Virgil Brand, the most underrated coin collector of all time or "The King of Coin Collectors"?

Zoins · November 7, 2020 11:39AM

I was just reading a Doug Winter article and what he said about Virgil Brand really struck me:

Virgil Brand is probably the most underrated coin collector of all time.

Do you agree or disagree?

Here's the full quote:

Virgil Brand is probably the most underrated coin collector of all time. He has a reputation today of having been a hoarder and he certainly was happier owning ten of something than just one. But as his notebooks show, he put together a wonderful, sophisticated set that was one of the greatest ever. Brand's legacy has been further diluted by the fact that most of his coins were sold privately after his death but even the small fraction that was sold by Bowers and Merena from 1983 to 1985 was worth millions and millions of dollars. It is staggering to think what his complete collection would be worth today.

Here's one of his coins, the 1794 SP66 dollar.

Here are some more articles:

UPDATE: I added "or The King of Coin Collectors" to the title after seeing this in a 2018 Heritage Auction description mentioned below.

boiler78 · November 7, 2020 12:27PM

Here is another one of his coins.

OldEastside · November 7, 2020 12:30PM

@boiler78 said:
Here is another one of his coins.

That is sooooooo Awesome.........One of yours Boiler78 ?

Steve

johnny9434 · November 7, 2020 12:31PM

I never figured why some got more credit then the others

coinsarefun · November 7, 2020 1:04PM

He also had great taste in tokens as I was able to trace this back to Virgil Brand.
Silver CT (1861-65) HARTFORD F-210A-1F
Ex: Henry South Collection
Ex: Virgil Brand Collection 1954
Ex: John Ford Jr. Collection
.
.

chesterb · November 7, 2020 1:06PM

Chesterb will not acquire coins on this level but is putting together one of the best circulated U.S. type sets in existence today!

Boosibri · November 7, 2020 2:17PM

The man had so many coins and multiples of some very tough pieces

Coinosaurus · November 7, 2020 3:03PM

@johnny9434 said:
I never figured why some got more credit then the others

Easy. No big series of auction catalogs like Ford, Newman, Eliasberg, etc.

Brand is starting to get more credit with the online availability of his collection ledgers (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/archivedetail/513927).

Zoins · November 8, 2020 9:25AM

1804 Class 1 Dollar - PCGS PR68 POP 1/0 - Ex. Sultan of Muscat; Virgil Michael Brand; D. Brent Pogue

Virgil Brand also had the top condition Class 1 (non-restrike) 1804 dollar. It's attributed, but not definitively, to the Sultan of Muscat.

Is he the only one to have owned both this and the 1794 SP66 dollar? It would be pretty incredible if he was.

Zoins · November 8, 2020 4:04PM

Virgil had 6 of the 10 specimens for the 1884 Trade Dollar.

So far, I've only been able get a photo of this one. Can anyone post photos of his other 5?

1884 Trade Dollar PCGS PR64CAM - Idler-Haseltine-Brand

scubafuel · November 8, 2020 5:36PM

I read that he owned twelve(!) 1827 quarters. That’s gotta be a record.

Inspired70 · November 8, 2020 5:43PM

Has anyone fully archived his full collection?

Zoins · November 8, 2020 6:40PM

@Inspired70 said:
Has anyone fully archived his full collection?

Not that I'm aware of.

Tracing his 6 1884 Trade Dollars and 12 1827 quarters would be fun!

yosclimber · November 8, 2020 8:53PM

@Coinosaurus said:

@johnny9434 said:
I never figured why some got more credit then the others

Easy. No big series of auction catalogs like Ford, Newman, Eliasberg, etc.

Brand is starting to get more credit with the online availability of his collection ledgers (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/archivedetail/513927).

The ) should not be part of the link:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/archivedetail/513927

I see there are some partial indices to the ledgers by Saul Teichman - very nice.
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/530109

One thing I noticed in the current web interface design:
it is difficult for me to see what to click on to enlarge the image
and access all the pages (the 2 page or 1 page view).
https://archive.org/details/BrandCarsonCity/mode/2up
This navigation used to work much better in the previous interface design.

The link for this is somewhat hidden in the title in the lower left corner of the first page photo.
It is not obvious at all that this is a link.
It would be better if you could click anywhere on the first page photo as a link.
Or you could have a [+] button up near the magnifying glass button.

The first thing I always try is the magnifying glass button in the upper right corner.
But this does not "magnify" / enlarge.
It enters a mode for searching on text.
It is not easy to exit that mode, either.
So it seems there is potential for improvement here.

Great material - thank you for obtaining and sharing it!

Zoins · December 6, 2020 4:00AM

I just came across the this in a 2018 Heritage lot description:

Virgil Brand Collection ("The King of Coin Collectors")

Was it ever popular to refer to Virgil Brand as The King of Coin Collectors?

From strictly a coin perspective, how would you rate his collection to that of notable collectors?

https://historical.ha.com/itm/political/tokens-and-medals/john-c-fremont-high-grade-dewitt-1-medal/a/6189-43173.s

Zoins · December 6, 2020 7:11AM

Virgil Brand's coins aren't overly easy to find.

1792 Cent - Judd-2 - PCGS SP53BN CAC - Parmelee-Brand-Norweb-Weinberg

After the Smithsonian Specimen, this coin is the finest known by 13 points!

This coin is on CoinFacts and Cert Verification but not linked to Virgil Brand in either case. It's listed as SP53BN in the photos but the Condition Census doesn't indicate PCGS has slabbed Virgil's coin or have a photo of it.

PCGS CoinFacts provenance:

Lorin G. Parmelee Collection - - New York Coin & Stamp 6/1890 - Steigerwalt - Virgil Brand Collection - B. Max Mehl, sold privately on 1/11/1936 - Norweb Collection - Bowers & Merena 11/1988:3393, $35,200 - Alan Weinberg Collection

Heritage provenance:

SP53 PCGS Secure. Lorin G. Parmelee, purchased for $110 prior to 1886; Parmelee Collection (New York Coin and Stamp, 6/1890), lot 6, realized $37 to Charles Steigerwalt; Thomas Hall; Vigil Brand (Journal number 49986:446); Armin Brand; purchased by the Norwebs on January 11, 1937 via B. Max Mehl; Norweb Collection, Part III (Bowers and Merena, 11/1988), lot 3393, realized $35,200; Alan Weinberg, via Anthony Terranova. Tested January 26, 2016 -- 99.44% copper, .28% arsenic, .06% nickel, .06% lead, .02% zirconium, and .12% bismuth.

Zoins · December 6, 2020 7:16AM

An interesting thing is that it's relatively easy to associate exonumia with Virgil Brand because there are a lot of NGC slabs with his name on it.

Anyone know the background of how his name got on all those NGC slabs?

Zoins · December 6, 2020 7:28AM

1863 Gold Dollar - PCGS MS68 POP 1/0 CAC - Virgil Brand, Dave Akers

Here's the coin Doug was referring to in the blog article I mentioned in the OP.

https://www.pcgs.com/cert/24463223

The Brand 1863 gold dollar was purchased by famed dealer-collector David Akers as Lot 29 in Part One of the Virgil Brand auction, held by Bowers and Merena in November 1983. It sold for $15,400. Akers kept this coin as part of his personal collection until a few years ago when he sold it via private treaty to a West Coast collector who is forming an incredible, high grade set of gold dollars.

The Brand 1863 dollar is a true "wonder coin" with amazing surfaces that literally drip with luster. When I was looking at it the other day, my first comment (made out loud) was "wow, what a coin! I'd be impressed with this if it was an 1880's date, let alone an 1863."

As I recall, this was Dave Akers' favorite gold dollar and that's saying something given that he a) saw, owned or sold nearly every great gold dollar in existence and b) personally loved gold dollars and collected them with an unbridled passion.

I love this coin for many reasons. First is the fact that it is one of the most aesthetically pleasing gold dollars that I've ever seen and it just happens to be a rarity. Second, it is the finest known by a long shot. I have personally handled an NGC MS66 and currently own a PCGS MS65 but neither of these is even on the same planet as the Brand 1863. Third, it has a great pedigree. Virgil Brand is probably the most underrated coin collector of all time. He has a reputation today of having been a hoarder and he certainly was happier owning ten of something than just one. But as his notebooks show, he put together a wonderful, sophisticated set that was one of the greatest ever. Brand's legacy has been further diluted by the fact that most of his coins were sold privately after his death but even the small fraction that was sold by Bowers and Merena from 1983 to 1985 was worth millions and millions of dollars. It is staggering to think what his complete collection would be worth today.

Zoins · December 6, 2020 7:40AM

Here's a nice Virgil Brand envelope!

Veep · December 6, 2020 12:13PM

PNG member, Bill Burd of Chicago Coin Co. purchased remnants of Brand’s exonumia collection around five years ago. I think Coin World ran the story. Much of it was water damaged but there were still many nice pieces. I’m not sure if they’ve all been sold now, but it could be that he slabbed a number of them at NGC.

tokenpro · December 6, 2020 3:18PM

You are correct -- Bill purchased two good sized wood boxes full of miscellaneous exonumia & world coins that were the property of one of Brand's heirs. These boxes were part of the inheritance when Brand's collection was split up and had sat unopened in a cabin in Wisconsin for many years. One of the boxes contained all the remainders of the Chicago Coin Club plaquette issued for the visit of the USS Nashville in 1909(?) still in their original presentation boxes. There were many scarce pieces (especially world coins) but there was a bunch of pedestrian material as well.

Many of the other pieces were holdered by NGC with the ex-Virgil Brand notation; the raw pieces (many with minor to major storage related problems) all carried a printed card explaining where they came from and the significance of the hoard. I purchased some of the slabs from Bill at CSNS right after they came out and also purchased a 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 box full of the raw pieces (some of which I later had slabbed with the ex-Brand notation courtesy of the CCC printed card). I also have slabbed about 20 +/- pieces that came from the original Bowers auction including a handful of better Thomas Elder pieces. I would think that most of the ex-Brand holders with exonumia seen currently came from the Burd/CCC discovery.

Zoins · December 6, 2020 4:47PM

Great info @Veep and @tokenpro!

I'm not sure how many are interested in the Bill Burd provenance but it's good to know.

Do you have an image of the printed card? It would be great to see that.

291fifth · December 6, 2020 8:23PM

At the time of his death I recall reading that Brand had about a month's worth of unopened packages of coins from many dealers. It must have been a great shock to those dealers when they learned that someone who was probably their best customer was now gone.

Ebeneezer · December 6, 2020 11:16PM

Under rated perhaps, but "king of coin collectors"? In all honesty that title falls to L.G. Parmelee. Either way, few would argue over the quality and rarity of each. Coins I'll never be the caretaker of. I just have to give Parmelee the slight edge considering the numerous specimens with fewer than ten known, not to mention the sheer volume of mint state colonials and patterns.

Zoins · December 7, 2020 5:56AM

@Ebeneezer said:
Under rated perhaps, but "king of coin collectors"? In all honesty that title falls to L.G. Parmelee. Either way, few would argue over the quality and rarity of each. Coins I'll never be the caretaker of. I just have to give Parmelee the slight edge considering the numerous specimens with fewer than ten known, not to mention the sheer volume of mint state colonials and patterns.

It would be great to compare their coins. For example, Lorin had 2 Class 1 1804 dollars but Virgil had the top condition piece.

Here are two bios on Lorin Gilbert Parmelee, one from Bowers and one from the Parmelee Family:

https://www.thefamilyparmelee.com/x01-1668.html

The Family Parmelee wrote:

In 1890, he decided to liquidate his coins, his main collection consigned to the New York Coin & Stamp Co., operated by David U. Proskey and Harlan P. Smith. (In 2017, Coin Week, link at right, ranked Lorin's as one of "the greatest U.S. coin collections ever auctioned.") But by this time, the market was tired. Lorin reviewed the bids at the sale and refused to let many of his scarce and rare pieces go. Although publicity suggested that just about everything sold, such was not the case, and for several years afterward he sold rarities here and there as he found buyers.

https://coinappraiser.com/rare-coin-knowledge-center/lorin-g-parmelee/

CoinAppraiser.com wrote:

In terms of publicity toward the end of the 19th century, Lorin G. Parmelee stood out above the rest. While T. Harrison Garrett collected quietly in his Evergreen House mansion in Baltimore until his passing in 1886, Parmelee and his activities were well known and publicized. His collection was either the finest known—as widely claimed—or was a close second to Garrett’s.

Zoins · December 9, 2020 7:01AM

1836 Gobrecht Dollar Restrike - Judd-63 - PCGS PR62 POP 0/2/1 - Brand-Farouk-Simpson

Here's Virgil Brand's 1836 Restrike Dollar, which is just one of 3 known!

This is now owned by Simpson

Here's the provenance from CoinFacts:

Plate coin in Breen's Proof Encyclopedia (1977) and his Complete Encyclopedia (1988)

W.W.C. Wilson Collection, sold privately on 2/12/1919 for $600 as part of a larger transaction brokered by F.C.C. Boyd that included a total of ten different Gobrecht Dollars and a J-1373 Bickford $10 in gold) - Virgil Brand (inventory #90914) - King Farouk of Egypt - Sotheby's "Palace Collection" 2/1954:2020 - A.H. Baldwin & Co. - W.G. Baldenhofer, sold privately in 10/1956 - Frank Stirling Collection - Heritage 5/2009:943, $149,500 - Simpson Collection

Saul Teichman provided the information on the Brand purchase

Stack’s 5/2003:2092 calls this coin “Newcomer-Baldenhofer”

Stack's calls this the Newcomer-Baldenhofer coin. I like to think of it as the Brand-Farouk-Simpson coin, as they are the most notable collectors to me at the moment.

Zoins · December 29, 2020 12:08PM

1915 S-Less Panama-Pacific Half Dollar in Gold - Overstruck St. Gaudens $20 - PCGS PR64 TOP POP 0/2/0

This is gold Pan Pac Half Dollar is thought to be a clandestine US Mint strike similar to the 1913 Liberty Head Nickels. There are only two and it's amazing that Brand had one.

Here are the two specimens. Brand's specimen is also owned by Simpson.

Brand-Johnson-Friedman-Simpson Specimen

Here's the other specimen:

Olsen-Farouk-Norweb:

https://coins.ha.com/itm/patterns/1915-p50c-panama-pacific-half-dollar-judd-1960-formerly-judd-1793-pollock-2031-high-r8-pr64-ngc-pcgs-/a/1121-1962.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515

Zoins · February 5, 2021 6:37PM

1822 Capped Bust Half Eagle - PCGS AU50 TOP POP 0/1/0 - Virgil Brand, Louis Eliasberg, Brent Pogue

Here's another awesome coin owned by Virgil Brand.

Cert: https://www.pcgs.com/cert/28944387
CoinFacts: https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1822-5/8130

There's just two more of these in existence.

Virgil Brand Specimen - PCGS AU50

Moritz David
Virgil Brand Collection
B.G. Johnson, sold privately on 7/19/1945 for $13,250
Abe Kosoff (Numismatic Gallery)
Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection
Bowers & Ruddy 10/1982:378, $687,500
David Akers
D. Brent Pogue Collection
Stack's/Bowers & Sotheby's 5/2016:4026, bought back at a hammer price of $6,400,000

Josiah Lilly Specimen - Est. EF40

Harlan P. Smith circa 1884 - bought as a piece of "old tenor gold" for $6.50. (This old gold pieces had melt value that exceeded their face value for many years, which is why most were melted.)
Parmelee Collection
Dunham
Charles Williams
Kosoff & Kaplan, coin dealers
B. Max Mehl
Amon Carter
Josiah Lilly
Smithsonian

Adam Eckfeldt Specimen - Est. VF35

Adam Eckfeldt
Smithsonian

dadams · February 6, 2021 9:46AM

This cover was sent registered, wonder what wonderful coin it contained.

Zoins · February 6, 2021 9:58AM

@dadams said:
This cover was sent registered, wonder what wonderful coin it contained.

Love that envelope and the seal on the back!

Anyone know who ran the Coin and Stamp Exchange at 65 Nassau?

The following Google snippet indicates it operated from 1875 to 1920

He moved into a ground floor store at 65 Nassau Street about 1875 and operated the Stamp and Coin Exchange until his retirement in 1920, ..after which he

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/147765080/

Afterwards, it seems like Mr. Schlalch ran a shop there.

dcarr · February 26, 2021 2:12PM

I was recently looking for some random stuff on eBay (in the "Stamps" category) and found and bought this item:

.

The blue 10-cent "Registry" (for Registered Mail) stamp is somewhat scarce, especially on a full used envelope.

.

tcollects · February 26, 2021 2:42PM

@Zoins said:

can't lie both of these ladies are looking better and better the older I get

Floridafacelifter · February 26, 2021 3:13PM

Here’s another beauty!

yosclimber · February 26, 2021 6:03PM

@Zoins said:
1822 Capped Bust Half Dollar - PCGS AU50 TOP POP 0/1/0 - Virgil Brand, Louis Eliasberg, Brent Pogue

Half Eagle .

Zoins · February 26, 2021 10:20PM

@yosclimber said:

@Zoins said:
1822 Capped Bust Half Dollar - PCGS AU50 TOP POP 0/1/0 - Virgil Brand, Louis Eliasberg, Brent Pogue

Half Eagle .

D'oh! Fixed!

Zoins · February 26, 2021 10:23PM

1878 Morgan Half Eagle - Gold - Judd-1577 / Pollock-1770 - Ex. Lorin Gilbert Parmalee, Virgil Michael Brand, Horace Brand, J. Hewitt Judd, Dr. John E. Wilkison, Smithsonian

Only 2 specimens of this pattern exist in Gold. The Brand specimen is in the Smithsonian, credited to Robert Hughes while the George William Massamore Jr. specimen is in the Connecticut State Library. The following is from Roger's reading of the Mint archives:

Mint Archive of January 12, 1878:

Two eagles and two half eagles, Morgan’s design, in gold. For director’s office.

I was just looking up this piece on USPatterns.com, and noticed and interesting provenance that went from Virgil Brand to John Wilkison and the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian credits this piece to Robert Hughes.

With the bulk of Wilkison's collection going to Bob Simpson I was surprised to learn some pieces ended up at the Smithsonian. Do we know if these were gifted by Wilkison or Hughes?

Zoins · February 27, 2021 12:43AM

Here's another Virgil Brand coin. I've discussed this coin many times on the forums and yet this is the first time I looked up the provenance and knew this is a Virgil Brand coin!

1814 Platinum Half Dollar - Judd-44 / Pollock-48 - PCGS XF40 POP 1/0 - Ex. Virgil Michael Brand, Abe Kosoff

Cert: https://www.pcgs.com/cert/26550927
CoinFacts: https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1814-50c-j-44a/515721
CoinFacts Provenance: R. Coulton Davis - George Woodside - Virgil M. Brand - Dr. J. Hewitt Judd - Abe Kosoff (1962 Illustrated History Auction), lot 73 - Pine Tree 9/1974:1419; possibly Jelinski (per Seventh Edition of Judd) - Rarcoa “Auction ‘88” 8/1988:1845 - Bowers & Merena 8/1991:2619 - Gerald Schertz - Russell J. Logan (via 1994 private treaty) - Bowers & Merena 11/2002:2316, $50,600 - Heritage 8/2011:7729, $138,000
USPatterns: https://uspatterns.stores.yahoo.net/j44p48.html

Zoins · May 31, 2021 5:30PM

@dcarr said:
I was recently looking for some random stuff on eBay (in the "Stamps" category) and found and bought this item:

The blue 10-cent "Registry" (for Registered Mail) stamp is somewhat scarce, especially on a full used envelope.

Nice original envelope!

It's pretty neat to think then modern stamps and standard type writers are part of history now!

Zoins · May 31, 2021 5:31PM

I never cease to be amazed by Virgil Brand's collection.

1875 Sailor Head Half Eagle - gold - by William Barber - Judd-1438 - PCGS PR65CAM - Ex. William Hartman Woodin, Virgil Brand, Dr. John E. Wilkison, Julian Leidman, Bob R. Simpson

There area just two of these in existence.

Zoins · June 2, 2021 2:01AM

1845-O Liberty Head Quarter Eagle - Winter-1, the only known dies, Repunched Date - PCGS MS63 OGH POP 53/1/0 - Ex. Virgil Brand
Finest Known 1845-O Quarter Eagle
The Famous Virgil Brand Specimen

What an amazing coin.

The 1845-O quarter eagle wasn't known until 1894 and only 70-80 of the coins are known! Also, it was not discovered in the Brand Estate until 1983!

At PCGS MS63, this coin is 2 points higher than any other coin, with 2 known in PCGS MS61.

Stack's Bowers wrote:
A curious issue from a historic standpoint, the mintage for the 1845-O was not recorded in the Mint Director's report for 1845. This is because the entire mintage of 4,000 coins was achieved on January 22, 1846. The issue was apparently unknown to collectors until publicized in the December 1894 issue of The Numismatist. Its popularity with specialists has grown ever since, the famous Texas dealer B. Max Mehl doing a particularly good job at promoting this issue and its rarity. Today the 1845-O is widely regarded as the most elusive New Orleans Mint quarter eagle, rarer even than many of the more highly regarded Charlotte and Dahlonega mint issues of its era. Doug Winter (Gold Coins of the New Orleans Mint, 2020 edition) accounts for only 70 to 80 coins extant in all grades, and he ranks the present example as CC#1 by a full two grading points. It is far and away the most famous, most desirable 1845-O quarter eagle in today's hobby.
...
At that time we were not aware of the Virgil Brand Collection specimen, nor was David Akers. Thus, the "discovery" of the present coin in the Brand Estate in 1983 was a major event for gold specialists.

Provenance from SB:

J.C. Mitchelson, March 1909;
Virgil Michael Brand;
our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the Virgil Brand Collection, Part I, October 1983, lot 110;
our (Bowers and Merena's) Bebee Collection sale, August 1987, lot 538;
Ronald W. Brown;
Heritage's sale of the Ronald W. Brown Acadiana Collection, August 1999 ANA Signature Sale, lot 7836;
Heritage Rare Coin Galleries and Douglas Winter Numismatics
A.J. Vanderbilt Collection

Gazes · June 2, 2021 4:37AM

@Zoins said:
1845-O Liberty Head Quarter Eagle - Winter-1, the only known dies, Repunched Date - PCGS MS63 OGH POP 53/1/0 - Ex. Virgil Brand
Finest Known 1845-O Quarter Eagle
The Famous Virgil Brand Specimen

What an amazing coin.

The 1845-O quarter eagle wasn't known until 1894 and only 70-80 of the coins are known! Also, it was not discovered in the Brand Estate until 1983!

At PCGS MS63, this coin is 2 points higher than any other coin, with 2 known in PCGS MS61.

Cert: https://www.pcgs.com/cert/4727167

Sale: https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-Q4STR/1845-o-liberty-head-quarter-eagle-winter-1-the-only-known-dies-repunched-date-ms-63-pcgs-ogh

Stack's Bowers wrote:
A curious issue from a historic standpoint, the mintage for the 1845-O was not recorded in the Mint Director's report for 1845. This is because the entire mintage of 4,000 coins was achieved on January 22, 1846. The issue was apparently unknown to collectors until publicized in the December 1894 issue of The Numismatist. Its popularity with specialists has grown ever since, the famous Texas dealer B. Max Mehl doing a particularly good job at promoting this issue and its rarity. Today the 1845-O is widely regarded as the most elusive New Orleans Mint quarter eagle, rarer even than many of the more highly regarded Charlotte and Dahlonega mint issues of its era. Doug Winter (Gold Coins of the New Orleans Mint, 2020 edition) accounts for only 70 to 80 coins extant in all grades, and he ranks the present example as CC#1 by a full two grading points. It is far and away the most famous, most desirable 1845-O quarter eagle in today's hobby.
...
At that time we were not aware of the Virgil Brand Collection specimen, nor was David Akers. Thus, the "discovery" of the present coin in the Brand Estate in 1983 was a major event for gold specialists.

Provenance from SB:

J.C. Mitchelson, March 1909;

Virgil Michael Brand;

our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the Virgil Brand Collection, Part I, October 1983, lot 110;

our (Bowers and Merena's) Bebee Collection sale, August 1987, lot 538;

Ronald W. Brown;

Heritage's sale of the Ronald W. Brown Acadiana Collection, August 1999 ANA Signature Sale, lot 7836;

Heritage Rare Coin Galleries and Douglas Winter Numismatics

A.J. Vanderbilt Collection

That 1845-O is an amazing coin. Just sold for $117,000 in auction. Coins like this certainly ratify Brand's place among the top collectors ever.

Zoins · June 2, 2021 7:35PM

@Gazes said:

@Zoins said:
1845-O Liberty Head Quarter Eagle - Winter-1, the only known dies, Repunched Date - PCGS MS63 OGH POP 53/1/0 - Ex. Virgil Brand
Finest Known 1845-O Quarter Eagle
The Famous Virgil Brand Specimen

What an amazing coin.

The 1845-O quarter eagle wasn't known until 1894 and only 70-80 of the coins are known! Also, it was not discovered in the Brand Estate until 1983!

At PCGS MS63, this coin is 2 points higher than any other coin, with 2 known in PCGS MS61.

Cert: https://www.pcgs.com/cert/4727167

Sale: https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-Q4STR/1845-o-liberty-head-quarter-eagle-winter-1-the-only-known-dies-repunched-date-ms-63-pcgs-ogh

Stack's Bowers wrote:
A curious issue from a historic standpoint, the mintage for the 1845-O was not recorded in the Mint Director's report for 1845. This is because the entire mintage of 4,000 coins was achieved on January 22, 1846. The issue was apparently unknown to collectors until publicized in the December 1894 issue of The Numismatist. Its popularity with specialists has grown ever since, the famous Texas dealer B. Max Mehl doing a particularly good job at promoting this issue and its rarity. Today the 1845-O is widely regarded as the most elusive New Orleans Mint quarter eagle, rarer even than many of the more highly regarded Charlotte and Dahlonega mint issues of its era. Doug Winter (Gold Coins of the New Orleans Mint, 2020 edition) accounts for only 70 to 80 coins extant in all grades, and he ranks the present example as CC#1 by a full two grading points. It is far and away the most famous, most desirable 1845-O quarter eagle in today's hobby.
...
At that time we were not aware of the Virgil Brand Collection specimen, nor was David Akers. Thus, the "discovery" of the present coin in the Brand Estate in 1983 was a major event for gold specialists.

Provenance from SB:

J.C. Mitchelson, March 1909;

Virgil Michael Brand;

our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the Virgil Brand Collection, Part I, October 1983, lot 110;

our (Bowers and Merena's) Bebee Collection sale, August 1987, lot 538;

Ronald W. Brown;

Heritage's sale of the Ronald W. Brown Acadiana Collection, August 1999 ANA Signature Sale, lot 7836;

Heritage Rare Coin Galleries and Douglas Winter Numismatics

A.J. Vanderbilt Collection

That 1845-O is an amazing coin. Just sold for $117,000 in auction. Coins like this certainly ratify Brand's place among the top collectors ever.

Definitely! It's great to see these top condition rarities with very few owners over the years.

His coins really are pretty amazing and it's a treat to enjoy them.

Zoins · June 4, 2021 5:43PM

Here's Virgil's other 1794 dollar. I had to look these up after participating in the damaged coin thread.

It's interesting that @cardinal and @tradedollarnut both owned both of his 1794 dollars!

1794 Flowing Hair Dollar - PCGS MS63+ POP 94/1/3 CAC - Ex. Virgil Michael Brand, FCC Boyd, @cardinal , @tradedollarnut

Cert: https://www.pcgs.com/cert/06641391

CoinFacts Provenance:

Virgil Brand Collection
B. Max Mehl, sold privately in the 1930s
F.C.C. Boyd Collection (duplicate), sold privately by Numismatic Gallery at the time of the "World's Greatest Collection" sale - Stack's FPL No. 47 (1950)
B.M. Eubanks
Quality Sales 9/1973:464
Abner Kreisberg Corporation 10/1978:633
Bowers & Ruddy's FPL No. 41 (1981)
Steve Ivy 10/1983:3769
Bowers & Merena 5/1992:1300
Jeff Isaac
The Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation, and displayed as part of the Cardinal Collection of Early Dollars at the 2001, 2002 and 2004 ANA Conventions
American Numismatic Rarities 6/2005:5
Stack’s/Bowers 8/2010:1005, $1,207,500

And compared to the unique specimen dollar again:

1794 Flowing Hair Dollar - plugged - PCGS SP66 POP 0/1/0 CAC - Ex. Virgil Michael Brand, Amon Giles Carter, @cardinal, @tradedollarnut

Zoins · June 5, 2021 12:33PM

1852 Moffatt & Co Eagle $10 - PCGS SP67 - POP 1/0 - Ex. Augustus Humbert, Virgil Michael Brand

This is one of the most amazing California Territorial gold coins.

Check out this intro by Stack's:

Over the years, we have been fortunate enough to handle coins of majestic beauty, coins with superb and historic provenances, and coins whose very existence is surprising. Indeed, coins such as those are our stock in trade, and we often count ourselves lucky to simply handle them. Amidst such an environment, only a coin that is truly special can render us grasping for words, for superlatives, for terminology to indicate how beautiful, how historic, and how surprising that specimen is. In this sale full of magnificent numismatic rarities, the present piece stands out as so special that the best way to communicate how incredible it is would be to simply drop it in a numismatist's hand and stand back. When viewed, it tells a better story than any we could attempt to wrap words around.

This one is a specimen strike.

PCGS shows 17 regular strikes, with the highest graded being a single AU55.

Has this surfaced since the 2006 Franklin Collection sale?

CoinFacts (SP): https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1852-10-moffat-wide-date/10257
CoinFacts (MS): https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1852-10-moffat-wide-date/10254
Sale (2006): https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-AQW5Q/1852-moffat-co-10-gold-k-9-rarity-6-wide-date-sp-67-pcgs

CoinFacts Provenance

Personal collection of Augustus Humbert until his death in Paris in 1873
Pierre Humbert, his brother, until 1901
S.H. & Henry Chapman "Collections of United States Coins of William R. Weeks, Esq. and the late Augustus Humbert" 5/1902:707
Virgil Brand
Numismatic Gallery "Memorable Collection" 5/1948:970 (apparently consigned and bought back)
Virgil Brand Collection
Abner Kreisberg and Hans Schulman's sale of the Virgil Brand and Gustav Lichtenfels Collections 3/1964:2204
RARCOA "Auction '82" 8/1982:981
Bowers & Merena "Great Lakes Collection 11/1998:4049
Franklinton Collection American Numismatic Rarities 8/2006:1121, $948,750

Zoins · June 5, 2021 3:09PM

1983 Virgil Michael Brand Medal - designed by Frank Gasparro - issued by Bowers & Morena Galleries

It's nice when numismatists are honored.

Nice work by Frank Gasparro on this medal.

Zoins · June 6, 2021 4:15PM

Here's a unique coin in Virgil Brand's collection that can be traced back to 1859!

1792 Birch Cent with Plain Edge - Unique - PCGS AU58 POP 0/1/0 - Ex. Joseph Napoleon Tricot Levick, Virgil Michael Brand, Dr. John Hewitt Judd

Cert: https://www.pcgs.com/cert/13996074
Sale: https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-DHSEC/1792-birch-cent-judd-3-au-58-pcgs
Sold for $660,000 on Oct 26, 2018

Stack's:

The Birch cent is, simply, the first of a cultural phenomenon that is known the world over: it is the first American cent.

Provenance: From the Archangel Collection. Earlier, from Stack’s sale of the Laird Park Collection, May 1976, lot 201; the collection of J.N.T. Levick; Ed. Cogan’s sale of December 1859, lot 219; William Sumner Appleton Collection; DeWitt Smith Collection to Virgil Brand in 1908; Horace Brand to Dr. J. Hewitt Judd; Charles Jay Collection; Stack’s sale of the Charles Jay Collection, October 1967, lot 201.

Zoins · August 8, 2021 8:19PM

1855 Wass Molitor Double Eagle - Kagin-8a - PCGS AU50 POP 0/1/0 CAC - Ex. Virgil Brand, Amon Carter

Here's another amazing Virgil Brand coin!

This is a unique mule of the Wass Molitor $20 large head obverse and the Wass Molitor $20 small head reverse.

The other three large head specimens are not generally available, being at the Smithsonian, stolen from Willis Harrington DuPont, and stolen from Yale University (believed to be recovered).

Here's the provenance for this coin:

O.P. Hayes (1896)
Dewitt Sheldon Smith
Virgil Brand
Belden E. Roach (1944)
Frederic William Geiss (1947)
Amon Giles Carter (1984)
Riverboat (2014)
Colorado Native (2014 to present).

This was offered in 2015 by Heritage:

Heritage wrote:
The firm of Wass, Molitor & Co. was founded by two exiled Hungarian patriots, Count Samuel C. Wass and Agoston P. Molitor. They attended the prestigious School of Mines of Germany and acquired much practical experience working in various Hungarian mines before participating in their country's gallant, but futile, attempt to win independence from Austria in 1848. Forced to flee their homeland, Wass and Molitor were naturally drawn to the great opportunities offered by the California Gold Rush of 1849. Wass arrived in California in October 1850 and Molitor followed in 1851. In October 1851, the two men founded an assaying office on Montgomery Street, below Bush, in San Francisco, but soon moved to a fireproof building on the corner of Merchant and Montgomery Streets. Both men were expert craftsmen and Wass, Molitor & Co. became one of the finest assaying firms in the area. The firm established a reputation for honesty that was second-to-none, and their practice of paying back depositors in 48 hours (rather than the eight days required by the U.S. Assay Office) made them extremely popular with a variety of clients, including express company giant Adams & Co.

Zoins · August 8, 2021 11:59PM

@Zoins said:
Virgil Brand's coins aren't overly easy to find.

1792 Cent - Judd-2 - PCGS SP53BN CAC - Parmelee-Brand-Norweb-Weinberg

After the Smithsonian Specimen, this coin is the finest known by 13 points!

This coin is on CoinFacts and Cert Verification but not linked to Virgil Brand in either case. It's listed as SP53BN in the photos but the Condition Census doesn't indicate PCGS has slabbed Virgil's coin or have a photo of it.

https://www.pcgs.com/cert/35744101

https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1792-1c-j-2-bn/11004/53

https://coins.ha.com/itm/large-cents/1792-p1c-small-pattern-cent-judd-2-pollock-2-low-r7-sp53-pcgs-secure-cac/a/1291-4309.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

PCGS CoinFacts provenance:

Lorin G. Parmelee Collection - - New York Coin & Stamp 6/1890 - Steigerwalt - Virgil Brand Collection - B. Max Mehl, sold privately on 1/11/1936 - Norweb Collection - Bowers & Merena 11/1988:3393, $35,200 - Alan Weinberg Collection

Heritage provenance:

SP53 PCGS Secure. Lorin G. Parmelee, purchased for $110 prior to 1886; Parmelee Collection (New York Coin and Stamp, 6/1890), lot 6, realized $37 to Charles Steigerwalt; Thomas Hall; Vigil Brand (Journal number 49986:446); Armin Brand; purchased by the Norwebs on January 11, 1937 via B. Max Mehl; Norweb Collection, Part III (Bowers and Merena, 11/1988), lot 3393, realized $35,200; Alan Weinberg, via Anthony Terranova. Tested January 26, 2016 -- 99.44% copper, .28% arsenic, .06% nickel, .06% lead, .02% zirconium, and .12% bismuth.

Just ran across this 2016 CoinWeek article when the coin wasn't yet graded. At the time PCGS provided an estimated grade of PCGS EF45.

https://coinweek.com/education/coin-grading/pcgs-analysis-confirms-two-more-virtually-pure-copper-judd-2-1792-pattern-cents/

Ron Guth saaid the following at the time. The other coin compared was the Bob R. Simpson coin.

@BestGerman said:
The results give a clearer picture of how the U.S. Mint experimented on the earliest American coins in preparation for official coining in 1793. At least three of the nine known 1792 Cents originally designated as the Judd-2 variety now are confirmed to be composed of virtually pure copper. This represents a major step forward in our understanding of early American numismatics, plus it was the first time these two rarities have been together in 224 years. Working with the owners of the two 1792 cents, PCGS arranged for an in-house, non-invasive metallurgical analysis of their coins.

Zoins · August 9, 2021 12:19AM

@boiler78 said:
Here is another one of his coins.

Very nice Judd-84 @boiler78!

Here's Virgil Brand's Judd-88 to go with it. This is just one of 3 known Judd-88's.

1838 Gobrecht Dollar - Silver - Restrike - Judd-88 - PCGS PR64+ POP 3/1/0 - Ex. Brand
Sold: $199,750 on March 30, 2017

Provenance:

Stack's Bowers wrote:
Provenance: From the Blue Moon Collection, Part I. Earlier ex Virgil Brand Collection, earlier from either H.O. Granberg or W.W.C. Wilson; Lenox H. Lohr Collection; Empire Coin Company with the purchase en bloc of the Lohr Collection in 1961; our (Stack's) sale of the R.L. Miles, Jr. Collection, April 1969, lot 1572; our (Stack's) sale of September 1978, lot 310. Lot tag included.

This is from Ron on CoinFacts. Although the PCGS PR64 was indicated as a top pop in CoinFacts, the Brand coin is now PCGS PR64+.

@BestGerman wrote:
J-88, and its copper counterpart, J-89, are the only 1838 Gobrecht Dollars with stars on both sides. Experts are in general agreement that there are only three of these, but since the Hawn-Rudolph-Korein example is now at the American Numismatic Society, there are really only two collectible examples. PCGS reports three J-88s in PR64 and none others, but we suspect that those three coins are one and the same, thus making Mr. Simpson’s coin a unique Top Pop. A previous owner of his coin was none other than the deposed King Farouk of Egypt.

Zoins · September 5, 2021 6:43PM

Okay, this seems to be pretty incredible.

Is Virgil Brand the only one to have owned both varieties of the Strawberry Leaf Cent, S-NC-2 with 1 known and S-NC-3 with 3 known?

1793 Strawberry Leaf Wreath Cent, S-NC-3, VG10 BN - Parmelee-Brand Specimen
PCGS POP 2/1/0
Certification #12952855, PCGS #35483
PCGS Price Guide Value $775,000 / Realized $660,000
Provenance: Lorin Gilbert Parmelee, Virgil Michael Brand, ESM, Dell Loy Hansen

CoinFacts Provenance: First identified by David Proskey - Scott & Co. 10/1877:201, $77.50 - Lorin G. Parmelee Collection - New York Coin & Stamp Co. 6/1890:671, $79 - Charles Steigerwalt, sold privately in 10/1890 for $90 - Dr. Thomas Hall, sold privately in 8/1909 - Virgil Brand Collection - Armin Brand, sold privately in 2/1941 - B.G. Johnson, sold privately in 5/1941 for $2,500 - James Kelly, sold privately for $2,750 - Roscoe E. Staples - Staples family - American Numismatic Rarities 11/2004:130, $414,000 - Stack’s 1/2009:51, $862,500

Sale (Aug 6, 2020): https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-NKRTO/1793-flowing-hair-cent-wreath-reverse-nc-3-rarity-8-strawberry-leaf-vg-10-pcgs

1793 Strawberry Leaf Wreath Cent, S-NC-2, FR2 BN - Crosby-Brand Specimen
PCGS POP 0/1/0
Certification #13666797, PCGS #35480
PCGS Price Guide Value n/a / Realized $352,500
Provenance: Sylvester Sage Crosby, Virgil Michael Brand, Roy Edgar "Ted" Naftzger, Jr., Daniel W. Holmes, High Desert

CoinFacts Provenance: John Meader (taken out of circulation in 1845 and sold prior to 12/21/1868) - Richard B. Winsor Collection - S.H. & H. Chapman 12/1895:823 - Sylvester S. Crosby, sold privately in 4/1896 - Dr. Thomas Hall, sold privately on 9/7/1909 - Virgil M Brand, sold privately on 2/7/1941 - B. G. Johnson (St. Louis Stamp & Coin Co.), sold privately on 9/12/41 - James Kelly, sold privately in 1941 - Charles M. Williams Collection - Numismatic Gallery 11/1950:6 - Floyd T. Starr Collection - Stack's 6/1984:6 - R. E. Naftzger, Jr., sold privately on 2/23/1992 - Eric Streiner - Jay Parrino (The Mint), sold privately on 10/7/1995 - Tony Terranova, sold privately on 10/16/1995 - Daniel W. Holmes Collection - Goldbergs 9/2009:7, $264,500 - Adam Mervis Collection - Heritage 1/2014:2419, $352,500

Sale (Jan 10, 2014): https://coins.ha.com/itm/large-cents/1793-1c-strawberry-leaf-fair-2-pcgs-nc-2-b-14-high-r8-also-pollock-16-our-eac-grade-fair-2-pcgs-35480-/a/1200-2419.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515

Zoins · October 26, 2021 5:35PM

1849 Mormon Gold Eagle - PCGS AU55 TOP POP 4/1/0 - Ex. Justh; Zabriskie; Brand; Newcomer

Wow, Virgil Brand had the top condition 1849 Mormon Gold Eagle out of just 5 coins at PCGS! @DLHansen has a great Mormon gold collection, but this one is currently in the Fall River Collection.

Virgil Brand, the most underrated coin collector of all time or "The King of Coin Collectors"?

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