to the ultra-rarity that you will see in this coin. Ultra-rarity like this doesn’t come in the Hansen Collection every day. Therefore, this is a small gold coin that carries a big presence. Also, the set that this coin was added to, I feel comfortable in saying, has never been completed.
The registry set One Dollar Gold, Proof (1849-1858) is just eight coins, but they are just not any eight coins. PCGS describes the set as: This is a set of ultra-rarities! It comprises three different types, with the 1858 (Type Three) being the only date that is seen with any frequency (18 examples certified). The Type One Proofs (1849-54) are so rare that PCGS has not certified a single piece of any date as this is being written. The Type Two Proofs are dated 1854 and 1855 and are great rarities as well, with just eight specimens certified for the two dates combined. The Type Three Proofs begin in 1856 and this set includes the first three years of issue. Not only is this a great set, nabbing even a single coin in the series is a numismatic accomplishment. It does not appear anyone thought the set could be completed. Just by “nabbing” a few would a great accomplishment. I am not convinced assembling all eight would be possible, although, The D.L. Hansen Collection now has six of the eight coins. Maybe an all- time high.
The last coin added to this set was 4/2018. I have been watching the set for a long time. I read up on the eight coins required a few times over the past couple years. Of the three coins that were remaining, the ultra-rare and controversial 1850 proof piece last came to auction in January 2013. As PCGS PR60 from Park Avenue Collection, this is the only piece to be certified by a TPG company. The only other coin is an unconfirmed piece in French National Library, apparently once part of a complete gold proof set. The Park Avenue coin appeared in the 2013 Heritage Auction as PCGS Cert #06698910. This cert number is no longer in the PCGS data base, so the current status on this coin is unknown.
The second of the three remaining, the 1854 Type 1 Proof is thought to be unique. There is zero information that I can find in PCGS CoinFacts. NGC Coin Explorer provides this information on Type 1 Proof Coins: Proofs were not struck officially, but the late Walter Breen, a renowned numismatic researcher and scholar, reported that at least seven proofs were made in 1849 of the type with open wreath and no letter L on the bust. He also knew of at least three proofs of the closed wreath type dated 1849. Proofs are also rumored for 1850 and 1851, and at least one is known for 1854. The “at least one is known for 1854” specimen I would assume to be the Harry Bass coin. The estimated grade given the coin is PR65CAM. The coin was purchased by Harry Bass from a Stack's Auction in 1985, lot 1874 for $68,750. The Bass coin may be from the City of Bremen complete 1854 Proof Set. PCGS and NGC have never certified an example of the 1854 Type 1 Proof. I wonder if the fate of this unique coin is the same as the 1870-S Three Dollar. After these first two ultra-rarities, the third coin left was the collectible 1855 Type 2.
Professional numismatists Jeff Garrett and our expert Ron Guth co-authored the award-winning book 100 Greatest U.S. Coins. This coin shows up as #73 in that prestige list of coins. David Akers comments on 1855 Proof Gold Dollar. Proofs are extremely rare although not as much so as the 1854. The same four parties that own proof Type II gold dollars also own proof 1855 gold dollars, and I am aware of several other specimens as well, including one that sold early in 1975 for a reported $50,000. In the Legend’s Regency 39 auction a couple weeks ago, the Hansen 1855 was described as: One of the greatest rarities of the Proof Gold Dollar series, this GEM 1855 gold dollar is one of just seven positively traced specimens from an original, very tiny estimated mintage of 10 pieces. This is an extremely important offering, one of the FINEST PCGS-graded examples known, and the FINEST CAC-approved example extant. To quote from John Dannreuther's monumental time on Proof Gold Coins (2018), "Few coins excite numismatists more than Proof Type 2 gold dollars." I have determine the pedigrees of the seven known specimens that the Legend Auctioneer references. In using several references and auction sites, I have found compiled the list below.
1) Parmelee/Pittman Specimen, PR66★ UltraCameo NGC (former PR66DCAM PCGS) John F. McCoy Collection (W. Elliot Woodward, 5/1864), lot 2001; William A. Lilliendahl; Sixth Semi-Annual Sale (Woodward, 3/1865), lot 2829; Mendes I. Cohen; Cohen Collection (Edward Cogan, 10/1875), lot 241; Lorin G. Parmelee Collection (New York Coin & Stamp, 6/1890) lot 1255; William H. Woodin Collection (Thomas Elder, 3/1911), lot 852; Thomas Melish (Abe Kosoff, 4/1956), lot 1743; John Jay Pittman Collection (David Akers, 10/1997), lot 866; Dr. Robert J. Loewinger (Heritage, 1/2007), lot 3100; Madison Collection (Heritage, 1/2008), lot 3051, realized $373,750; The Kodiak Collection - FUN U.S. Coins Signature (Heritage, 1/2020), lot #4320, realized $336,000 as PR66★ UltraCameo NGC.
2) Hansen/Star Specimen, PR65+ DCAM PCGS (former PR66 Ultra Cameo NGC) CAC: Ex: Likely J.F. Bell (Stack's, 12/1944), lot 9; George H. Hall (Stack's, 5/1945), F.C.C. Boyd; World's Greatest Collection (Numismatic Gallery, 1/1946), lot 9; lot 1678; Floyd T. Starr Collection (Stack's, 10/1992), lot 1084; The Gold Rush Collection - FUN Signature Auction (Heritage, 1/2005), lot 30023, realized $287,500; The Kodiak Collection - Central States (CSNS) U.S. Coins Signature (Heritage, 4/2020), lot #3770, realized $282,000; The Regency Auction 39 (Legend, 7/2020), lot 483, realized $329,000 – The D.L. Hansen Collection.
3) Eliasberg/Trompeter Specimen, PR66 NGC: Elmer Sears (4/1909); John H. Clapp; Clapp Estate (1942); Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr.; Eliasberg Collection (Bowers and Ruddy, 10/1982), lot 26; Jay Miller; Ed Trompeter (Superior, 2/1992), lot 1; Tacasyl Collection (Bonham's, 9/2013), lot 1000, realized $397,800 (Auction Record)
4) Barefoot/Siam Specimen, PR65 NGC: John Story Jenks Collection (Henry Chapman, 12/1921), lot 5822; Memorable Collection (Numismatic Gallery, 3/1948), lot 9; Harold S. Bareford (Stack's, 12/1978), lot 29; King of Siam Sale (Superior, 1/1993), lot 1262, realized $132,000
5) PR62 Cameo, CAC. Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 10/2001), lot 8097; Pre-Long Beach Sale (Superior, 6/2002), lot 4744; Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 6/2011), lot 4462; US Coins & Platinum Night FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2012), lot #4709.
6) Morgan/ANS Specimen, Proof Uncertified: American Numismatic Society donated by J.P. Morgan
7) Stack Specimen, Proof Uncertified: Abe Kosoff; Jimmy Hayes; Norman Stack, Sold with his type set in 1990. In the Stack Collection since at least 1971, per Harvey Stack.
Note: PCGS reports POP 1/2 for the Hansen specimen. The PCGS POP reports six and NGC POP reports six, so obviously these grading services have duplicate entries. Is Hansen/Star Specimen finest certified by PCGS? The Parmelee/Pittman Specimen was once certified PR66DCAM PCGS, but appeared earlier this year in NGC holder
As I stated earlier, the 1850 proof has not appeared in auction since 2013. As well, the last appearance before 2020 for the 1855 Proof was the Eliasberg/Trompeter Specimen was September 2013. So, when I saw the Parmelee/Pittman Specimen appear in the Heritage FUN Auction in 1/2020, I asked John Brush what he thought of the coin. He did not indicate that it was something that they pursuing at that time. I thought that to be a lost opportunity; it could be long wait before another appearance. Then three months later the Star Specimen appeared in Heritage Central States Auction in 4/2020. Both offering were for NGC graded coins. I am not sure if Mr. Hansen bided on either coin, but we know he did not win. So, the third time was the charm when the Star Specimen crossed from a PR66 Ultra Cameo NGC to a PR65+ DCAM PCGS and was offered in the Legends Regency 39 Auction a couple weeks ago.
Boasting all of the traits of a high end GEM, this deeply, boldly contrasted example is essentially without flaw. Incredibly deep, reflective mirrors show that the dies and planchet were carefully polished prior to striking. The devices, which on circulation strike issues tend to be softly struck, are fully struck up and offer an extremely thick frost. Liberty's portrait stands out with full, 3D contrast against the surrounding mirrors; the lighter frosty gold texture makes the Longacre design really POP! Carefully preserved since it was struck 170 years ago. Virtually every tiny fleck and line that we observe with a powerful loupe, appears to be an artifact of the minting process. Parallel striations are seen in in the fields and some very minor, natural planchet flakes are noted. A pair of tiny flakes are seen below [O]F and below the right ribbon end on the reverse. These serve as pedigree markers that will aid in identifying this GEM as the J.F. Bell, George Hall, Floyd Starr, Gold Rush Collection coin (LRCA)
As stated, the coin appeared in auction twice this year. First in a Heritage April 2020 Central States Signature Auction In Dallas as a PR66 Ultra Cameo NGC. Mr. Hansen purchased the coin three months later in the Legends’ Regency 39 Auction. The coin realized $329,000 with an estimate of $280,000 - $300,000. This was the top coin that sold in the legend sale. Legend described the offering as: This is the ONLY PR65+ DCAM and we believe represents one of the regular PR65 DCAMs as well. It is also the only CAC approved example in any grade. The most recent DCAM graded by PCGS to sell in auction was a PR66 DCAM sold in the 2008 FUN auction for $373,750. In the 2020 FUN Auction an NGC PR66 Ultra Cameo sold for $336,000. Neither of those coins was CAC approved. Today, with several large collections of gold rarities being assembled, we know demand for this PCGS GEM with CAC approval verifying its quality and boasting a superb eye appeal, will be fierce. The current CAC CPG value in PR65 DCAM (they do not put values on "+" grades) is $453,800. This is an incredible opportunity that cannot be missed by any advanced connoisseur of ultra rare gold coins. We expect very strong bidding once this one opens. Good luck.
1855 Gold Dollar, PR65+ DAM PCGS POP 1/2, CAC Approved Certification #39084842, PCGS #97602 PCGS Value Guide: $335,000 / realized $329,000 Provenance: Likely J.F. Bell (Stack's, 12/1944), lot 9; George H. Hall (Stack's, 5/1945), F.C.C. Boyd; World's Greatest Collection (Numismatic Gallery, 1/1946), lot 9; lot 1678; Floyd T. Starr Collection (Stack's, 10/1992), lot 1084; The Gold Rush Collection - FUN Signature Auction (Heritage, 1/2005), lot 30023, realized $287,500; The Kodiak Collection - Central States (CSNS) U.S. Coins Signature (Heritage, 4/2020), lot #3770, realized $282,000; The Regency Auction 39 (Legend, 7/2020), lot 483, realized $329,000 – The D.L. Hansen Collection.
@Currin said:
... Of the three coins that were remaining, the ultra-rare and controversial 1850 proof piece last came to auction in January 2013. As PCGS PR60 from Park Avenue Collection, this is the only piece to be certified by a TPG company. The only other coin is an unconfirmed piece in French National Library, apparently once part of a complete gold proof set.
@Currin said:
... Of the three coins that were remaining, the ultra-rare and controversial 1850 proof piece last came to auction in January 2013. As PCGS PR60 from Park Avenue Collection, this is the only piece to be certified by a TPG company. The only other coin is an unconfirmed piece in French National Library, apparently once part of a complete gold proof set.
.
.
Thanks for sharing the information link. I missed a few of those guys from that link, insider2, RogerB, northcoin, etc. Most their discussions were concerning the 1850 Double Eagle. In my description, I used the term unconfirmed due to information provided from Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins with Ron Guth. Jeff Garrett included the following notes about proof 1850 gold dollars:
"The only 1850 gold dollar that can lay claim to Proof status was last sold in 1995. The coin is fully mirrored and extremely well struck. There are scattered lint marks that would lend credence to die polish. Unfortunately, the coin has been lightly burnished at one time. Another example is rumored to exist in a museum collection in France."
As with most written print, it can be outdated. In reading about David Hall, I not sure he confirmed the 1850 Proof Gold Dollar, as he did the Double Eagle. I did read that Marc Emory, who I think is Director of European Operations at Heritage reported on the Bibliotheque National coins, but I have not seen the report. Either way, I believe the only “collectible specimen” would be the Park Avenue Specimen sold in 1995 and 2013.
If you have been following along this year, you will know that I have been watching the Barber Dimes closely? Why, because it has been a very active series. The Srotag Collection that was offered in GreatCollection Auctions back in the spring of this year was when I first started to see movement in this series. I reported back on April 12th that I thought the Hansen Collection of Barber Dimes had a good shot at overcoming the #2 All-Time Set by Simpson and he did. I also said that Barber Dime greatness stills lays in the hands of Stuart Blay. He has been paying the Barber Dime game for a long time, almost twenty years on the registry, maybe even longer, if he was active in Barber Dime series before the registry. Currently, Mr. Blay is in the top spot with 66.79 GPA and 67.63 with bonuses. The set is closed to the public viewing, but from bonus points awarded, it appears the set has a majority (>50%) of the PCGS top pops. I cannot confirm, and Mr. Blay is not revealing.
At the start of 2020, Mr. Hansen was in third place rankings and trailing Mr. Blay by 0.388. Currently, Mr. Hansen has moved into second place ahead of Simpson and trails Blay by 0.187. Mr. Hansen narrowed Mr. Blay lead by 50% in the past 6-7 months. If you have registry sets then you know making up ground gets more difficult as you get closer to the top. I am not sure there is mathematical possibility for Mr. Hansen to overtake Mr. Blay. With the Blay set being closed, it is hard to determine if obtaining the #1 stop is possible with available coins. If I were to guess, I would say that probably Mr. Blay has the #1 spot locked.
The list of Hansen coins that are not PCGS Condition Census Top Five gets shorter and shorter. The Collection is down to just six coins.
1906-D 10C MS66 POP 13/7
1903-O 10C MS65+ POP 1/7
1904-S 10C MS65 POP 9/9
1896-S 10C MS65 POP 15/10
1899-O 10C MS65+ POP 1/11
1899-S 10C MS66 POP 13/18
As you can see, there is still some meat on this bone for Mr. Hansen. If he can replace most of these coins and gain a few more bonus points along the way. Things could start to get interesting.
We have seen recently that Mr. Hansen was spending approx. $25,000 to $30,000 per PCGS POP 1/0 specimen upgrade. They were mostly The San Francisco minted dimes that have a small mintage. That is not the case with this upgrade. Expert Ron Guth described the coin this way: The 1900 Dime is a very common coin that can be found with ease in all grades up to and including MS64. In MS65 and better grades, the population dips way down, but even those grades appear on the market frequently. In MS67, this date becomes extremely rare. The best example is a single PCGS MS67+ in the Lilly Nicole Collection. The PCGS CoinFacts Condition Census for this date contains a minimum of MS65 and better coins, indicating the great conditions in which the 1900 Dimes have survived. The reader will note that virtually all of the top-end examples sport colorful toning and superb eye appeal.
This coin has appeared in public auction only once. In the Heritage April 2015 CSNS US Coins Signature Auction in Chicago, the coin was described as having Fantastic Eye Appeal. This 2015 Heritage Auction featured the sale of The Lilly Nicole Collection. The sale showcased and sold 77 top of the registry Barber dimes. The top dime in the auction was the 1895-O 10C MS66+ PCGS, CAC that realized $54,050. I wonder where that coin is. Hint, the coin is not in the Hansen Collection. The next in line was the 1901-S MS67+, and that coin is in the Hansen Collection. At the time of the sale, the Lilly Nicole Collections was the Current #1 PCGS Registry Set of Barber Dimes, Circulation Strikes. Since retiring in 2015, the set has dropped to #5 All-Time.
In the 2015 Heritage auction, the coin was described as: Fantastic eye appeal is created on this Superb Gem dime by the top-notch preservation, leaving all of the device high points essentially unmarked, and the lovely iridescent patina, cherry-red nearest the margins, ceding inward to amber, gold, pale olive, and rose with some untoned silver areas remaining in the centers. This piece would be a great addition to a fine Registry Set, currently the sole finest at PCGS. The coin realized $5,999.55, which may not be bad for a coin as common as this one. Since this sale, the coin has maintained sole finest by PCGS status and was approved for the CAC sticker.
The coin was offered in the late June timeframe on the Pinnacle Rarities, INC website. The coin was described as: This the finest known 1900 dime has rich luster beneath a rainbow of color featuring gold and green highlights. Spectacular condition, amazing color and CAC certification. A wholly original condition rarity with amazing eye appeal. The website does not indicated the offered price. PCGS Price Guide values the coin at $7,000. The Auction Record is for Dr. Steven L. Duckor MS67 specimen that sold at Heritage’s January 2006 FUN #1 Signature Auction January in Orlando, FL. The coin realized $8,625. That coin has been bumped down to D.L. Hansen Barber Dimes #2 set!
In the 1901-S MS67+ posting a few weeks ago, I asked the question: Is this last PCGS POP 1/0 specimen that Mr. Hansen will be able to acquire for this set? Well it did not take long to get that question answered. Honestly, I thought the 1900 Lilly Nicole Specimen was probably in Mr. Blay’s set. To my surprise, it was not and available. It is hard to image replacing the Duckor Auction Record Specimen, but to continue the climb will require finding more coins like this one. There may be path that can to push Mr. Hansen ahead of Stuart Blay and his two decade old crazy good Barber Dime set.
1900 Barber Dime MS67+ POP 1/0, CAC Approved Certification #32486817, PCGS #4821 PCCS Value Guide: $7,000 / Unknown Internet Sale Provenance: Lilly Nicole Collection – (Heritage 4/2015) lot #3920, realized $5,999.55; Pinnacle Rarities, INC private sale (6/2020) to D.L. Hansen Collection
In a set with large populations, it’s actually easier for a newer set to achieve a higher ranking because it’s more likely to purchase all the + and upgrade coins that come on the market. A set that’s been around for a while sees that these coins are no better than the coins it contains already and doesn’t pull the trigger.
For those wondering how the PCGS CAC registry would impact @DLHansen, also impressive is that DL is #1 for the CAC circulation set of Buffalo Nickels. DL doesn't have the most complete set but he's ranked #1.
In a set with large populations, it’s actually easier for a newer set to achieve a higher ranking because it’s more likely to purchase all the + and upgrade coins that come on the market. A set that’s been around for a while sees that these coins are no better than the coins it contains already and doesn’t pull the trigger.
Agreed. Part of the Registry game getting your own coins regraded if they are undergraded.
I remember you mentioning this as an issue for your own competitive sets.
It would be interesting to see the % of + coins per set, and even rank them without +.
@Gazes said:
So with the upcoming Simpson auctions, will this end the earlier debate of who has the greatest collection between Simpson and Hansen?
.
.
No, Gazes I don’t think so.
The Hansen Simpson debate will end when the All-time Greatest NFL quarterback debate ends. How do you determine the greatest quarterback, by best stats, by achievements (championships, etc.), by awards (pro bowls, etc.)? How would you account for different eras? How to account for advantages, ex. great line, or great teams/systems? The debate rages on.
Hansen and Simpson have different collecting styles. Dell Loy Hansen is in the PCGS Hall of Fame for Complete U.S. Coin Collection. This is a very limited group of 15-16, if I recall. All deceased except Mr. Hansen. Bob Simpson is in the PCGS Hall of Fame for Specialized Area Collection (patterns, I think). Also, Simpson has several sets that was awarded the Hall of Fame. Of all the great sets that Mr. Hansen has assembled the past 4 years, he has yet to have one of his complete sets to be award the PCGS Hall of Fame. The biggest comparison between Simpson and Hansen is they both played their game in the TPG/Registry era.
Laura Sperber said Mr. Simpson love “great coins”. This appears to me to be a true statement. If you look at his three hundred coins being offered at Heritage, they are all “great coins”. Mr. Hansen loves coins, period. They don’t have to be great. What is great about collecting moderns, post 1964 coinage? He could have stopped his collection at 1964 and still have a great collection.
I have said before, what Mr. Hansen is doing is really hard to compare, because there is no one active and living today is doing what he is doing. He is not unique, because others have done what he is doing in the past, Atwater, Bland, Clapp, Eliasberg, Boyd, and a handful of others.
So, in trying to compare Hansen and Simpson is not like comparing who is the best quarterback of all-time, rather trying the say who is the greatest player when comparing a HOF quarterback to a HOF defensive end. If you want to compare Mr. Hansen, he would need to be compared with other HOF quarterbacks, like Louis Eliasberg, Sr. PCGS quote about Eliasberg, “This man is to coins what Babe Ruth is to baseball“. We can say, “Hansen is to coins what Pele is to soccer”. Just a different game being played in a different era.
I think that it will be interesting if Hansen acquires any of Simpson's patterns. Hansen's collection plus Simpson's pattern collection is way beyond the Eliasberg set, or for that matter, the Smithsonian Collection. And if he falls a few coins short of the Eliasberg set, the patterns would put him over the top to claim the greatest US coin collection of all time.
@OldIndianNutKase said:
I think that it will be interesting if Hansen acquires any of Simpson's patterns. Hansen's collection plus Simpson's pattern collection is way beyond the Eliasberg set, or for that matter, the Smithsonian Collection. And if he falls a few coins short of the Eliasberg set, the patterns would put him over the top to claim the greatest US coin collection of all time.
OINK
I agree that would be very interesting. When Hansen started, acquiring such patterns probably seemed unobtainable if Simpson didn't sell, but now that he is, there is an opening.
I have posted updates to the 201 piece basic set of Liberty Half Eagles several times this year. We have seen this to be one of Mr. Hansen’s most active sets. I think one reason may be the addition of the Pogue 1854-S in March. To complete the set and top it off with this ultra-rarity, have to be a great motivator. There are really no known registry competitors in this series. It will be interesting to see when the Hall of Fame awards are given out later this month how this set will fare. I find it difficult to understand how this set would fall short on anyone’s list. PCGS describes the set as: There is no other set of coins that features specimens from seven U. S. Mints—Philadelphia, Charlotte, Dahlonega, Carson City, Denver, New Orleans and San Francisco. This long-lived set includes one of the greatest rarities in numismatics, the 1854-S $5 gold piece. How many has PCGS graded? Zero! There are many sets-within-sets in this series, as most collectors focus on the coins from one particular Mint. It’s a long and challenging collection to complete, but it’s a tremendous achievement if you can do it.. So, Mr. Hansen stepped up and crossed the finish line on this “tremendous achievement”, so now let’s see if PCGS Registry will step up and award the set the PCGS Hall of Fame.
With this update, the 201 coin set has 31 PCGS POP 1/0 specimens (15.4%). There 33 other coins that are tied for finest certified by PCGS (16.4%). Therefore, 31.8% of this set is PCGS finest coins that they have to offer. Only four coins are graded less than AU50. They are 1866-S (F12), 1870-CC (F12), 1847-0 (VF25) and the 1860-S (XF45). On the other end of the spectrum, the collection has one MS68, 1908 Liberty. Two other coins are graded MS67+ with several graded MS67. We have seen more than 25 upgrades in this set since January 1, 2020. The set still have room for more upgrades like the one that you will see today.
1875-S Liberty Head Half Eagle PCGS MS64
As of a few months ago, The Hansen Collection had the finest PCGS certified 1875-S, AU58+ POP 1/0, Cert #82415165. The coin lost its POP 1/0 status recently when a NGC MS64 PL certified coin was crossed and became the present day PCGS Pop 1/0 specimen. In the crossover, PCGS dropped the PL, but maintained the MS64 grading. In the PCGS Condition Census report, the coin was previously recognized as the finest coin and had a MS63 PCGS estimated grade. PCGS Rarity and Survival Estimates indicated there are 85 known, and only one MS60 or better. That would be the new Hansen coin. There is one other mint state coin in the NGC Census report, MS60. The MS60 NGC coin last sold in American Numismatic Rarities 2006 sale. I have seen reports that referred to the MS60 NGC coin as defective. I am not saying the MS60 coin sold in the ANA sale is defective. I have the catalog of the Glode M. Reque Collection and there is no mention of the coin being defective. I did a lookup on the image of the coin and it looks fine by my untrained eyes. I thought this MS60 NGC and Hansen’s AU58+ PCGS Specimen could be the same coin, but the images do not match.
Expert David Akers commented on this coin: Overall the 1875-S is comparable to the 1874-S in rarity but is less rare than the 1876-S that follows. The mintmark is very small but it is usually somewhat sharper than on other S Mint Half Eagles of the period. The bottom part of the ribbon above the eagle, especially below WE TRUST, is always weak or missing. With this purchase, the Hansen collection now has the top two PCGS certified coins: AU58+ POP 1/1 and the MS64 POP 1/0 specimen. The AU58+ POP 1/1 coin has been moved to Hansen’s #2 set which is 87.06% completed. Interesting thought, if Hansen had kept the first 1854-S that he purchased, he could have two completed sets!
This coin has a lot going for it. The coin may be the only mint state and the only Choice GEM for sure. Also, the pedigree is not bad. The coin can be traced to the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection. In 2017, Ron Guth wrote this about Mr. Stack: James A. Stack, Sr. was a collector of substantial means and discrimination who was active in numismatics from the late 1930s until his death in 1951. He acquired many rarities and “finest known” coins by taking full advantage of the opportunities presented to him as great collections came onto the market. He owned an 1894-S Dime, a 1798 Small Eagle $5, an 1870-S Silver Dollar, an 1838-O Half Dollar, and hundreds of other U.S. coins including condition-rarities, pattern coins, early Proof coins, and Pioneer gold. Portions of his collection were sold over a 20 year period beginning in 1975. Had his collection been sold as a single unit, it would have been one of the landmark auctions of the 20th century. Nonetheless, the James A. Stack pedigree signifies importance, rarity, and quality. Stacks Auction sold the coin in 1994 and the coin realized an Auction Record of $46,750. I cannot be 100% certain; but the winning bidder may have been Harry W. Bass, Jr. He is well known for jumping on rare coins that don’t come of the market often. The auction record still stands 25 years later. According to Mr. Stacks, the coin may be from the Belden Roach Collection. His collection was sold by Max Mehl in the mid-1940s.
As seen, this coin has an impressive early history. Bowers & Merena Auctions sold the coin in 1999 as part of the Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection sale. The coin realized a disappointing $27,600. I believe at the time, the coin was a PCGS MS63. The coin became a dumpster fire after the disappointing Bass sale. The coin was crossed to a MS64 NGC and experienced a couple quick sales. The coin sold in a 2000 Heritage auction for $21,850. The coin was marketed as the Finest Certified 1875-S Liberty Half Eagle, but interesting there was no mention of being from the Bass Collection. A year later, the coin sold in a 2001 Heritage Signature Sale in Atlanta, GA. This time the coin was pedigreed to be from the Richard Genaitis Collection of 1875 Coinage. Again, no reference to Mr. Bass or Mr. Stack and the coin realized dismal $18,400.
After three auctions in three years, the coin took a well needed breather. The coin did not resurface again until the 2020 ANA National Money Show when the coin was offered in a Kragin’s Auction. This time the coin was described as 1875-S MS-64 PL NGC. The coin was contributed to the Stack Collection and the Genaitis Collection, but Mr. Bass was slighted once again. I am not sure why, was it because of the disappointing 1999 sale? Do you know? Anyway, the auctioneer described the coin as: Brightly lustrous yellow gold with frosty motifs and mirrorlike fields – the reverse contrast is especially eye-catching. From heavily polished dies; on the obverse certain stars are thin and spindly in appearance, and on the reverse, there are vertical die polish lines present throughout with a severely diminished ribbon above the eagle the end result. About as rare a half eagle date as you’ll find in Mint State grades, despite a somewhat generous mintage of 9,000 pieces. The hustle and bustle of San Francisco commerce often made short work of the Mint’s products; the typical grade for this date runs VG or so to an occasional EF or AU. The present coin is one of just two Mint State examples of the date registered at NGC, and is the finer of the two by four grading points! For comparison, PCGS has not certified a Mint State example of this unsung rarity, and they suggest a known population of 100 or so pieces in all grades. We imagine this particular 1875-S half eagle is the finest extant, though we can’t attest to that with any surety. We can, however, state that it is, far and away, the finest certified specimen in a third-party holder. Don’t be left out when the bidding begins on this lot, or you will have a long wait for another. The statement PCGS has not certified a Mint State example of this unsung rarity is not totally true. This coin they were offering in auction was once a PCGS MS63 when it was sold in 1999 Bass sale.
Now, the coin has found the prefect home for a long time. How did that happened, I don’t know. One possibility is that someone purchased the coin, crossed it to PCGS and sold the PCGS coin to Mr. Hansen. The other possibility would be that Mr. Hansen purchased the coin in Kagin’s Auction and crossed the coin himself. Either way, this is a fantastic coin and now resides in one of the Greatest Collections ever assembled.
1875-S Half Eagle PCGS MS64 PCGS POP 1/0, Finest by at least 4 points Certification #39111350, PCGS #8338 PCGS Value Guide: $40,000 (MS63) / Unknown Provenance: Belden Roach (per the James A. Stack catalog); James A. Stack, Sr. Collection, (Stack's 10/1994) lot #1208, realized $46,750; Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection (Bowers & Merena 10/1999) lot 1204, realized $27,600; Philadelphia 2000 (Heritage 8/2000) lot #7259, $21,850; Richard Genaitis Collection (Heritage 8/2001) lot #7817, realized $18,400; 2020 ANA National Money Show (Kagin’s 3/2020), lot #1238, realized $34,800; D. L. Hansen Collection
Comments
One nugget that I didn't add to the article is kind of funny.
Laura Sperber (Legend) and I carpooled to lot viewing the first morning after arriving. Well, we needed breakfast, so we stopped at Chick-Fil-A across the street from In-N-Out. I was a bad influence as I showed Laura where she could get a daily Diet Lemonade...while I settled for my Diet Coke. I wish I could share the conversations from that car ride!
President of David Lawrence Rare Coins www.davidlawrence.com
email: John@davidlawrence.com
2022 ANA Dealer of the Year, Past Chair of NCBA (formerly ICTA), PNG Treasurer, Instructor at Witter Coin University, former Instructor/YN Chaperone ANA Summer Seminar, Coin World Most Influential, Curator of the D.L. Hansen Collection
Feel free to PM me!
.
President of David Lawrence Rare Coins www.davidlawrence.com
email: John@davidlawrence.com
2022 ANA Dealer of the Year, Past Chair of NCBA (formerly ICTA), PNG Treasurer, Instructor at Witter Coin University, former Instructor/YN Chaperone ANA Summer Seminar, Coin World Most Influential, Curator of the D.L. Hansen Collection
Major Varieties – Countdown 38
I started this countdown list for Major Varieties in mid-April. When watching a mega collection, there are hundreds of sub-sets in the collection like these variety sets. At my last check, The Hansen Collection is 1659 sets strong! This new coin addition not only counts down the Complete Major Varieties Set to 38 remaining, but maybe more importantly, this new addition completes the Early Dimes Classic, Circulation Strikes (1796-1837) set. This set requires 46 coins (basic set is 30 coins). PCGS describes the set as: The first United States dime was issued in 1796 while George Washington was still in office as President. This Draped Bust, Small Eagle type was only issued for two years, followed by the Heraldic Eagle reverse of 1798-1807. The Capped Bust coins of 1809-1837 complete this series. The Classic Set adds 16 coins to the Basic Set, and includes most of the major varieties listed in the Redbook including all the Large and Small Date varieties, the variations in the number of reverse stars and berries and the large and small 10C on the reverse. While there are no extraordinary rarities in this set, the 1804s and the 13-star reverses of 1797 and 1798 will prove the toughest coins to acquire in higher grade.
Also, this new addition completes Early Dimes with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1796-1837) set. This set requires 52 coins (an additional six). PCGS describes the set as: The first United States dime was issued in 1796 while George Washington was still in office as President. This Draped Bust, Small Eagle type was only issued for two years, followed by the Heraldic Eagle reverse of 1798-1807. The Capped Bust coins of 1809-1837 complete this series. Stepping up to the Major Varieties Set from the Classic set adds another six coins for a total of 52 pieces. Fortunately, none of the additional varieties are extremely rare, so tackling this set should not prove much more difficult than the Classic Set.
I cannot confirm, but I wonder if this is the first time these sets have been completed. We know that Mr. Hansen is the first and only collector to complete the certified sets in the PCGS registry. In the 52-piece set, Mr. Hansen leads the registry at 100% complete followed by Louis Eliasberg at 84.62% and The Norweb Family at 86.54%. There are a couple other collectors including Dimeman at least 80% complete while attempting to complete the set at a lower grade, 25-35. There is not but a few fish in this pool, and no one is making a big splash to overtake Mr. Hansen. His closes competitor is himself. His second set is 69.23% complete with GPA 54.87. If you have not had a chance to view this 52-coin set, here is a quick link.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/half-dimes/early-dimes-major-sets/early-dimes-major-varieties-circulation-strikes-1796-1837/181
1798/7 Capped Bust Dime, JR-2, 13-Star Reverse MS63, Ex: Pogue, CAC Approved
Mr. Hansen saved one of the better dimes for last. He has been waiting to add this coin since August 2018 (when the registry sets were one coin short of being 100%). It is very rare that I will reach out to John Brush for comments in my updates. When I saw this coin, I did reach out to him. This is JB’s description of this long wait: It was actually offered to us three years ago with the 1802 Half Dime, but we passed as it was just too pricey. Then again it was offered to us on memo from Legend a year ago or so. I think we made an offer on it at some point for a break-even or a small profit from what it brought in Pogue, but I don’t recall completely….. So, it was just shipped to us at a small savings from the Pogue sale and we wanted to complete the major variety early dime set, so it worked out this time. We’d probably have preferred a lower grade example for the variety, but we never could find one, so this was the only piece that could finish that set.
I reached out to my Capped Bust expect for an opinion. He offered: Very tough redbook variety. Owned most recently by Quint, who had a superb early dime set until he broke it up and started selling coins from it last year. Stacks Bowers at the Pogue sale describe the coin as: “one of the rarest of the bust dime ‘type’ coins” in the JR book, this rare die variety also happens to be a Guide Book variety, the sole marriage combining the 1798/7 overdate obverse with a 13 Star reverse.
The Hansen coin is believed by some experts and collectors to be best. According to SBG: This is the only example graded MS-63 by PCGS and one of just three Mint State pieces certified by them. The JR book notes “at most, three may claim MS-60 or better condition.” Ed Price had a strong positive opinion on the coin: “The dime book lists the Bareford coin as the finest the authors had seen. I owned that coin and the present piece for several years. This example that I retained is clearly superior, and is the finest I have seen or heard of.” This comment is from an owner that had two of the best coins.
SBG describes the coin as: Cartwheel luster spins around both sides like a silver propeller, showcasing the frosty freshness of the surfaces. The obverse shows light toning, just a hint of gold over silver gray, while the reverse reveals a dappling of other subtle colors and sedate stripes of copper and blue. As is standard for JR-2, the central obverse is quite softly defined and the central reverse is similar. This very rare die marriage apparently met its demise early, condemned by several die clashes whose vestiges remain visible on this coin. Only trivial hairlines are seen, along with just a few scattered minor marks, including a short scrape on Liberty’s upper chest and two shallow abrasions at the central reverse.
In the Pogue sale, the coin fetched an Auction Record at $199,750. PCGS Price Guide values the coin at $225,000. We know from JB’s comments that after three years, they agreed to price with a “small savings from the Pogue sale”. It is not my money so it is easy for me to say this; “the coin is well worth price to top off these difficult sets with this special specimen”.
1798/7 Capped Bust Dime, JR-2, 13-Star Reverse MS63
PCGS, POP 1/0, CAC Approved
Certification #06506337, PCGS #38751
PCGV: $225,000 / Private Sale
Provenance: F.C.C. Boyd Collection - Numismatic Gallery 1/1945:431 - Stuart Levine, sold privately in 8/2002 - Ed Price Collection - Heritage 7/2008:1418, $103,500 - D. Brent Pogue Collection - Stack's/Bowers and Sotheby's 5/2015:1038, $199,750 – D.L. Hansen Collection
.
.
The Major Varieties Set is an expansion of the PCGS Basic Set in The D. L. Hansen Collection. To complete, this set would require the 2821 basic coins plus an additional 439 Major Varieties Coins. With this addition, there are 38 remaining coins in this quest. The first two coins are not collectable, so the completion of this set would be 99.94%. PCGS describes this set as: Every classic U.S. coin in Circulation Strike from 1792 through 1964, every date, every Mintmark, every major variety, this set is the ultimate challenge. A collection of this size could take decades to assemble in high grade.
Top 10
1797 Half Eagle "Large Eagle, 15 Stars" (1 Known – Permanently in Smithsonian) Uncollectable
1797 Half Eagle "Large Eagle, 16 Stars" (1 Known – Permanently in Smithsonian) Uncollectable
1861 Double Eagle "Paquet" (2 Known)
1804 Eagle "Plain 4 Proof" (3 Known)
1849-C Gold Dollar "Open Wreath" (4 Known w/ one defective)
1958 Small Cent "Doubled Die Obverse” (3 Known)
1793 Wreath Large Cent "Strawberry Leaf" (4 Known w/ VG Finest Known)
1795 Large Cent "Jefferson, Lettered Edge" (5 Known w/ VF Finest Known)
1810 Half Eagle "Large Date, Small 5" (5 Known w/ AU Finest Known)
1795 Large Cent "Reeded Edge" (8 Known w/ VG Finest Known)
Next 10
1842 Half Dollar "Small Date, Rev of 1839" (Survival est. 10 w/ 1 Mint State)
1804 Quarter Eagle "13 Star Reverse" (Survival est. 11 w/ AU Finest Known)
1831 Half Eagle "Large 5D" (Survival est. 22 all varieties w/ 1 Mint State)
1797 Half Cent "Gripped Edge" (Survival est. 13 w/ VG Finest Known)
1831 Half Eagle "Small 5D" (Survival est. 22 all varieties w/ 3 Mint State)
1853-D Half Eagle "Medium D" (Survival est. 15 w/ AU Finest Known)
1830 Half Eagle "Large 5D" (Survival est. 27 all varieties w/ 5 Mint State)
1830 Half Eagle "Small 5D" (Survival est. 27 all varieties w/ 5 Mint State)
1828 Half Eagle "Normal Date" (Survival est. 14 w/ 5 Mint State)
1793 Chain Large Cent "Periods" (118 PCGS Certified w/ 3 Mint State)
Last 18
1797 Half Eagle "Small Eagle, 15 Stars" (Survival est. 20 w/ 1 Mint State)
1820 Half Eagle "Curl Base 2, Sm Letters" (Survival est. 14 w/ 8 Mint State)
1819 Half Eagle "5D/50" (Survival est. 17 w/ 8 Mint State)
1800 Dollar "Wide Date, Low 8, AMERICAI" (Survival est. 25 w/ AU Finest Known)
1840-D Half Eagle "Small D" (Survival est. 25 w/ AU Finest Known)
1798/7 Eagle "7X6 Stars" (Survival est. 25 w/ 3 Mint State)
1812/1 Half Dollar "Large 8" (Survival est. 35 w/ AU Finest Known)
1795 Large Cent "Jefferson, Plain Edge" (Survival est. 45 w/ VF Finest Known)
1820 Half Eagle "Curl Base 2, Large Letters" (Survival est. 32 w/ 20 Mint State)
1839 Half Dollar "Receeded Edge, Small Letters” (Survival est. 50 w/ 4 Mint State)
1833 Half Eagle "Large Date" (Survival est. 37 w/ 19 Mint State)
1834 Half Eagle "Capped Bust, Plain 4" (Survival est. 37 w/ 19 Mint State)
1798 Quarter Eagle "Wide Date" (Survival est. 50 w/ 8 Mint State)
1794 Large Cent "Starred Reverse" (Survival est. 60 w/ AU Finest Known)
1807/6 Large Cent "Small 7" (Survival est. 100 w/ AU Finest Known)
1798 Dollar "Large Eagle, Knob 9, 4 Lines" (Survival est. 125 w/ 2 Mint State)
1795 Half Dollar "Small Head" (Survival est. 450 w/ 1 Mint State)
1887/6 Three Cent CN (Survival est. 800 w/ 750 Mint State)
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Re: Varieties
Hansen's task could become a bit more complicated and he could be missing a fair number of additional coins soon. Some sets that he has at 100% might not be at 100% within a couple of months.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Early US Issue, Major Variety Feature
Perception. Sometimes we make opinions when we see something. Sometimes we tend to create an opinion when don’t see something. My perception for the last twelve months has been that Mr. Hansen lost focus on completing Major Variety sets, and the challenge to have one of everything. This was due to the fact that we did not see much activity over a period of time. Well, we saw a pretty noteworthy Major Variety addition a couple days ago. Along with the new addition, John Brush shared some background information on what took place to obtain this “one” rarity. So, I now believe it was not a loss of focus, rather patience and endurance to find the right coin, at the right time, and for the right price. All three of these things don’t always come together at a desired pace.
I have been thinking, what is the best way to see the trees in the forest? The Hansen Collection is massive, and when looking at circulation strikes with Major Varieties, there are 3260 coins in the complete set. That is 163 blue boxes just for pre-1964 issues. So today, let’s look at the Early Coinage which is the years 1792 to roughly 1839. I may not be able to prove, but I believe Brett Pogue assembled the greatest basic set of all times, although, he did not have all the major varieties. For example, I cannot find any proof that he owned one of the four known 1793 Strawberry Leaf Cents. Hansen does not own one either, but his collection is in-progress. If he finds the right coin, at the right time, and for the right price, he just might add one to his collection.
After some reflection, I thought a good way to look at the Early Major Varieties in Hansen Collection by denomination. There are 10 different denominations starting with the Half Cent and concluding with the Eagle. Interesting enough, there is not a PCGS Registry Set for this group of early coinage. I cannot explain why other that stating the fact there is not one. So, let’s look at the 10 denominations and understand the status for The D.L. Hansen Collection. Of the 10 denominations, Mr. Hansen has completed three, including Half Dimes, Dimes, and Quarter Dollars. Two others, Half Cents and Eagles, he is only one coin away. He has to two coins remaining in each of the Dollar and Quarter Eagle sets. Three coins away on the Half Dollar. The final two sets are the One Cent and Half Eagle. The one cent is seven coins and the Half Eagle is 10 to 14 depending how we what to count them. The Half Eagle denomination is the only one that is not 100% collectable. The two unique 1797 Large Eagle Major Varieties are impounded in the Smithsonian National Numismatic Collection. Let’s look at the first five denominations.
Early Half Cents with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1793-1835) - Not a Registry Set
I try not to be critical of PCGS and the Registry. That is like criticizing a tender, juicy, perfectly cooked T-Bone steak for the bone being too big. The beef is still the greatest. I feel similar about PCGS. But why this set does not exist, I cannot explain. I would consider early half cents as: Liberty Cap Half Cent (1793 - 1797), Draped Bust Half Cent (1800 - 1808), and Classic Head Half Cent (1809 - 1836). If you desire at registry set of the early half cents, then you have include the eight Braided Hair Half Cent (1840 - 1857) coins or set will be incomplete. Maybe the reason being there is no demand for only the early set. The early half cents requires 46 coins, and the comment PCGS provides for the larger set is: The half cent was one of the first denominations struck at the new United States Mint. This coin was first made in 1793, only months after the Large cents were introduced. It is a series filled with rarities, including both major varieties of 1796. Full red examples are almost impossible from the early years, and it’s not until the 1828 issue that the first MS65RD specimen still survives. Many dates of this series exist in a proof-only format, but some collectors include those issues with their mint state collection.
The D.L. Hansen Collection is 97.82% (45/46) completed with one coin remaining the 1797 Gripped Edge. Mr. Hansen needed five coins before picking up four of them in the StacksBowers’ March 2020 Auction - Rarities Night, Featuring the ESM Collection of Half Cents. The 1797 Gripped Edge ESM Specimen realized $90,000 and Mr. Hansen did not acquire. The ESM Specimen was a G6 PCGS grade and there are a couple better including the finest VG10 PCGS grade. (For more details, look back at the updates on the ESM purchases)
Early Large Cents with Major Varieties (With the four Ultra Rarities), Circulation Strikes (1793-1839) - Not a Registry Set
Same as with the Half Cents, there is not a set for the early cents only that consist of: Flowing Hair Large Cent (1793 - 1796), Draped Bust Cent (1796 - 1807), Classic Head Cent (1808 - 1814), and Coronet Head Cent (1816 - 1839). If you desire at registry set of the early cents, then you have include the 33 Braided Hair Cent (1839 - 1857) coins or set will be incomplete. The early cents requires 114 coins, PCGS describes the set including the Braided Hair Cents as: This is the fantastic complete 1793 to 1857 large cent series, plus the four ultra-rarities of the series. The 1793 Strawberry Leaf (4 known), 1795 Reeded Edge (7 known), 1795 Jefferson Head Lettered Edge (5 known), and the 1795 Jefferson Head Plain Edge (about 30 known) are prohibitively rare, so much so that we have two versions of the Large Cents with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1793-1857) set, one without the four ultra-rarities, and one with.
This is the largest set by required coins for 10 denominations. The D.L. Hansen Collection is 93.85% (107/114) completed. The four ultra-rarities mentioned above are the highlight coins remaining. There is an upcoming opportunity for Mr. Hansen to pick a few or all of the remaining needed coins in StacksBowers August 2020 Auction at Rarities Night, featuring the ESM Collection of Large Cents. He scored very well with the ESM coins in the March Half Cent Auction, winning 80%, four out of five needed. In the upcoming Large Cent Auction, the 1793 Strawberry Leaf Cent is PCGS Price Guide Value at $800,000 is the main attraction. At the writing of this feature, the bidding was at $140,000 with a little less than a month to go.
Early Half Dimes with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1792-1837)
The basic set of half dimes from this era is a major numismatic undertaking, but when the varieties are added the collection grows to even greater stature. While there are still only one 1792 half disme and one 1802 half dime in the set, there are now three 1796 pieces, three 1797 varieties, two 1800 coins and two 1803 specimens plus a handful of additional Capped Bust examples. There is 45 years of American history here in a panorama of intriguing and beautiful designs. A great set! (PCGS)
The D.L. Hansen Collection is 100% (29/29) completed. The set was completed 12/28/2018. One of the highlights of this denomination is the half million dollar 1796 “LIKERTY” MS67+. The coin is from the Texas Collection - Christies 5/1989:98, $198,000 - Knoxville Collection - Jay Parrino (The Mint) - D. Brent Pogue Collection - Stack’s/Bowers/Sotheby’s 5/2015:1005, $411,250. There are four PCGS certified POP 1/0 specimens in the set including multiple coins from Pogue, Simpson and Eliasberg Collections.
Early Dimes with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1796-1837)
The first United States dime was issued in 1796 while George Washington was still in office as President. This Draped Bust, Small Eagle type was only issued for two years, followed by the Heraldic Eagle reverse of 1798-1807. The Capped Bust coins of 1809-1837 complete this series. Stepping up to the Major Varieties Set from the Classic set adds another six coins for a total of 52 pieces. Fortunately, none of the additional varieties are extremely rare, so tackling this set should not prove much more difficult than the Classic Set.
The D.L. Hansen Collection is 100% (52/52) completed. The set was completed just recently on 7/2/2020. The completion of this denomination was the catalyst for this feature. This is the third early major variety denomination set that Mr. Hansen has completed in this quest. The $200,000 1798/7 “JR-2, 13-Star Reverse” MS63 Specimen was the final addition. This is another Pogue coin with a rich history: F.C.C. Boyd Collection - Numismatic Gallery 1/1945:431 - Stuart Levine, sold privately in 8/2002 - Ed Price Collection - Heritage 7/2008:1418, $103,500 - D. Brent Pogue Collection - Stack's/Bowers and Sotheby's 5/2015:1038, $199,750. There are two PCGS certified POP 1/0 specimens and six other coins tied for the finest. The set has multiple specimens from the Pogue Collection.
Early Quarters with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1796-1838)
The classic 1796 quarter starts off this historic set that is overflowing with rarities. After you capture the first prize, you'll be looking for the 1804, 1823/2, and many other toughies. This set covers the Draped Bust and Capped Bust eras, from George Washington through Andrew Jackson. In any grade this is a set that you can treasure forever.
The D.L. Hansen Collection is 100% (31/31) completed. The set was completed 11/21/2017. The quarter dollar set was the first early denomination with Major Varieties completed in The D.L. Hansen Collection. This set is highlighted with three PCGS certified POP 1/0 specimens, 1822 “25/50C”, 1831 “Small Letters” and the 1835 Quarter Dollar. These three coins alone are valued at $300,000. There are four other coins that are tied for finest to round out this amazing set.
Summary
As most collectors know, when you get close to completing a set, it requires patience. Of the these first five sets with three completed, Mr. Hansen is very close to completing the fourth set, the Half Cents. Will he patiently wait on obtaining the last needed 1797 Gripped Edge PCGS VG10 specimen? Time will tell. In the meantime, he will have the opportunity the pickup several needed Large Cents in the upcoming SBG Auction. Will he able to place a winning bids on any of the needed lots? How many? No one know. This is fascinating to watch.
To be continued ….
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Early US Issues, Major Variety Feature, Part 2
This weekend I started a discussion on Early US Issues, Major Varieties by denomination. In the 10 denominations, Mr. Hansen has completed three sets. All the others, except for two are getting close (three coins or less). The last two sets are the One Cent and Half Eagle. The One Cent set has seven coins left and the Half Eagle set has 10 to 14 depending how we what to count them.
Today, we will look at the last five sets in this discussion: Half Dollars, Dollars, Quarter Eagles, Half Eagles, and Eagles. The Eagle set needs only one difficult coin. The Dollar and Quarter Eagle needs two. The Half Dollar still have three to go. Lastly the Half Eagle Set, WOW what a set. Let’s jump right in.
Early Half Dollars with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1794-1839)
It’s not enough for you to build the basic set? You want more of a challenge? Good! You now get to collect both major varieties of the 1796, the rare 1795 3 Leaf, the RARE 1806 Knob 6 No Stem, the ultra-ultra-rare 1817/4 and dozens of other fun and interesting varieties. When you finish this set you might want to try every Overton variety in existence! Collectors love this series with a passion and we fully expect you to join the crowd. (PCGS)
After two decades on collecting early half dollars, Dr. Charles Link is in complete control of this series. He has 43 of the PCGS POP 1/0 specimens which is more that 40% of the required coins. More than 60% of his set is at least tied for finest certified by PCGS. Another 25% of his set is POP X/1, with only one coin graded better. In some cases, having the #2 coin is by choice because he prefers his coin over the top coin. He once commented:…The Entire Registry REDBOOK SET From 1794 To 1839. Many Have Tried And Very Few Complete It!!! Well, Mr. Hansen has not completed the half dollars yet, but he is on his way. So, where does he stand?
The D.L. Hansen Collection is 97.03% (98/101) completed with three coins remaining the 1795 “Small Head”, 1812/1 “Large 8”, and the 1839 “Reeded Edge, Small Letters”. With patience, Mr. Hansen should be able to locate and purchase all three of these varieties. The 1812/1 “Large 8” may be the toughest to locate in near state condition. The finest PCGS coins are represented by a pair of AU55 specimens, and Chuck owns one of them.
Early Dollars with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1794-1803)
This is one of the "Dream Sets" of American numismatics, with the classic 1794 rarity, the two 1795 types (Flowing Hair and Draped Bust), the transitional coins of 1798, and lots (and lots!) of important varieties. The silver dollar is perhaps the most popular of all numismatic collectibles, and the Bust Dollars rival the Large cents as the most popular of the early coins. Return with us to the days of Washington, Adams and Jefferson and enjoy building this historic set! (PCGS)
Mr. Hansen is two coins way from completing his "Dream Set”. The D.L. Hansen Collection is 94.44% (34/36) completed with two coins remaining 1798 “Large Eagle, Knob 9, 4 Lines” and 1800 “Wide Dt, Low 8,AMERICAI”. The 1798 variety is not common, but come with some difficulty in obtaining a mint state condition coin. There are only two, the Mehl - Cardinal and the Green - Friend Specimens. The 1800 variety also has only a couple Mint States with the Carter Specimen as the finest. In the Hansen Collection, there are three PCGS certified POP 1/0 specimens and one other coin tied for the finest.
Early $2-1/2 Gold with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1796-1839)
This great set includes the first $2½ gold piece (the 1796 No Stars), the other rare issue from the first year (the 1796 Stars), the rare 1797, the ultra-rare 1834 Capped Bust and the first Charlotte, Dahlonega and New Orleans quarter eagles. In addition to those challenges, there are some tremendously rare varieties added to the set, such as the 1798 Close Date, the 1804 13 Stars and the 1806/5 7X6 Stars. When you complete this set you are deserving of numismatic immortality! (PCGS)
Mr. Hansen is two coins way from completing this set to reach numismatic immortality! The D.L. Hansen Collection is 97.14% (33/35) completed with two coins remaining 1798 “Wide Date” and 1804 “13 Star Reverse”. Of the two coins, the 1804 “13 Star Reverse” is the most difficult. The survival estimate is approx. 11 specimens known. The finest example is the New Netherlands - Phillips AU58 Specimen that is presently in Tony’s Registry Set (earlyAurum). There are four other PCGS specimens graded between AU50 – AU55. In the Hansen Collection, there are two PCGS certified POP 1/0 specimens and two other coins tied for the finest.
Early $5 Gold with Major Varieties & 1797 Large Eagles, Circulation Strikes (1795-1838)
As if the Basic Set from 1795 through 1838 isn't challenging enough, this set adds even more MAJOR rarities to the collection. After you locate the "basic" 1822, 1815, 1829 Small Date and 1829 Large Date along with many other treasures, this varieties set adds the 1819 (without the 5D/50) and the 1825/4 to name but two. This will be one of the greatest numismatic accomplishments of the 21st century when you complete it, so let’s get started! (PCGS)
This is the Granddaddy of the early coinage sets. It would be the “greatest numismatic accomplishments of the 21st century” if someone completes this set. That would be nice but one little problem, the set is impossible to complete outside of the Smithsonian. As stated in the first posting, the two unique 1797 Large Eagle Major Varieties are impounded in the Smithsonian National Numismatic Collection. They are the show stoppers for completion. Near show stoppers are the 1798 “Small Eagle” and the 1822. We have discussed these coins couple times because they are the final two coins left in Hansen’s Hall of Fame Basic Set. After all that, there are another ten coins needed! None of them are easy. If I had to pick the next toughest one, it may be the 1810 Half Eagle "Large Date, Small 5" with only five known and the finest in AU condition. The most common of the 12 remaining is the 1834 Half Eagle "Capped Bust, Plain 4" with a survival estimate of 37 with about 19 in Mint State. For a reference point, the starting value given for an AU58 is $70,000 and $185,000 for the one of the three finest known MS64 specimens. On the high end, the 1822 is valued at $6.5 Million. It has been stated that Pogue turned down better offers for his 1822.
The D.L. Hansen Collection is 81.33% (61/75) completed. There are already a few high dollar coins in Hansen’s Early Half Eagle set, including my favorite, Pogue 1829 “Large Size” MS66+ that sold in Pogue Stack's/Bowers & Sotheby's Auction on 5/2016 for $763,750. There are 11 PCGS certified POP 1/0 specimens and six other coins tied for the finest, with multiple specimens from the Pogue and Eliasberg Collections. There will be an opportunity for Mr. Hansen fill a few of his remaining slots in an upcoming Heritage’s 2020 August - US Coins Signature Auction. There are six Half Eagle coins from Mr Hansen’s need list available in this auction. The coins are from The McCoy Family Collection of Capped Head Half Eagles. The most intriguing one is the Garrett - Pogue 1819 Overpunched Denomination (5D/50). The coin realized $423,000 in Stack's/Bowers, 2/2016 Pogue sale.
Early $10 Gold with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1795-1804)
Take the basic ten-coin set (challenging enough!) and add five more rarities to the set and you have a magnificent collection, indeed. You'll have a hard time finding the 1795 9 Leaves and the 1798/7 7X6 Stars, but the hunt is half the fun. These coins can get very pricey, but they are solid values that have stood the test of time. Beautiful and incredibly historic coins from the early days of America! (PCGS)
The D.L. Hansen Collection is 92.86% (13/14) completed with one coin remaining 1798/7 “7X6 Stars”. The survival estimate is approx. 25 specimens known. The finest known specimen may be in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution along with a second mint state. That’s leave only two other mint state specimens: the PCGS MS62 Farouk - Carter Specimen and the PCGS MS61 Garrett - Pogue Specimen. I thought one of these may have been in the Tyrant Collection, but he does not have a Mint State Specimen for this variety. His specimen is an AU58. There are three other AU58 Specimens out there. They are valued at $360,000. One of the AU coins may be where Mr. Hansen will need to look to fill this last slot for Early Eagles. In the Hansen Collection, there is one PCGS certified POP 1/0 specimen and one other coin tied for the finest. This appears to be a difficult set for high grade coins.
Summary
To complete one of these ten "Dream Sets" would be “numismatic immortality!” But to assemble all the collectible coins in all early coinage series would be the “greatest numismatic accomplishments of the 21st century”. This achievement would be up there with Eliasberg and his accomplishments of the 20th century. With three out ten series completed, Mr. Hansen is well on his way. If you been keeping the math, he has 27 remaining slots (less the two not collectible, plus the two basic).
Even though I have witness many of specifics about the Hansen Collection, working on this feature has opened my eyes to some details that I have missed (not seeing the trees for the forest). Instead of saying that Mr. Hansen has holes to fill, he actually has slots. I now have a better appreciation on how difficult these final slots are. The Hansen team is operating with patience and endurance to find the right coin, at the right time, and for the right price. That does not happen quickly. I will conclude with a little eye candy from the Hansen vault. This picture shows Mr. Hansen’s box containing the first 50 coins in his Early Half Eagles with Major Varieties. As you can see, he has empty slots for the two unique 1797 Large Eagle Major Varieties. The slots will never be filled unless new discoveries are made. What are the odds for that to happen? As for the other 12 slots, let’s watch and see.
By the way, there is an slot reserved in this box behind the lifted 1821. You just can no see it in the picture.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
I wonder what coin that could be
After the steal that was the 1854-S $5, I would guess a deal could be reached on the 1822 $5
Latin American Collection
Really nice job with breaking the Hansen set down into ten pre-1840 variety sets. The gold really is amazing, not to loose sight of the amazing dimes. Really breathtaking to see the depth in these early years before the explosion of coin collecting onto the American psychy. I suspect he will finish them all. I don't really consider museum only coins as part of sets for all practical purposes, although they are amazing artifacts. Ancient artifact collectors would need a Rosetta stone for their collections if that was the expectation
Another Early Dime Update
This is the second Early Dime Update in the past couple weeks. The first was a very significant addition of a coin for an empty slot in The D. L. Hansen Collection of Early Major Variety Coinage. The coin was the 1798/7 “JR-2, 13-Star Reverse” MS63 Specimen. The addition was significant because it completed Mr. Hansen’s 52-piece Early Half Dimes with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1792-1837). Now, this new coin is an upgrade to the collection. The coin replaces an 1804 10C “13-Star Reverse”, Certification #04190263 in XF40 Condition with POP 1/7. The set now has only four coins graded below AU58: 1797 “13 Stars” and 1805 “5 Berries” graded at XF40. The lowest graded coin is the 1798 “Small 8” graded VF20. The fourth and final coin is a PCGS POP 2/0 Specimen, 1829 “Curl Base 2” graded VF35. The 1829 variety is unheard in a higher grade condition. This may one day be the lone example of a highly circulated coin in the 52-piece set.
Coin expert Ron Guth described the 1804 10C “13-Star Reverse” as: In 1804, the Coiner at the US Mint used two different reverse dies to produce Dimes. The most obvious difference between the two dies is the number of stars on the reverse in the field above the eagle. The first variety (JR-1) has 13 stars; the second variety (JR-2) has 14 stars. Both varieties are rare, but he 14 Stars variety enjoys a big premium over the 13 Stars variety in top condition. The highest 13 Stars graded by PCGS include two at the AU53 (now AU55), with none finer. Any example of an 1804 Dime is the mark of an advanced collection. The top condition PCGS coin for the 13 stars are two AU55 specimens. One is the Pittman/Price/Pogue Specimen and the other is this Stack/Hansen Specimen. PCGS Price Guide values the13 stars in PCGS AU55 at $195,000. When looking at the 14 stars, there are two PCGS certified POP 2/0 specimens, with one being the Eliasberg/Pogue/Hansen Specimen. Mr. Guth is correct; there is a premium for the 14 stars, which is valued at $300,000. The pair of Hansen 1804 dimes are valued at a half million dollars collectively! STOP! And think about that for a couple seconds.
1804 Capped Bust Dime, 13-Star Reverse AU55, Ex: James A. Stack
If Mr. Hansen’s goal was to have the nicest pair of 1804 dimes, then he may have achieved. The new 13 star coin is a very nice compliment to his existing 14 star Pogue specimen. Neither coin is graded in MS condition, but both are on top of the PCGS Pop charts. The coin last appeared in Heritage’s 2009 (CSNS) US Coin Auction in Cincinnati, OH. The coin was described as: The 1804 is a key date among early dimes with only 8,265 pieces produced. This JR-1 is one of the finest examples extant; in fact, it may well be tied with one other as the third finest known; near the top of the Condition Census as indicated by the population data from NGC and PCGS. This variety is apparently unknown in Mint State, and it is indicated as probably non-existent in Uncirculated in the JR reference. Good portions of mint luster are still apparent on each side of this piece, giving the turquoise and golden-rose surfaces a vibrancy one seldom sees on dimes of this date. A few shallow crisscrossing scratches are located on the lower right portion of the obverse. This impressive dime was previously sold as part of the James Stack Collection, by the Stack's auction company of New York; and later by American Numismatic Rarities, where it was partially described as follows: "A rarity in any grade, and in high demand not only as a collectible silver issue of this magic date but also the key date of the early dime sequence. ... This specimen comes from the James A. Stack collection, a lesser-known pedigree in the grand scheme but an important one to those familiar with the overall quality of that fine cabinet. Off the market for more than a decade, and now offered to a new generation who have longed for the chance to find this rare dime in superb grade."
In the 2009 Heritage Auction, the coin was graded AU55 NGC. The coin was sold as being from The Joseph C. Thomas Collection, and realized $63,250. As some coins go down, others go up. This one has gone up in value. According to the provenance given, the coin also appeared twice before, in Stack's Auction in 1990 and American Numismatic Rarities Auction in 2003. In the 2003 auction, the coin realized $25,300. I could not find auction results for the 1990 sale.
The coin was recently marketed by Rare Coin Wholesalers. It appears to me this company has become a pipeline for high end coins going into the Hansen Collection. They headlined the coin as: 13 STARS REVERSE. TIED WITH POGUE COIN FOR HIGHEST GRADED AT PCGS. The 13 Star Pogue Specimen is in the JRCSLM32 Registry Set. The Hansen 13 star coin was offered for $195,000 on the RCW website in early June. Also, RCW offered the coin on eBay with an ask price of $204,800. This is another high end upgrade to the D. L. Hansen Collection.
Hansen’s Pair of 1804 Capped Bust Dimes
1804 Capped Bust Dime, 13-Star Reverse AU55
PCGS, POP 2/0, Gold Shield
Certification #36657800, PCGS #4474
PCGV: $195,000 / Private Sale
Provenance: James A. Stack Collection - Stack's 1/1990:12 - American Numismatic Rarities "Classics Sale" 7/2003:342, $25,300; Joseph C. Thomas Collection, Heritage’s 2009 (CSNS) US Coin; D.L. Hansen Collection
.
.
1804 Capped Bust Dime, 14-Star Reverse AU58
PCGS, POP 2/0, CAC Approved
Certification #06936157, PCGS #38767
PCGV: $300,000 / $252,000
Provenance: S.H. Chapman “David S. Wilson Collection” 3/1907:694 - John M. Clapp Collection - John H. Clapp Collection, sold intact in 1942 - Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, found by his son, Richard Eliasberg, circa 2004-2005 in a box full of junk coins - Heritage 1/2007:861, $161,000 - Ed Price Collection - Heritage 7/2008:1443, $632,500 - D. Brent Pogue Collection - Stack’s/Bowers/Sotheby’s 5/2015:1046, $329,000 - Kagin’s, Heritage August 2018 ANA, Rarities Night - D.L. Hansen Collection
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
I’d just like to ask him how he finds, specifically a1879 trade dollar in such a high grade? I’ve looked for two years!
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/date-sets/hashtags-prefect-coin-grading-service-1879/album/7621
He bought the T$1 1879 PR-68 Cam in the 2019 FUN auction of the Greensboro collection.
See the proof trade dollar feature in this thread on January 2019:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/12208256/#Comment_12208256
@yosclimber thank you I guess. As I wipe away tears and drool I’ve come to realize a 66 is the best I’ll ever get. That coin is the most amazing coin I’ve ever seen! Seriously, thank you for your time and help showing me the light and article.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/date-sets/hashtags-prefect-coin-grading-service-1879/album/7621
This is a nice walk down memory lane. The 2019 FUN auction is when Mr. Hansen purchased the Eliasberg 1885 Trade. The feature included “The Pair” and a detail discussion on the Hansen Trade Dollars that are three sets deep. He still have all the Trade Dollar sets in tact. It is very cool collection. Thanks Yos for providing the link. A very nice re-read.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Thanks, although it was a lot faster for me to find the article and link to it than the time it took to create it.
So it is really @Currin that we thank for his dedicated work to show developments in this exceptional collection!
Currin. You were 100% correct with your assessment (prediction) of the Top MS Jefferson nickel set that just finished auctioning off. Virtually (maybe 0) no “bidding wars”, prices overall consistent with estimates (in many cases below), super hard coins (including pop 1’s) selling for very, very “fair” prices. One of the Very best pop 1 coins in the set being a passed lot. Wow.
And, I thought the auction house wrote some good copy on the lot descriptions too.
As always, just my 2 cents.
Wondercoin
.
.
Mitch,
I certainly agree with your comments. I tagged seven Jeffersons to watch that would improve the Hansen Collection. As you know, he has the top set already. Of the seven coins, a few of them were top pop 1. I don’t recall exactly how many. I do recall only one pre 1950 coin would improve his set. So, most the coins were post 1950. As I watched the live bidding, I was expecting to see at least a little more action than I did with these seven coin. If I recall, four of them were underachievers and one was passed! The 1943-P finished strong (only pre-1950 coin Mr. Hansen could use) and the 1954-S specimen hit the estimate. It really was disappointing to watch, but if you are a Jefferson Collector, it was a good night to pick up some great deals. Mr. Hansen upgraded only one Jefferson, 1955 MS67FS, POP 1/0. It was one of the underachievers.
It appear Mr. Hansen saw opportunity in the BigMo coins. He purchase more than I expected (he posted his wins last night). I will start reporting on the upgrades tomorrow. The BigMo coins appear to be where his focus was. I can understand and not at all surprised.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Currin. If your reporting of the Jefferson nickels is spot on, in my opinion Mr. Hansen missed a big opportunity by not winning the 1961-D for a touch higher than it fetched (that is, next bid or two). It’s about as nice as they come (ex.Stacks auction a decade or two ago where I won it). The 1955 was quite the bargain though and they also don’t come any nicer. And while the 1954-S did achieve the estimate, the guide was quite a bit higher on the coin in years past than it is now and the full “1 grade under” coin fetched over $30,000 at auction a few years ago. The big pop 1 “pass”, was one of the coolest Jefferson nickels I ever handled. The auction company was right on when they said (paraphrasing) it will likely be the finest known coin for the date forever.
So, your overall assessment of “disappointing to watch” I can not disagree with.
Just my 5 cents.
Wondercoin
Upgrades from the BigMo Civil War Auction – Part 1
Stop the presses! As newspaper and printed material become less appreciated and increasingly cost prohibited, our future generation will not know what that phase means. For this weekend posting, I had planned to share an amazing new Half Eagle. The 1811 PCGS graded MS64+ POP 5/0 is a mid-five figure upgrade. That all changed with the Regency Auction Thursday night. The D.L. Hansen Collection upgraded 18 coins, with 14 upgrades in the circulating strike set and four in the proof finish set. I find this to be great news for the buyer, seller and the auction firm. We have not witnessed a Hansen purchase in a Legend Rare Coin Auction of this magnitude for some time. In a recent posting by John Brush, he referred to Mr. Hansen as a “consummate collector”. It appears the BigMo coins were seen as “an opportunity to find a lot of meaningful coins”. Were any of them must have? Doubtful. Were the 18 upgrades that Mr. Hansen purchased meaningful? Certainly!
I think Laura Sperber personally described the BigMo Civil War Collection as: The BigMo Collection is truly one of the greatest individual collections I have ever seen assembled in my experience in this industry. The set is fully deserving of its Hall of Fame status, and is the type of set most collectors could only dream of completing. I cannot wait to start showcasing this collection around the country, and am ecstatic that Legend Rare Coin Auctions was offered the opportunity to bring this collection to market.
The collection is being offered in two parts. The current consignment is Part I of the collection, and features 93 exquisite coins. The BigMo Collection features over 25 coins that are Top Pop at PCGS, including 14 that are the single finest known for the date and denomination. (LRCA) The Hansen team was successful in winning 9 of the 14 single finest known, POP 1/0 specimens. Eight of the POP 1/0 specimens was posted in the circulating strike set and one POP 1/0 specimen was updated in the proof finish set. All of the winning 18 coins are “solid” PCGS Condition Census Top Five specimens. Can you say that the Hansen team cherry picked 18 of the best coins? You could to say that. Did he get all the best coins? No, for the top two BigMo coins that realized low six figures, the Hansen team either passed or was out bided. As nice as BigMo coins were, I don’t think we saw any coin chasing or crazy bidding wars Thursday night. Well, maybe one.
I plan to cover the four proof upgrades today, and focus will be on the PCGS POP 1/0 specimen. The 1864 Half Dime, PR67CAM Certification #25309610, is tied with one other coin as the finest PCGS certified Cameo. There is one coin certified finer. The coin realized a strong $9,106.25 with an estimate: $6,000 - $7,000. 1863 Dime, PR66+ DCAM Certification #25317738 is tied with one other coin as the second finest PCGS certified Deep Cameo. There is one Deep Cameo coin certified finer. The coin realized respectful $11,162.50 with an estimate: $12,000 - $13,500. Two of the proof upgrades were silver dollars. The first being an 1864 Silver Dollar, PR66CAM Certification #82129154 that is the finest PCGS certified Cameo. There are two coins certified finer. The coin realized $49,937.50 with an estimate: $44,000 - $48,000. The last coin is the 1862 PR66+ Dollar.
1862 $1 PR66+, MONSTER as described by LRCA
The Hansen Collection has a complete run of Proof Silver Dollars starting with 1849. So, there was already a PR-GEM in the collection, 1862 PR65, Certification #84145496, POP 12/3. In Mr. Hansen viewpoint, he saw this coin as an opportunity to acquire meaningful coin as an upgrade. This is the first time this PR66+ Top Pop coin appeared in auction. I know sometimes that factor heavily in the decisions the Hansen team make. Will the top two priced realized coins make into the Hansen Collection someday? Let’s wait and see.
The auctioneer described the coin as: This MONSTER coin is the FINEST KNOWN 1862 Proof Dollar in any designation. BigMo picked the ultimate prize! This is the ONLY PR66+ graded (of course there are NONE higher). The only PR66 to ever sell was in our February 2014 Regency Auction, which realized a world record price of $70,500. If you collect Proof Seated Dollars - make that the FINEST Proof Liberty Seated Dollars (Civil War era too) - this is the coin you want! The current PCGS Price Guide value is $70,000, but keep in mind that BigMo paid up to buy this coin (he had to beat other competition). The reserve is slightly below his cost.
Other than BigMo Civil War Collection pedigree, the coin appeared in a 2010 Heritage Auction described as “Colorful PR66 1862 Seated Dollar” NGC certified. The coin was described in more detail as: Splashes of aquamarine, honey, and fire-red invigorate this needle-sharp Premium Gem. Beneath the patina, the surfaces are essentially pristine, and though a few criss-cross lines are visible on the field beneath the eagle's beak, these were on the planchet prior to the strike, so technical grade is unaffected. An uncommonly attractive representative of this Civil War date, thanks to the wonderful patina, and high-end among the survivors from the mintage of just 550 pieces. The coin realized $19,550, but no other mention of provenance.
There was a PR67 NGC specimen that sold in Heritage’s FUN Auction in 2015. By images, this PCGS PR66+ does not appear to be that PR67 coin. When LRCA is stating finest known, I am not sure they are factoring the NGC coin into that statement. The Hansen coin has colorful unique toning so it should be easy to spot. LRCA described the Hansen CAC Approved coin as: Powerful mirrors look like a sheet of ice. Only with a strong glass can you find any light stray lines. The mirrors are also clean overall, have remarkable clarity, and are incredibly reflective. The obverse has a gorgeous mix of totally original and vibrant royal blue, forest green, deep violet, and gold colors that swirl all over. The reverse was probably sitting on felt for many years and has a firecracker violet, blue, gold, and green color scheme. Miss Liberty and the details are frosty and have exceptional strikes. The eye appeal is fantastic!
The coin realized strong $76,375 with an estimate: $60,000 - $67,500. The auctioneer made a point that BigMo paid up to buy this coin. It appears Mr. Hansen had to do likewise to beat the other competition. From a quick check, it appears to me this was the most expensive coin that Mr. Hansen purchased from the BigMo Civil War Collection. It was the third highest priced coin realized from the collection. Now keep in mind, Part 2 of the sale is still to come. That auction is when most of the gold from this collection will be offered.
1862 $1 PR66+, FINEST KNOWN (LRCA)
PCGS POP 1/0, CAC Approved
Certification #27400957, PCGS #7005
PCGS Value Guide: $70,000 / realized $76,375
Provenance: Signature ANA US Coin (Heritage, 3/10), lot 1242, realized $19,550; BigMo Civil War Collection - The Regency Auction 39 (Legend 7/2020) lot 31, realized $76,375; D.L. Hansen Collection
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Upgrades from the BigMo Civil War Auction – Part 2
After seeing the four impressive proofs from the BigMo Civil War Collection, let’s take a look at the 14 circulating strike coins that he picked up. The Civil War registry set consists of 110 coins. Mr. Hansen moved into first place on 2/2/2020. The BigMo Civil War Collection set was started in mid-2013. It took about seven years to assemble and upgrade the set to present excellence. As Laura Sperber described: The BigMo Collection is truly one of the greatest individual collections I have ever seen assembled in my experience in this industry. You really hate to see a set like this one break up. I imagine the hope would be that the coins would find a new home to appreciate them. It is nice to see that 14 BigMo coins are now in the home of The D.L. Hansen Collection.
PCGS describes the set as: This challenging set represents four years of our country's most trying times, the Civil War. It is a sampling of all denominations including some very tough silver issues: the 1861-S and 1864-S Seated quarters and most all the Seated dollars. Many of the gold issues are downright rare including the 1864-S Liberty Head $10. Completing this set will be an accomplishment as well also an historic representation of a difficult war that took place over 150 years ago. Mr. Hansen completed this set in late January , 2019. Then, it took almost twelve months to the day to grow the set into first place in the registry. After reaching first place in early February 2020, Mr. Hansen had upgraded four coins. This one time upgrade of 14 coins provides a special and rare opportunity. Will there be more upgrades to come in BigMo Civil War Collection Part 2? We will watch and see.
In this posting, let’s look at the three coins dated 1861, the first year of the US civil war. From information on the US mint website, this was very eventful year. According to facts provided, the Confederate forces seize the branch mints at Charlotte, NC; Dahlonega, GA; and New Orleans, LA. It is reported that coining operations continue for about a month. On May 21, 1861, Confederate troops occupy the Charlotte Mint and use it for their headquarters during the Civil War. A few days later on May 31, The Confederate Government closes all three of the southern branch mints. The mint in New Orleans, LA was the only southern branch mint to reopen, coining the first issue since the start of the war in 1879.
The new 1861 coins are a Three Cent Silver, a San Francisco Dime, and an amazing little gold dollar. All three coins are CAC Approved. The gold dollar is a PCGS POP 1/0 specimen that will be featured today. The colorful 1861 Three Cent Silver MS67+ Certification #25353317 is tied with one other coin as the second finest PCGS certified. There is one coin certified finer. The coin realized a respectable $12,925 with an estimate: $12,500 - 15,000. The 1861-S Dime, MS64 Certification #28565107 is the third finest PCGS certified. There are two coins certified finer. The coin realized $39,950 with an estimate: $40,000 - $45,000. Lastly, I will feature the 1861 Gold Dollar, MS67+ CAC Approved Specimen.
1861 Gold Dollar MS67+, CAC, Ex. DUCKOR/AKERS
The Hansen Gold Dollars are really shaping up to be a very special collection. This is an amazing gold dollar coin, with an impeccable perigee, but it misses the mark as the best Hansen Gold Dollar won in the LRCA Regency 39 sale by a mile. I am not exaggerating by making this statement. Just watch for a later update. A truly astonishing Gold Dollar is yet to come. Now, let’s get back to this amazing coin. This is a common coin as stated by expert David Akers: This is one of the few Type III gold dollars that could accurately be termed "common" and even gem examples are readily available. The coin is unique at this grade as stated by the auctioneer: There is no finer 1861 Gold dollar! No question this coin borders on MS68. It is unimaginable to us how this coin has survived 159 years in such a pristine state of preservation! If you step back, there is only one PCGS coin grade MS66+ and two graded MS67, and this borderlines on MS68. I would say that is a common coin rarity. The auctioneer described the coin in details as: The surfaces are satiny smooth and are super clean. The only thing you will find with a strong glass is some serious die clashing (Mint made). In fact it'-s wicked cool below right of the date on the reverse you can see the full letters impression of the obverse headband. A full glowing luster vividly beams from all over. Both sides are a GEM original gold/pale orange gold color. There are NO spots or discolorations. Miss Liberty and every detail is powerfully struck and stands out. The eye appeal is remarkable!
This coin has a rich history which traces to Donald Kutz Collection. If that is not good enough, the coin was also part of the amazing Duckor Family Collection of Gold Dollars. The coin was offered in the Heritage August 2015 ANA US Coins Signature Auction in Chicago. The coin headlined as The Sole Finest PCGS Example and described as: This frosty Superb Gem 1861 gold dollar is exceptional, showing brilliant straw-gold luster and delicate pale blue and rose overtones. Both sides exhibit exceptional design definition and pristine surfaces. This is one of the best 1861 gold dollars that I've seen, if not the best. It is fresh and essentially "as made" with noticeable clash marks. As on many examples, the letters from LIBERTY are clashed into the reverse below the date. To my mind, this adds further appeal to the coin. The coin realized $32,900 which was the Auction Record until Thursday night.
In the LRCA Regency 39 sale, the coin realized new Auction Record of $35,250 with an estimate: $30,000 - $33,600. You could say the coin sold for a small premium. The auctioneer pointed out: This is the only PCGS MS67+ and it last sold for $32,900 in the 2015 ANA auction. The current Collectors Universe Value is $35,000. It should be noted that a regular (NO +) PCGS CAC MS67 sold for $26,400 in October 2019. The intense quality and rarity of this coin are undisputed. This coin will be a super star in any GEM Gold dollar, Civil War, or box of 20 collection. Good luck! This is a super star coin that is now in a super star collection. Great Job Hansen Team!
1861 Gold Dollar MS67+, CAC, Ex. DUCKOR/AKERS
PCGS POP 1/0, CAC Approved
Certification #24463221, PCGS #7558
PCGS Value Guide: $35,000 / realized $35,250
Provenance: Donald Kutz - Duckor Family Collection of Gold Dollars - Heritage 8/2015:4261, $32,900; BigMo Civil War Collection - The Regency Auction 39 (Legend 7/2020) lot 14, realized $35,250; D.L. Hansen Collection
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Good morning the Big Mo Collection was Outstanding. What a good set to collect! Congrats to Laura for helping building it and also a wonderful sale.
Congrats also to John B. and DLH for acquiring quite a few wonderful coins. I want to thank them for not bidding higher
on the 1863 1.00 67+CAM. I felt the price was a tad high. However 67's are quite rare, especially with no Motto. I have had the top CAC set for eight years I felt this coins belongs in it with my three other 67's.
Mr. Perfection.
Congrats to @DLHansen, @JBatDavidLawrence, and @Perfection for picking up some wonderful coins.
And congrats to Laura, Greg and @tradedollarnut for helping build the BigMo Collection!
.
.
Nice pick up Perfection. This is top BigMo Civil War coin realized so far. Did you pickup the 1865 Half Dollar as well? If you did, congrats of both.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Upgrades from the BigMo Civil War Auction – Part 3
In this third installment of the coins that Mr. Hansen purchased from the BigMo sale, we will take a look at the four 1862 circulating strike coins. All four of them are impressive PCGS POP 1/0 specimens! This should not be a surprised if you know anything about Monte Weiner. The Civil War set is not his first legendary set. He was the collector that assembled the Bella Collection of Morgan Dollars. The Bella pedigree is still pursued today, even though the set was retired in 2013. Mr. Weiner’s great collections, including the Morgan Dollars, as well as the St. Gaudens Double Eagles, were amazing, although the Civil War set is his only collection to win the PCGS Hall of Fame for Individual Sets. So, it should be no surprise that the Civil War set had so many coins that can be seen as an opportunity for upgrades to the D. L. Hansen Collection.
Monte Weiner was award the Hall of Fame for The BigMo Collection of Civil War coins with Gold in 2016. PCGS described the set as: We’ve seen some cool sets, but this one takes the cake. It takes a Big Mo to tackle this set because many of the coins are inherently rare, and when you add the condition levels found in this set, the rarity goes off the chart. Despite all the intense competition for U.S. coins, this set contains fifteen unique Top Pops, more than 10% of the total set. This is the second gold award for this remarkable collection and it is well-deserved. This write-up was written in 2016 before Mr. Hansen came on the scene. In this registry set, Mr. Weiner added several more POP 1/0 specimens to fifteen mention in this write-up. We know the Part 1 of the sale was described as: The BigMo Collection features over 25 coins that are Top Pop at PCGS, including 14 that are the single finest known for the date and denomination. (LRCA) I am certain we will see more single finest known in Part 2.
In this posting, let’s look at the four coins dated 1862, the second year of the US Civil War. From information on the US mint website, we know the war resulted in the closing of the southern mints in 1861. So, you will not find any coins from the southern mints in the year 1862. The US Mint had to look elsewhere. According to facts provided, on April 21, 1862, Congressional legislation establishes a branch mint at Denver “exclusively for the coinage of gold”, and the sum of $75,000 is appropriated to meet the expenses for fiscal year 1863. Later in November 25, 1862, Congressional committee makes a formal offer of $25,000 for the Clark, Gruber & Co. plant, through the Treasury Secretary. The offer is accepted. There was great uncertainly for the United States of America in 1862.
The new 1862 coins are two dimes, 1862 and 1862-S. There is one quarter dollar: 1862-S. The upgrades are rounded out with another San Francisco branch mint issue: 1862-S Half Dollar. Three of the four coins are CAC Approved. The first PCGS POP 1/0 specimen dime from the Philadelphia mint is a MS67+ Certification #03299550. None is PCGS certified finer. The coin realized a strong $16,450 with an estimate: $10,000 - 12,000. The 1862-S Quarter Dollar, MS64+ Certification #21071674 is the finest PCGS certified. The coin realized bargain price of $41,125 with an estimate: $50,000 - $60,000. The 1862-S Half Dollar, MS66 Certification #04730527 is the finest PCGS certified. The coin realized a respectable $47,000 with an estimate: $50,000 - $60,000. The 1862-S MS65 dime will be the feature for today’s posting.
1862-S Dime MS65, CAC, Ex: Eliasberg
If Hansen participated in a bidding war in the BigMo sale, then this is the coin. LRCA provided this synopsis: While the war raged in the east, leading to mass hoarding of silver and gold coins, the west coast economy was metal based. Gold and silver coinage circulated extensively in day to day commerce. Unlike Philadelphia mint issues, there were no hoards of San Francisco mint coins of this era discovered. Only 180,750 San Francisco mint dimes were struck, and they entered into circulation and remained there for a long time, most survive by sheer chance and happenstance, and most are heavily worn from extensive travels in commercial channels. This coin is the FINEST KNOWN by far, holding that position for decades. Somehow this coin escaped everything to remain a time capsule from the Civil War.
Not only did LRCA described this coin is a rarity in GEM mint state, our expert Ron Guth described the coin as: The 1862-S Dime has a small mintage, a diminutive population in all grades, and a miniscule population in Mint State. Collectors in 1862 were perfectly satisfied to own a Dime from Philadelphia, and paid little attention to branch mint issues, thus most of the entire mintage of 1862-S Dimes was dumped into circulation and stayed there. Today, any Mint State 1862-S Dime is a rarity. The highlight for this date is a single PCGS MS-65 which, coincidentally, holds the record price an 1862-S Dime. That is correct. If you desire a MS65 coin, then this is the only one. PCGS gives the total survival estimate at a miniscule 250 specimens. By survival estimates, there are six in mint state condition, and the Hansen/Eliasberg Specimen is the lone GEM MS65. According to the PCGS POP Report, there is one MS62, one MS63, and two MS64 specimens. In Hansen’s newly created #2 Civil War Set, he has the 1862-S MS62 Certification #25786749 duplicate. He now has two of the five mint states.
This coin has the Eliasberg Collection in its pedigree name. Some say it does not get any better that that. The coin was described as lot 1174 in the May 1996 Bowers and Merena sale of the Eliasberg Collection as: “MS-66. Brilliant and lustrous, absolutely superb. Probably the finest known. We know of no challenger among others in leading collections past and present. An extraordinary coin that will rank as a landmark in anr roster of notable condition rarities within the Liberty Seated series." In the cataloging of the Gene Gardner Collection, where this GEM last appeared, the consignor noted that only one coin comes anywhere close to the quality of this coin, the Allan Lovejoy coin (graded NGC MS64) that has not been seen in auction since 1990! Indeed the ONLY OTHER Mint State coin sold was the Richmond Collection NGC MS63 that sold fifteen years ago! Needless to say these are EXCEPTIONALLY RARE!
There is more going for this coin that just being exceptional rare and an Eliasberg pedigree, the LRCA auctioneer described the coins as: One look at it is easy to agree the surfaces are pristine. Even using a strong glass all you can find are tiny pockets of toning-no problems of any size, anywhere. The surfaces do have thick satiny texture. There actually is some mellow luster glowing from all over. Both sides are an original white with some original silver gray pale toning. Miss Liberty and the details are fully struck and boldly stand out. The eye appeal is impressive!
With all that said, if that’s not enough, the coin was also in the Eugene H. Gardner Collection. The coin at that time was MS65 NGC CAC coin that was assigned to the Heritage October 2014-The Eugene H. Gardner Collection II US Coins Signature Auction in New York. The coin realized an Auction Record of $35,250. The coin made one other auction appearance between the 1996 Eliasberg sale and the 2014 Gardner Sale. The coin appeared in Heritage October 2001, Long Beach Signature Sale. The sale was offered from the Gulf Coast Collection and realized $17,250. The coin was MS65 NGC, but no CAC Approval.
In the LRCA Regency 39 sale, the coin realized an astonishing $58,750 with an estimate: $30,000 - $35,000. So, you can see why I said if there was a bidding war, this was the coin. Mr. Hansen wanted this coin and paid a large premium to get it. You can see why the LRCA auctioneer pointed out: This coin last sold as an NGC/CAC coin at the Gardner sale in October 2014 for $35,250. This well overlooked date and grade certainly has risen in both demand and value since then. The current CAC CPG value is $42,400 and the PCGS Price Guide value is listed at $35,000. No question this coin is irreplaceable! We expect strong bidding here. This is an great addition even at this price!
1862-S Dime MS65, CAC, Ex: Eliasberg
PCGS POP 1/0, CAC Approved
Certification #25230790, PCGS #4636
PCGS Value Guide: $35,000 / realized $58,750 (Auction Record)
Provenance: Louis Eliasberg Collection (Bowers & Merena, 5/1996), lot #1174, realized $14,850; Gulf Coast Collection - Long Beach Signature Sale (Heritage 10/2001), lot 5971, realized $17,250; Heritage October 2014-The Eugene H. Gardner Collection II US Coins Signature Auction (Heritage 10/2014), lot 98265, $35,250; BigMo Civil War Collection - The Regency Auction 39 (Legend 7/2020) lot 25, realized $58,750; D.L. Hansen Collection
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Upgrades from the BigMo Civil War Auction – Part 4
In this fourth installment of the coins that Mr. Hansen purchased from the BigMo sale, we will take a look at the four 1863 coins. Two of the four of coins are impressive PCGS POP 1/0 specimens, 1863-S Half Dime and 1863-S Dime. The 1863 Half Dime from the Philadelphia Mint and the 1863-S Quarter Eagle are the other two upgrades. These four coins improved Mr. Hansen’s already amazing set of Civil War coins. Let’s look at how good this 110 piece set of challenging coins.
When taking a look at PCGS POP Specimens (Including the new upgrades from BigMo):
1. 28% - 31 Coins are PCGS finest certified, POP 1/0
2. 14.5% - 16 Coins are tied for PCGS finest certified
3. 41% - 45 additional coins are PCGS Condition Census Top Five
4. 12.5% - 12 additional coins are PCGS Condition Census Top Ten
Only six coins (5.5%) are outside of the TOP Ten in this set: 1861 Dime MS65, POP37/11, 1861-D Half Eagle AU58, POP 5/12, 1863 Three Dollar MS64, POP 8/13, 1861-D Gold Dollar MS60, POP 4/18, and 1963-S Half Dollar MS64, POP 19/24. This may be unbelievable, but the worst coin In the collection is 1865-S MS64 Double Eagle with a POP of 130/24. BigMo’s coin is also a MS64, so no help could be found there.
When taking a look at grades in the Hansen Collection (Including the new upgrades from BigMo):
1. 57% - 63 Coins are PCGS graded GEM or better (MS65 – MS68+)
2. 16% - 18 Coins are PCGS graded Choice (MS63 – MS64+)
3. 12% - 13 Coins are PCGS graded UNC (MS60 – MS62+)
4. 13% - 14 Coins are PCGS graded AU (MS50 – MS58+)
5. Only two coins are in circulating condition: 1864 Quarter Eagle XF45 and 1864-S Eagle XF45.
In this posting, we will see the updates for 1863, the third year of the civil war. From information on the US mint website, we see the US Mint continued to focus out west. According to facts provided, on March 03, 1863, Congressional legislation established a branch mint at Carson City, Nevada. The mint mark is: “CC”. The same year, the US Mint obtained title to the property for a Denver branch mint. Soon after, The Denver Branch Mint opens and “operations are confined to the melting, refining, assaying, and stamping of bullion, and the return of the same to depositors in “unparted bars, stamped with the weight and fineness.” From the US Mints opened in 1863, 19 distinct coins were minted, including nine gold coins. All coins were minted in Philadelphia or the branch mint in San Francisco.
The new 1863 coins are two half dimes, 1863 and 1863-S. There is one Dime: 1863-S. The fourth specimen is the 1863-S Quarter Eagle. The first half dime from the Philadelphia Mint is a MS68 Certification #50069966 is tied with three other coins as finest PCGS certified. The coin realized a strong $22,325 with an estimate: $12,000 - 15,000. The 1863-S Half Dime, MS67+ Certification #25689622 is the finest PCGS certified. The coin realized respectable $23,500 with an estimate: $20,000 - $22,500. The 1863-S Quarter Eagle, MS61 Certification #39222000 is POP 3/2 Coin. This coin replaced one of the few remaining circulating condition coins in Hansen’s set, PCGS graded XF45. The coin realized $16,450 with an estimate: $15,000 - $17,500. The 1863-S MS65+ dime will be the feature coin for today’s posting.
1863-S Dime MS65+, CAC, Ex: Bob Simpson
Our expert Ron Guth describes the coin as: In 1863, the bulk of the Dime production occurred at the San Francisco Mint. In fact, San Francisco Mint employees produced more than ten times the number of Dimes as their counterparts at the Philadelphia Mint. Despite the larger mintage, the 1863-S Dime is more difficult to locate in Mint State than the 1863, nor does it come as nice. The best known 1863-S Dime is a single NGC MS66, but the most valuable is the PCGS MS65+ from the Simpson Collection (sold for a record $48,875 in 2008). Just in comparisons, a coin MS65+ Philadelphia minted coin is valued at $4750. This demonstrates that it is not all about the mintage totals as it is about the survival. We have seen during these years, dimes produced at the San Francisco just did not survive in mint condition. This is one that did. If you did not pick up on it, I will remind you that Mr. Guth mentions the Hansen/Simpson coin in his write-up.
Mr. Guth indicates that “a single NGC MS66” specimen is the best known. The Legend auctioneer did not agree with that. This is what is said: A monster example of this rare issue, and a coin that is the finest specimen of this date graded by PCGS. There are precious few known in Mint State and this one is probably the finest. The only competitor is the Eugene Gardner specimen that resides in an NGC MS66 holder and sold for $30,550 in May 2015. We feel this coin is much nicer, plus it has CAC approval, unlike the Gardner coin. Struck during the depths of the Civil War, but far away from the conflict in the East, these San Francisco dimes entered circulation with little fanfare, and were in great demand to make change in the channels of commerce. The original mintage dribbled to a halt at 157,500 pieces, and from this tally at most twenty still have claims to Mint State. gems are downright rare and between both services only three have been certified.
The coin has appeared in auction a couple times. First appearance was a Heritage Auction, 2/2008, where the coin realized $48,875. The coin was graded MS65 PCGS, CAC. The next appearance was the Legend Rare Coin Auctions in 12/2015. The coin was pedigreed to Bob R. Simpson Collection and realized $43,475. The third time is the charm. Third appearance was last week in Legend’s Sale of the BigMo Collection. The coin was described as: This spectacular GEM 1863-S dime is the FINEST graded 1863-S dime at either PCGS or NGC and is an amazing example! This condition rarity is blazing white in color, with full radiant luster and outstanding surfaces. The color is bright silver white, with just a whisper of gold toning starting to appear. The fields and surfaces have no deep marks, and there is little more than a few trivial luster scuffs to recall being handled. The strike is sharp on the legends and Miss Liberty, as well as the reverse where the durum wheat grains show their individual seed lines--a feature that is often blunt on more typical strikes.
Mr. Hansen did win the coin at a very respectable price of $47,000. This is a little more that Mr. Weiner paid the 2015 Legend sale, and a little less that Mr. Simpson paid in the Heritage 2008 sale. I imagine Mr. Hansen is pretty happy with his bid on this coin. LRCA had this perspective: This is the only MS65+ graded and we believe that it is counted twice on the PCGS Population Report. The other MS65 is likely the above mentioned Gardner coin, which no longer appears on the NGC Census as MS66. The BigMo collector bought this coin out of our December 2015 Regency Auction for $43,475, and this coin still holds the all time record of $48,875 from 2008. If your goal is to own the absolute FINEST set of Seated Liberty dimes, look no further than this coin for your 1863-S! Bidding will be fierce!
1863-S Dime MS65+, CAC, Ex: Simpson
PCGS POP 1/0, CAC Approved
Certification #06666876, PCGS #4638
PCGS Value Guide: $40,000 / realized $47,000
Provenance: Long Beach Signature Sale (Heritage 2/2008), lot 107, realized $48,875; Bob R. Simpson Collection - The Regency Auction XV (Legend 12/2015), lot 138, realized $43,475; BigMo Civil War Collection - The Regency Auction 39 (Legend 7/2020) lot 43, realized $46.000 - D.L. Hansen Collection
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
@Currin it would be interesting to have a running total of dollars spent (including estimates) so that we could understand what it is costing him to build this incredible collection.
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
.
.
Catbert,
That would make an interesting exercise, and would take some time. I have estimated the Hansen Collection, with all the duplicates to be north of 10,000 coins. I can not say it can’t be done, all the information is there.
A couple years ago you may recall, I did this for his Trade Dollar Proofs. His collection has three complete sets of 1873-1883, and one of them completed thru 1885. According to auction results and Price Guide information, the total value of the collection is $5,824,600. The top set including the 1884/1885 had PCGS total value of $5,310,000. PCGS Coin Guide places the value of the coins in his second set at $233,000. The third set value was a measly $119,000. This is only 35 coins out of 10,000. It is true the two coins, 1884 & 1885 are valued at $5,350,000. So, the 33 remaining coins are valued at $474,000. That’s $14,381 each and three sets deep.
He has 17 Million Dollar Club coins that I am aware in his published sets. These 17 coins, I would value at $25,000,000. It is really hard to say what the avg. value of the other 10,000 coins would be. At $25,000 each, then you are looking a collection in the excess of $250M. Someday Mr. Hansen may decide to publish the value of his collection. Until them, it just a guess.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
$25k average per coin across the collection is likely too high.
Even among the trade dollar proofs 1873-1883, that is 11 coins, so the per coin average is
$21k in the second set and
$10k in the third set.
If we used a $10k per coin average, the total is down to $100M.
There are a lot of cheapies in the moderns, but then again he did spend close to three quarters of a million dollars on two common date Mercury Dimes. It would be interesting to know his insurance value.
Upgrades from the BigMo Civil War Auction – Part 5
In this last installment of the coins that Mr. Hansen purchased from the BigMo sale, we will take a look at two coins from the year 1864 and one coin dated 1865. The two coins from 1864 are the 1864-S Quarter Dollar and the other is an 1864 MS68+ Gold Dollar. This gold dollar is an amazing coin. The last coin is an 1865-S MS66+ Half Dime. These coins complete the 18 coins that Mr. Hansen won in Legend’s Regency Auction 39. I was hoping some information on the BigMo Part 2 sale would be released before this last update. There was no mention of the Big Mo Part 2 in the upcoming Regency 40 Auction at The Bellagio in Las Vegas, NV. I hope it was just an omission in error.
As you have seen in the series of updates the past few days, Mr. Hansen and his team did an excellent job of placing winning bids in this exciting auction. Matthew Bell (Legend) summed the BigMo sale up this way: The BigMo Civil War Set started the auction off with a bang, as that set realized over a dozen record prices all on its own, attesting to how fresh and high quality the coins assembled in that collection were. By my count, Mr. Hansen won six of the twelve auction record setting BigMo Collection coins:
Lot 25. 10C 1862-S PCGS MS65 CAC, realized $58,750
Lot 29. 50C 1862-S PCGS MS66 CAC, realized $47,000
Lot 31. $1 1862 PCGS PR66+ CAC, realized $76,375
Lot 40. H10C 1863-S PCGS MS67+ CAC, realized $23,500
Lot 70. $1 1864 PCGS PR66 CAM CAC, realized $49,937.50
Lot 81. H10C 1865-S PCGS MS66+ CAC, realized $30,550
He was successful in winning all but three of the PCGS POP 1/0 Mint State specimens from the collection. He was under bidder (I assume) on two San Francisco dimes, 1864-S PCGS MS66 CAC that realized $29,375 and 1865-S PCGS MS65+ CAC that realized $55,812.50. I not sure why these two upgrades got away, but I do know for both coins Mr. Hansen has a pair of second finest PCGS POP 1/1 specimens. We know that sometimes Dr. Link will pass on the top coin because he likes his coin better. I am not saying that is what we are seeing here with Mr. Hansen. I just find this to be interesting. The other BigMo PCGS POP 1/0 specimen that slipped from being shipped to the Hansen vault was the 1865 PCGS MS68+ CAC Gold Dollar. The coin was passed. I do not remember the open bid, but I think the opening bid and fees would have surpassed the six figure mark. The estimate was published as $100,000 to $110,000. He did win the 1864 PCGS MS68+ CAC Gold Dollar for $73,437.50, but passed on the 1865. So, at the end of the day, he took home with him eight of the eleven POP 1/0 Mint State specimens (72%). That is not bad.
If the BigMo Part 2 appear in Legend’s Regency 40, I did looked ahead to see what specimens would be available that could upgrade the Hansen Mint State Collection. Not to bore you more details than you need, I found eleven. They are 3) Quarter Eagles, 1) Three Dollar, 4) Half Eagles, 1) Eagle and 2) Double Eagles. Of the eleven, five are PCGS POP 1/0 specimens. There could be some additional proofs, but I did not perform that review. More fun to come?
We have discussed US Mint activities during the troubled years of the US Civil War and it appeared the country continued the press westward. In some of our previous discussions, it has been made obvious that the San Francisco Mint was producing all they could just to keep the west coast commerce functioning. To help address this issue, on July 02, 1864, Congress appropriated $300,000 to purchase a site and constructed buildings for the Branch Mint at San Francisco. Two days later, July 04, 1864, Congressional legislation established a branch mint at Dalles City, Oregon. The Mint was short-lived; Congress donated the building to the State of Oregon for educational purposes in March 1875. A coin with a “DC” mint mark would have been interesting. Some other activities for the US Mint occurred on April 22, 1864 when Congress authorized coinage of the two-cent piece. The Director of the Mint, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, placed the motto “In God We Trust” on the bronze 2-cent piece. This was the first time the motto appeared on a coin. Lastly, on March 03, 1865, Congressional legislation authorized coinage of the three-cent coin.
The first coin is an 1864-S MS64 Quarter Dollar, Certification #11829684 is tied with one other coin as second finest PCGS certified. There is one PCGS finer, Gardner MS64+ Specimen. The best of the best is the NGC MS68 Eliasberg Specimen that sold for over $100K in 2006. The Hansen/BigMo coin realized a respectable $21,737.50 with an estimate: $24,000 - 26,500. An additional important fact on the 1864-S MS64 Quarter Dollar upgrade is that coin replaced an XF45 circulated grade coin. The 1865-S Half Dime, MS66+ Certification #21435037 is the finest PCGS certified. The coin realized $30,550 with an estimate: $20,000 - $22,500. This Ex: Gardner specimen is certainly worthy of a feature, but due to limited time and space, I was not able to feature all of Mr. Hansen’s POP 1/0 purchases. The 1864 MS68+ Gold Dollar is the feature coin for today.
1864 Gold Dollar MS68+, CAC, EX VIRGIL BRAND, DAVID AKERS, DR. STEVEN DUCKOR
This coin is pure numismatic royalty, in addition to its nirvana quality! (LRCA) I tried to figure out how this coin is nirvana quality? The best that I can surmise, the reference means "blowing out" or maybe "quenching". Do you know what the word may have meant in this context? In a description provided by Heritage in a 2015 sale, the coin was described as: A stunning Superb Gem with a historic provenance. Bingo, I certainly agree with that description! Our expert Ron Guth provided these comments: The 1864 Gold Dollar is a scarce, low-mintage date and it is one of the more challenging issues of the decade. Akers addressed the die clashing that affects many of the survivors, including those at the top end of the condition scale. Even the amazing PCGS MS69 example (now in the Simpson Collection) exhibits die clashing on the obverse. Gem and better examples are quite rare and fetch lots of money when they cross the auction block. For example, the Simpson MS69 sold for over $77,000 when it last appeared at auction in 2005. The estate of the late, great David Akers contained a superb example that sold as an NGC MS69 in 2014 for $58,750. Dr. Duckor, collectors extraordinaire, owns a PCGS MS68+ that he purchased from David Akers. These are three of the most impressive 1864 Gold Dollars one is likely to ever encounter.
This coin was described as having a historic provenance. So, true. The coin is traced to the Virgil Brand Collection and more recently to the Dr. & Mrs. Steven L. Duckor Collection. The Legend auctioneer described the coin as: This REMARKABLE SUPERB GEM is the second FINEST KNOWN (from an original small mintage of 5,900), following behind the other monster, the MS69 that is impounded in the Bob R. Simpson Collection. This coin is from one of most famed collections of all time, the Virgil Brand Collection, which was among the most extensive numismatic holdings ever assembled. This coin made its first modern appearance in the November 1983 Bowers and Merena sale of the Virgil Brand Collection. After that, it made its way to David Akers, one of the late 20th century’s most noted numismatic dealers and scholars. Sold to Dr. Steven L. Duckor, it was sold in the August 2015 sale of the Dr. Duckor Collection of Gold Dollars, where it was purchased by our consignor.
The coin realized $73,437.50. Legend’s estimated the coin at $65,000 - $70,000. So, we can see that Mr. Hansen was willing to step it up on 1864 MS68+, but not the 1865 MS68+. LRCA described the coin as: Our jaws dropped to the floor and locked when we examined this out of this world GEM. The surfaces are flawless and satiny smooth. All you can see with a strong glass are light unobtrusive mint made striations. A glowing luster beams from all over with faint traces of prooflike mirrors. Both sides are enriched by a gorgeous mix of totally original two tone gold/pale orange gold colors. There are NO spots or discolorations anywhere. Miss Liberty and the details are frosted and are sharply struck. The eye appeal is phenomenal! PCGS has graded only this one as MS68+ and the Bob Simpson coin is the one MS69 graded higher at PCGS. This coin last sold in the 2015 ANA auction for $70,500. Besides being perfect for GEM Civil War set or gold dollar set; it also works well in any box of 20. Or if you just wish to own a piece of numismatic royalty, this is the coin for you!
1864 Gold Dollar MS68+, CAC, EX VIRGIL BRAND, DAVID AKERS, DR. STEVEN DUCKOR
PCGS POP 1/1, CAC Approved
Certification #24463224, PCGS #7563
PCGS Value Guide: $70,000 / realized $73,437.50
Provenance: Virgil Brand Collection – (Bowers & Merena 11/1983) lot 30, realized $15,400 - David Akers - Dr. & Mrs. Steven L. Duckor Collection – (Heritage 8/2015) lot 4264, realized $70,500; BigMo Civil War Collection - The Regency Auction 39 (Legend 7/2020) lot 71, realized $73,437.50 - D.L. Hansen Collection
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
.
.
My reference to the 10,000 coins really did not include post 1964 Moderns, Commemoratives, bullion, etc. We know as a fact that the Hansen Collection had 4103 coins on 6/30/2020 in the set below.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/complete-sets/master-sets/u-s-coins-complete-set-major-varieties-circulation-strikes-proof-1792-1964/3247
If he has 4K coins in his pre 1964 CS&Proof complete set, then it is not hard for me to believe he has at least 6K in duplicates, triplicates, quadruplicates, etc. (as shown with Trade Dollars). If you give me high/low bet on 6K duplicates, I would pick high. When talking with Mr. Hansen last fall, he gave me an example where he had a Peace Dollar coin (1926 I think), but don’t me hold me to that date. The coin has a large number of finest certified, but no single finest. Mr. Hansen has 5-6 finest certified specimens. Not being sure which one he preferred to keep for his top set, he just kept them all in his collection for now. This coin may be valued at $5k, but he has $25-30K worth of coins for that one date.
As previously stated, I have no verifiable knowledge of the value of his inventory or collection. Is there a difference in inventory vs collection? I can not confirm the collection is valued at $250M, but I am thinking it is closer to $250M than it is to $100M. I think his top 500 coins may be worth close to $100M. Also, I know he has duplicates that are valued at more the $100K each. I have seen a couple of them offered for sale.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Probably best to use a median value rather than average value. That strips out the distortion caused by the very low and very high priced coins.
If you are multiplying the average by the number of coins to get to a total value then the median is irrelevant. Only the mean matters.
Type 2 Gold Dollar Proof Addition
I really enjoyed spending the past few days assorting through the BigMo purchases. It was fun and I hope you enjoyed seeing and learning about these coins that were minted as the Civil War raged on. I also learned some interesting US Mint facts. For example, Congressional legislation established a branch mint at Dalles City, Oregon. If I knew that before, it was long ago forgotten. As great as the civil war coins are, this new coin added to the Hansen Proof Collection is the Major Leagues compared to the Civil War coins. None of those coins come close to the ultra-rarity that you will see in this coin. Ultra-rarity like this doesn’t come in the Hansen Collection every day. Therefore, this is a small gold coin that carries a big presence. Also, the set that this coin was added to, I feel comfortable in saying, has never been completed.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/gold/1-gold-major-sets/one-dollar-gold-proof-1849-1858/558
The registry set One Dollar Gold, Proof (1849-1858) is just eight coins, but they are just not any eight coins. PCGS describes the set as: This is a set of ultra-rarities! It comprises three different types, with the 1858 (Type Three) being the only date that is seen with any frequency (18 examples certified). The Type One Proofs (1849-54) are so rare that PCGS has not certified a single piece of any date as this is being written. The Type Two Proofs are dated 1854 and 1855 and are great rarities as well, with just eight specimens certified for the two dates combined. The Type Three Proofs begin in 1856 and this set includes the first three years of issue. Not only is this a great set, nabbing even a single coin in the series is a numismatic accomplishment. It does not appear anyone thought the set could be completed. Just by “nabbing” a few would a great accomplishment. I am not convinced assembling all eight would be possible, although, The D.L. Hansen Collection now has six of the eight coins. Maybe an all- time high.
The last coin added to this set was 4/2018. I have been watching the set for a long time. I read up on the eight coins required a few times over the past couple years. Of the three coins that were remaining, the ultra-rare and controversial 1850 proof piece last came to auction in January 2013. As PCGS PR60 from Park Avenue Collection, this is the only piece to be certified by a TPG company. The only other coin is an unconfirmed piece in French National Library, apparently once part of a complete gold proof set. The Park Avenue coin appeared in the 2013 Heritage Auction as PCGS Cert #06698910. This cert number is no longer in the PCGS data base, so the current status on this coin is unknown.
The second of the three remaining, the 1854 Type 1 Proof is thought to be unique. There is zero information that I can find in PCGS CoinFacts. NGC Coin Explorer provides this information on Type 1 Proof Coins: Proofs were not struck officially, but the late Walter Breen, a renowned numismatic researcher and scholar, reported that at least seven proofs were made in 1849 of the type with open wreath and no letter L on the bust. He also knew of at least three proofs of the closed wreath type dated 1849. Proofs are also rumored for 1850 and 1851, and at least one is known for 1854. The “at least one is known for 1854” specimen I would assume to be the Harry Bass coin. The estimated grade given the coin is PR65CAM. The coin was purchased by Harry Bass from a Stack's Auction in 1985, lot 1874 for $68,750. The Bass coin may be from the City of Bremen complete 1854 Proof Set. PCGS and NGC have never certified an example of the 1854 Type 1 Proof. I wonder if the fate of this unique coin is the same as the 1870-S Three Dollar. After these first two ultra-rarities, the third coin left was the collectible 1855 Type 2.
Professional numismatists Jeff Garrett and our expert Ron Guth co-authored the award-winning book 100 Greatest U.S. Coins. This coin shows up as #73 in that prestige list of coins. David Akers comments on 1855 Proof Gold Dollar. Proofs are extremely rare although not as much so as the 1854. The same four parties that own proof Type II gold dollars also own proof 1855 gold dollars, and I am aware of several other specimens as well, including one that sold early in 1975 for a reported $50,000. In the Legend’s Regency 39 auction a couple weeks ago, the Hansen 1855 was described as: One of the greatest rarities of the Proof Gold Dollar series, this GEM 1855 gold dollar is one of just seven positively traced specimens from an original, very tiny estimated mintage of 10 pieces. This is an extremely important offering, one of the FINEST PCGS-graded examples known, and the FINEST CAC-approved example extant. To quote from John Dannreuther's monumental time on Proof Gold Coins (2018), "Few coins excite numismatists more than Proof Type 2 gold dollars." I have determine the pedigrees of the seven known specimens that the Legend Auctioneer references. In using several references and auction sites, I have found compiled the list below.
1) Parmelee/Pittman Specimen, PR66★ UltraCameo NGC (former PR66DCAM PCGS) John F. McCoy Collection (W. Elliot Woodward, 5/1864), lot 2001; William A. Lilliendahl; Sixth Semi-Annual Sale (Woodward, 3/1865), lot 2829; Mendes I. Cohen; Cohen Collection (Edward Cogan, 10/1875), lot 241; Lorin G. Parmelee Collection (New York Coin & Stamp, 6/1890) lot 1255; William H. Woodin Collection (Thomas Elder, 3/1911), lot 852; Thomas Melish (Abe Kosoff, 4/1956), lot 1743; John Jay Pittman Collection (David Akers, 10/1997), lot 866; Dr. Robert J. Loewinger (Heritage, 1/2007), lot 3100; Madison Collection (Heritage, 1/2008), lot 3051, realized $373,750; The Kodiak Collection - FUN U.S. Coins Signature (Heritage, 1/2020), lot #4320, realized $336,000 as PR66★ UltraCameo NGC.
2) Hansen/Star Specimen, PR65+ DCAM PCGS (former PR66 Ultra Cameo NGC) CAC: Ex: Likely J.F. Bell (Stack's, 12/1944), lot 9; George H. Hall (Stack's, 5/1945), F.C.C. Boyd; World's Greatest Collection (Numismatic Gallery, 1/1946), lot 9; lot 1678; Floyd T. Starr Collection (Stack's, 10/1992), lot 1084; The Gold Rush Collection - FUN Signature Auction (Heritage, 1/2005), lot 30023, realized $287,500; The Kodiak Collection - Central States (CSNS) U.S. Coins Signature (Heritage, 4/2020), lot #3770, realized $282,000; The Regency Auction 39 (Legend, 7/2020), lot 483, realized $329,000 – The D.L. Hansen Collection.
3) Eliasberg/Trompeter Specimen, PR66 NGC: Elmer Sears (4/1909); John H. Clapp; Clapp Estate (1942); Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr.; Eliasberg Collection (Bowers and Ruddy, 10/1982), lot 26; Jay Miller; Ed Trompeter (Superior, 2/1992), lot 1; Tacasyl Collection (Bonham's, 9/2013), lot 1000, realized $397,800 (Auction Record)
4) Barefoot/Siam Specimen, PR65 NGC: John Story Jenks Collection (Henry Chapman, 12/1921), lot 5822; Memorable Collection (Numismatic Gallery, 3/1948), lot 9; Harold S. Bareford (Stack's, 12/1978), lot 29; King of Siam Sale (Superior, 1/1993), lot 1262, realized $132,000
5) PR62 Cameo, CAC. Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 10/2001), lot 8097; Pre-Long Beach Sale (Superior, 6/2002), lot 4744; Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 6/2011), lot 4462; US Coins & Platinum Night FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2012), lot #4709.
6) Morgan/ANS Specimen, Proof Uncertified: American Numismatic Society donated by J.P. Morgan
7) Stack Specimen, Proof Uncertified: Abe Kosoff; Jimmy Hayes; Norman Stack, Sold with his type set in 1990. In the Stack Collection since at least 1971, per Harvey Stack.
Note: PCGS reports POP 1/2 for the Hansen specimen. The PCGS POP reports six and NGC POP reports six, so obviously these grading services have duplicate entries. Is Hansen/Star Specimen finest certified by PCGS? The Parmelee/Pittman Specimen was once certified PR66DCAM PCGS, but appeared earlier this year in NGC holder
As I stated earlier, the 1850 proof has not appeared in auction since 2013. As well, the last appearance before 2020 for the 1855 Proof was the Eliasberg/Trompeter Specimen was September 2013. So, when I saw the Parmelee/Pittman Specimen appear in the Heritage FUN Auction in 1/2020, I asked John Brush what he thought of the coin. He did not indicate that it was something that they pursuing at that time. I thought that to be a lost opportunity; it could be long wait before another appearance. Then three months later the Star Specimen appeared in Heritage Central States Auction in 4/2020. Both offering were for NGC graded coins. I am not sure if Mr. Hansen bided on either coin, but we know he did not win. So, the third time was the charm when the Star Specimen crossed from a PR66 Ultra Cameo NGC to a PR65+ DCAM PCGS and was offered in the Legends Regency 39 Auction a couple weeks ago.
Boasting all of the traits of a high end GEM, this deeply, boldly contrasted example is essentially without flaw. Incredibly deep, reflective mirrors show that the dies and planchet were carefully polished prior to striking. The devices, which on circulation strike issues tend to be softly struck, are fully struck up and offer an extremely thick frost. Liberty's portrait stands out with full, 3D contrast against the surrounding mirrors; the lighter frosty gold texture makes the Longacre design really POP! Carefully preserved since it was struck 170 years ago. Virtually every tiny fleck and line that we observe with a powerful loupe, appears to be an artifact of the minting process. Parallel striations are seen in in the fields and some very minor, natural planchet flakes are noted. A pair of tiny flakes are seen below [O]F and below the right ribbon end on the reverse. These serve as pedigree markers that will aid in identifying this GEM as the J.F. Bell, George Hall, Floyd Starr, Gold Rush Collection coin (LRCA)
As stated, the coin appeared in auction twice this year. First in a Heritage April 2020 Central States Signature Auction In Dallas as a PR66 Ultra Cameo NGC. Mr. Hansen purchased the coin three months later in the Legends’ Regency 39 Auction. The coin realized $329,000 with an estimate of $280,000 - $300,000. This was the top coin that sold in the legend sale. Legend described the offering as: This is the ONLY PR65+ DCAM and we believe represents one of the regular PR65 DCAMs as well. It is also the only CAC approved example in any grade. The most recent DCAM graded by PCGS to sell in auction was a PR66 DCAM sold in the 2008 FUN auction for $373,750. In the 2020 FUN Auction an NGC PR66 Ultra Cameo sold for $336,000. Neither of those coins was CAC approved. Today, with several large collections of gold rarities being assembled, we know demand for this PCGS GEM with CAC approval verifying its quality and boasting a superb eye appeal, will be fierce. The current CAC CPG value in PR65 DCAM (they do not put values on "+" grades) is $453,800. This is an incredible opportunity that cannot be missed by any advanced connoisseur of ultra rare gold coins. We expect very strong bidding once this one opens. Good luck.
1855 Gold Dollar, PR65+ DAM
PCGS POP 1/2, CAC Approved
Certification #39084842, PCGS #97602
PCGS Value Guide: $335,000 / realized $329,000
Provenance: Likely J.F. Bell (Stack's, 12/1944), lot 9; George H. Hall (Stack's, 5/1945), F.C.C. Boyd; World's Greatest Collection (Numismatic Gallery, 1/1946), lot 9; lot 1678; Floyd T. Starr Collection (Stack's, 10/1992), lot 1084; The Gold Rush Collection - FUN Signature Auction (Heritage, 1/2005), lot 30023, realized $287,500; The Kodiak Collection - Central States (CSNS) U.S. Coins Signature (Heritage, 4/2020), lot #3770, realized $282,000; The Regency Auction 39 (Legend, 7/2020), lot 483, realized $329,000 – The D.L. Hansen Collection.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
The 1850 Proof set at the Bibliotheque Nationale is well documented, and at least the 1850 PR-61 $20 held there has been confirmed by visits from US Numismatists like David Hall. We have discussed it in threads on the 1850 $20 proof.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/993882/1850-proof-double-eagle-inquiry
So with the upcoming Simpson auctions, will this end the earlier debate of who has the greatest collection between Simpson and Hansen?
.
.
Thanks for sharing the information link. I missed a few of those guys from that link, insider2, RogerB, northcoin, etc. Most their discussions were concerning the 1850 Double Eagle. In my description, I used the term unconfirmed due to information provided from Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins with Ron Guth. Jeff Garrett included the following notes about proof 1850 gold dollars:
"The only 1850 gold dollar that can lay claim to Proof status was last sold in 1995. The coin is fully mirrored and extremely well struck. There are scattered lint marks that would lend credence to die polish. Unfortunately, the coin has been lightly burnished at one time. Another example is rumored to exist in a museum collection in France."
As with most written print, it can be outdated. In reading about David Hall, I not sure he confirmed the 1850 Proof Gold Dollar, as he did the Double Eagle. I did read that Marc Emory, who I think is Director of European Operations at Heritage reported on the Bibliotheque National coins, but I have not seen the report. Either way, I believe the only “collectible specimen” would be the Park Avenue Specimen sold in 1995 and 2013.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
Hansen Barber Dimes – Another Lilly Nicole Update
If you have been following along this year, you will know that I have been watching the Barber Dimes closely? Why, because it has been a very active series. The Srotag Collection that was offered in GreatCollection Auctions back in the spring of this year was when I first started to see movement in this series. I reported back on April 12th that I thought the Hansen Collection of Barber Dimes had a good shot at overcoming the #2 All-Time Set by Simpson and he did. I also said that Barber Dime greatness stills lays in the hands of Stuart Blay. He has been paying the Barber Dime game for a long time, almost twenty years on the registry, maybe even longer, if he was active in Barber Dime series before the registry. Currently, Mr. Blay is in the top spot with 66.79 GPA and 67.63 with bonuses. The set is closed to the public viewing, but from bonus points awarded, it appears the set has a majority (>50%) of the PCGS top pops. I cannot confirm, and Mr. Blay is not revealing.
At the start of 2020, Mr. Hansen was in third place rankings and trailing Mr. Blay by 0.388. Currently, Mr. Hansen has moved into second place ahead of Simpson and trails Blay by 0.187. Mr. Hansen narrowed Mr. Blay lead by 50% in the past 6-7 months. If you have registry sets then you know making up ground gets more difficult as you get closer to the top. I am not sure there is mathematical possibility for Mr. Hansen to overtake Mr. Blay. With the Blay set being closed, it is hard to determine if obtaining the #1 stop is possible with available coins. If I were to guess, I would say that probably Mr. Blay has the #1 spot locked.
The list of Hansen coins that are not PCGS Condition Census Top Five gets shorter and shorter. The Collection is down to just six coins.
1906-D 10C MS66 POP 13/7
1903-O 10C MS65+ POP 1/7
1904-S 10C MS65 POP 9/9
1896-S 10C MS65 POP 15/10
1899-O 10C MS65+ POP 1/11
1899-S 10C MS66 POP 13/18
As you can see, there is still some meat on this bone for Mr. Hansen. If he can replace most of these coins and gain a few more bonus points along the way. Things could start to get interesting.
1900 Barber Dime MS67+,CAC Approved, Ex: Lily Nicole
We have seen recently that Mr. Hansen was spending approx. $25,000 to $30,000 per PCGS POP 1/0 specimen upgrade. They were mostly The San Francisco minted dimes that have a small mintage. That is not the case with this upgrade. Expert Ron Guth described the coin this way: The 1900 Dime is a very common coin that can be found with ease in all grades up to and including MS64. In MS65 and better grades, the population dips way down, but even those grades appear on the market frequently. In MS67, this date becomes extremely rare. The best example is a single PCGS MS67+ in the Lilly Nicole Collection. The PCGS CoinFacts Condition Census for this date contains a minimum of MS65 and better coins, indicating the great conditions in which the 1900 Dimes have survived. The reader will note that virtually all of the top-end examples sport colorful toning and superb eye appeal.
This coin has appeared in public auction only once. In the Heritage April 2015 CSNS US Coins Signature Auction in Chicago, the coin was described as having Fantastic Eye Appeal. This 2015 Heritage Auction featured the sale of The Lilly Nicole Collection. The sale showcased and sold 77 top of the registry Barber dimes. The top dime in the auction was the 1895-O 10C MS66+ PCGS, CAC that realized $54,050. I wonder where that coin is. Hint, the coin is not in the Hansen Collection. The next in line was the 1901-S MS67+, and that coin is in the Hansen Collection. At the time of the sale, the Lilly Nicole Collections was the Current #1 PCGS Registry Set of Barber Dimes, Circulation Strikes. Since retiring in 2015, the set has dropped to #5 All-Time.
In the 2015 Heritage auction, the coin was described as: Fantastic eye appeal is created on this Superb Gem dime by the top-notch preservation, leaving all of the device high points essentially unmarked, and the lovely iridescent patina, cherry-red nearest the margins, ceding inward to amber, gold, pale olive, and rose with some untoned silver areas remaining in the centers. This piece would be a great addition to a fine Registry Set, currently the sole finest at PCGS. The coin realized $5,999.55, which may not be bad for a coin as common as this one. Since this sale, the coin has maintained sole finest by PCGS status and was approved for the CAC sticker.
The coin was offered in the late June timeframe on the Pinnacle Rarities, INC website. The coin was described as: This the finest known 1900 dime has rich luster beneath a rainbow of color featuring gold and green highlights. Spectacular condition, amazing color and CAC certification. A wholly original condition rarity with amazing eye appeal. The website does not indicated the offered price. PCGS Price Guide values the coin at $7,000. The Auction Record is for Dr. Steven L. Duckor MS67 specimen that sold at Heritage’s January 2006 FUN #1 Signature Auction January in Orlando, FL. The coin realized $8,625. That coin has been bumped down to D.L. Hansen Barber Dimes #2 set!
In the 1901-S MS67+ posting a few weeks ago, I asked the question: Is this last PCGS POP 1/0 specimen that Mr. Hansen will be able to acquire for this set? Well it did not take long to get that question answered. Honestly, I thought the 1900 Lilly Nicole Specimen was probably in Mr. Blay’s set. To my surprise, it was not and available. It is hard to image replacing the Duckor Auction Record Specimen, but to continue the climb will require finding more coins like this one. There may be path that can to push Mr. Hansen ahead of Stuart Blay and his two decade old crazy good Barber Dime set.
1900 Barber Dime MS67+
POP 1/0, CAC Approved
Certification #32486817, PCGS #4821
PCCS Value Guide: $7,000 / Unknown Internet Sale
Provenance: Lilly Nicole Collection – (Heritage 4/2015) lot #3920, realized $5,999.55; Pinnacle Rarities, INC private sale (6/2020) to D.L. Hansen Collection
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
For circulation Buffalo Nickel date set, DL is closing in Gerald Forsythe.
It's pretty impressive that DL is #2 while sets that were in 2nd place from 2014 to 2018 are still competing.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/nickels/buffalo-nickels-major-sets/buffalo-nickels-date-set-circulation-strikes-1913-1938/1248
In a set with large populations, it’s actually easier for a newer set to achieve a higher ranking because it’s more likely to purchase all the + and upgrade coins that come on the market. A set that’s been around for a while sees that these coins are no better than the coins it contains already and doesn’t pull the trigger.
For those wondering how the PCGS CAC registry would impact @DLHansen, also impressive is that DL is #1 for the CAC circulation set of Buffalo Nickels. DL doesn't have the most complete set but he's ranked #1.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/nickels/buffalo-nickels-major-sets/buffalo-nickels-basic-set-circulation-strikes-1913-1938-cac/7556
Agreed. Part of the Registry game getting your own coins regraded if they are undergraded.
I remember you mentioning this as an issue for your own competitive sets.
It would be interesting to see the % of + coins per set, and even rank them without +.
.
.
No, Gazes I don’t think so.
The Hansen Simpson debate will end when the All-time Greatest NFL quarterback debate ends. How do you determine the greatest quarterback, by best stats, by achievements (championships, etc.), by awards (pro bowls, etc.)? How would you account for different eras? How to account for advantages, ex. great line, or great teams/systems? The debate rages on.
Hansen and Simpson have different collecting styles. Dell Loy Hansen is in the PCGS Hall of Fame for Complete U.S. Coin Collection. This is a very limited group of 15-16, if I recall. All deceased except Mr. Hansen. Bob Simpson is in the PCGS Hall of Fame for Specialized Area Collection (patterns, I think). Also, Simpson has several sets that was awarded the Hall of Fame. Of all the great sets that Mr. Hansen has assembled the past 4 years, he has yet to have one of his complete sets to be award the PCGS Hall of Fame. The biggest comparison between Simpson and Hansen is they both played their game in the TPG/Registry era.
Laura Sperber said Mr. Simpson love “great coins”. This appears to me to be a true statement. If you look at his three hundred coins being offered at Heritage, they are all “great coins”. Mr. Hansen loves coins, period. They don’t have to be great. What is great about collecting moderns, post 1964 coinage? He could have stopped his collection at 1964 and still have a great collection.
I have said before, what Mr. Hansen is doing is really hard to compare, because there is no one active and living today is doing what he is doing. He is not unique, because others have done what he is doing in the past, Atwater, Bland, Clapp, Eliasberg, Boyd, and a handful of others.
So, in trying to compare Hansen and Simpson is not like comparing who is the best quarterback of all-time, rather trying the say who is the greatest player when comparing a HOF quarterback to a HOF defensive end. If you want to compare Mr. Hansen, he would need to be compared with other HOF quarterbacks, like Louis Eliasberg, Sr. PCGS quote about Eliasberg, “This man is to coins what Babe Ruth is to baseball“. We can say, “Hansen is to coins what Pele is to soccer”. Just a different game being played in a different era.
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004
“What is great about collecting moderns, post 1964 coinage?”
Much to learn you still have, my old padawan.
Wondercoin
I think that it will be interesting if Hansen acquires any of Simpson's patterns. Hansen's collection plus Simpson's pattern collection is way beyond the Eliasberg set, or for that matter, the Smithsonian Collection. And if he falls a few coins short of the Eliasberg set, the patterns would put him over the top to claim the greatest US coin collection of all time.
OINK
I agree that would be very interesting. When Hansen started, acquiring such patterns probably seemed unobtainable if Simpson didn't sell, but now that he is, there is an opening.
Half Eagle Update
I have posted updates to the 201 piece basic set of Liberty Half Eagles several times this year. We have seen this to be one of Mr. Hansen’s most active sets. I think one reason may be the addition of the Pogue 1854-S in March. To complete the set and top it off with this ultra-rarity, have to be a great motivator. There are really no known registry competitors in this series. It will be interesting to see when the Hall of Fame awards are given out later this month how this set will fare. I find it difficult to understand how this set would fall short on anyone’s list. PCGS describes the set as: There is no other set of coins that features specimens from seven U. S. Mints—Philadelphia, Charlotte, Dahlonega, Carson City, Denver, New Orleans and San Francisco. This long-lived set includes one of the greatest rarities in numismatics, the 1854-S $5 gold piece. How many has PCGS graded? Zero! There are many sets-within-sets in this series, as most collectors focus on the coins from one particular Mint. It’s a long and challenging collection to complete, but it’s a tremendous achievement if you can do it.. So, Mr. Hansen stepped up and crossed the finish line on this “tremendous achievement”, so now let’s see if PCGS Registry will step up and award the set the PCGS Hall of Fame.
With this update, the 201 coin set has 31 PCGS POP 1/0 specimens (15.4%). There 33 other coins that are tied for finest certified by PCGS (16.4%). Therefore, 31.8% of this set is PCGS finest coins that they have to offer. Only four coins are graded less than AU50. They are 1866-S (F12), 1870-CC (F12), 1847-0 (VF25) and the 1860-S (XF45). On the other end of the spectrum, the collection has one MS68, 1908 Liberty. Two other coins are graded MS67+ with several graded MS67. We have seen more than 25 upgrades in this set since January 1, 2020. The set still have room for more upgrades like the one that you will see today.
1875-S Liberty Head Half Eagle PCGS MS64
As of a few months ago, The Hansen Collection had the finest PCGS certified 1875-S, AU58+ POP 1/0, Cert #82415165. The coin lost its POP 1/0 status recently when a NGC MS64 PL certified coin was crossed and became the present day PCGS Pop 1/0 specimen. In the crossover, PCGS dropped the PL, but maintained the MS64 grading. In the PCGS Condition Census report, the coin was previously recognized as the finest coin and had a MS63 PCGS estimated grade. PCGS Rarity and Survival Estimates indicated there are 85 known, and only one MS60 or better. That would be the new Hansen coin. There is one other mint state coin in the NGC Census report, MS60. The MS60 NGC coin last sold in American Numismatic Rarities 2006 sale. I have seen reports that referred to the MS60 NGC coin as defective. I am not saying the MS60 coin sold in the ANA sale is defective. I have the catalog of the Glode M. Reque Collection and there is no mention of the coin being defective. I did a lookup on the image of the coin and it looks fine by my untrained eyes. I thought this MS60 NGC and Hansen’s AU58+ PCGS Specimen could be the same coin, but the images do not match.
Expert David Akers commented on this coin: Overall the 1875-S is comparable to the 1874-S in rarity but is less rare than the 1876-S that follows. The mintmark is very small but it is usually somewhat sharper than on other S Mint Half Eagles of the period. The bottom part of the ribbon above the eagle, especially below WE TRUST, is always weak or missing. With this purchase, the Hansen collection now has the top two PCGS certified coins: AU58+ POP 1/1 and the MS64 POP 1/0 specimen. The AU58+ POP 1/1 coin has been moved to Hansen’s #2 set which is 87.06% completed. Interesting thought, if Hansen had kept the first 1854-S that he purchased, he could have two completed sets!
This coin has a lot going for it. The coin may be the only mint state and the only Choice GEM for sure. Also, the pedigree is not bad. The coin can be traced to the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection. In 2017, Ron Guth wrote this about Mr. Stack: James A. Stack, Sr. was a collector of substantial means and discrimination who was active in numismatics from the late 1930s until his death in 1951. He acquired many rarities and “finest known” coins by taking full advantage of the opportunities presented to him as great collections came onto the market. He owned an 1894-S Dime, a 1798 Small Eagle $5, an 1870-S Silver Dollar, an 1838-O Half Dollar, and hundreds of other U.S. coins including condition-rarities, pattern coins, early Proof coins, and Pioneer gold. Portions of his collection were sold over a 20 year period beginning in 1975. Had his collection been sold as a single unit, it would have been one of the landmark auctions of the 20th century. Nonetheless, the James A. Stack pedigree signifies importance, rarity, and quality. Stacks Auction sold the coin in 1994 and the coin realized an Auction Record of $46,750. I cannot be 100% certain; but the winning bidder may have been Harry W. Bass, Jr. He is well known for jumping on rare coins that don’t come of the market often. The auction record still stands 25 years later. According to Mr. Stacks, the coin may be from the Belden Roach Collection. His collection was sold by Max Mehl in the mid-1940s.
As seen, this coin has an impressive early history. Bowers & Merena Auctions sold the coin in 1999 as part of the Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection sale. The coin realized a disappointing $27,600. I believe at the time, the coin was a PCGS MS63. The coin became a dumpster fire after the disappointing Bass sale. The coin was crossed to a MS64 NGC and experienced a couple quick sales. The coin sold in a 2000 Heritage auction for $21,850. The coin was marketed as the Finest Certified 1875-S Liberty Half Eagle, but interesting there was no mention of being from the Bass Collection. A year later, the coin sold in a 2001 Heritage Signature Sale in Atlanta, GA. This time the coin was pedigreed to be from the Richard Genaitis Collection of 1875 Coinage. Again, no reference to Mr. Bass or Mr. Stack and the coin realized dismal $18,400.
After three auctions in three years, the coin took a well needed breather. The coin did not resurface again until the 2020 ANA National Money Show when the coin was offered in a Kragin’s Auction. This time the coin was described as 1875-S MS-64 PL NGC. The coin was contributed to the Stack Collection and the Genaitis Collection, but Mr. Bass was slighted once again. I am not sure why, was it because of the disappointing 1999 sale? Do you know? Anyway, the auctioneer described the coin as: Brightly lustrous yellow gold with frosty motifs and mirrorlike fields – the reverse contrast is especially eye-catching. From heavily polished dies; on the obverse certain stars are thin and spindly in appearance, and on the reverse, there are vertical die polish lines present throughout with a severely diminished ribbon above the eagle the end result. About as rare a half eagle date as you’ll find in Mint State grades, despite a somewhat generous mintage of 9,000 pieces. The hustle and bustle of San Francisco commerce often made short work of the Mint’s products; the typical grade for this date runs VG or so to an occasional EF or AU. The present coin is one of just two Mint State examples of the date registered at NGC, and is the finer of the two by four grading points! For comparison, PCGS has not certified a Mint State example of this unsung rarity, and they suggest a known population of 100 or so pieces in all grades. We imagine this particular 1875-S half eagle is the finest extant, though we can’t attest to that with any surety. We can, however, state that it is, far and away, the finest certified specimen in a third-party holder. Don’t be left out when the bidding begins on this lot, or you will have a long wait for another. The statement PCGS has not certified a Mint State example of this unsung rarity is not totally true. This coin they were offering in auction was once a PCGS MS63 when it was sold in 1999 Bass sale.
Now, the coin has found the prefect home for a long time. How did that happened, I don’t know. One possibility is that someone purchased the coin, crossed it to PCGS and sold the PCGS coin to Mr. Hansen. The other possibility would be that Mr. Hansen purchased the coin in Kagin’s Auction and crossed the coin himself. Either way, this is a fantastic coin and now resides in one of the Greatest Collections ever assembled.
1875-S Half Eagle PCGS MS64
PCGS POP 1/0, Finest by at least 4 points
Certification #39111350, PCGS #8338
PCGS Value Guide: $40,000 (MS63) / Unknown
Provenance: Belden Roach (per the James A. Stack catalog); James A. Stack, Sr. Collection, (Stack's 10/1994) lot #1208, realized $46,750; Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection (Bowers & Merena 10/1999) lot 1204, realized $27,600; Philadelphia 2000 (Heritage 8/2000) lot #7259, $21,850; Richard Genaitis Collection (Heritage 8/2001) lot #7817, realized $18,400; 2020 ANA National Money Show (Kagin’s 3/2020), lot #1238, realized $34,800; D. L. Hansen Collection
My 20th Century Gold Major Design Type Set ---started : 11/17/1997 ---- completed : 1/21/2004