Is the market for tokens and medals heating up... or was Steve Hayden's latest auction an outlier?
DCW
Posts: 7,549 ✭✭✭✭✭
Economic uncertainty be damned, all the bidders last night seemingly drove each lot to the moon! I was astonished at the prices realized. The rare pieces shined, but even relatively common pieces went high. Consider the following lots:
Our Little Monitor token, one of the most common tokens in the series with a rarity of 1 (Greater than 5000 pieces known)
A watchmaker token struck over a McClellan medal, R9 (2-4 known)
A classic hard times token of Andrew Jackson, listed as R6:
A exceedingly rare patriotic:
Here is a silver version of the famous Levick Smoker token. I had this same variety completely unsellable and unloved a few years back for like $3000. Now almost $9k?!
Another silver version of a classic medal, almost double its last auction appearance.
$1200 for this NJ token with puppies on it?
I had just two "must haves" in the catalog, but I had to let go at the ridiculous prices they brought. You just get to a point where you know you are going to be left holding the bag. Really wanted these for the Merriam Collection, but I will have to enjoy them in images only.
This first one is a Lincoln medal by Merriam, post-war, and muled with his Hess & Speidel die struck in 1870s. I wanted desperately to overpay and own it so I threw out an insane 1700 bid on this thousand dollar medal. Nope, someone was even crazier:
Another Lincoln by Merriam with the Chamberlaine reverse: I couldnt believe this one went past my $2700 bid, as I bid twice what I thought it would bring. Double! $2900?
Congrats to Steve Hayden for an unbelievably successful auction. It kind of reminded me of the Pennsylvania Historical Society auction of Washingtonia at Stacks a few years ago where everything was sky high. You can view the prices realized more in depth at the link below.
https://www.civilwartokens.com/Event/Details/3903556/Auction-51
Please post your winnings if you were successful last night or share your observations if you were on the sidelines like me.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Comments
I really stretched on two rare pieces and on one common piece in exceptional condition. I did not win any of them. I regret not stretching a bit more on this one - I may have missed my chance as it is exceedingly rare in MS. This example last sold for $1,175 in 2013 vs. $3,225 yesterday. It did seem that the same handful of bidders were bidding most of the items up and I was questioning the depth of the market at these price levels.
Amazing bids. 11K for the Andy Jack wow.
All it takes is two determined bidders.
@DCW what is that NJ token with puppies? I haven't seen that previously but could see someone overpaying just based on the subject matter.
I searched for the puppy token and found this even more unbelievable result from 2014-an AU details for over $2k!
https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/1-1OI89/united-states-ferracute-dogs-token-nd-1893-pcgs-genuine-cleaning-au-details-secure-holder
Found my answer on Heritage, along with a more modest final price.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/united-states/world-coins/united-states-ferracute-machinery-co-brass-dogs-medal-nd-c-1893-au53-pcgs-/a/3084-30368.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515
"Ferracute Machinery Co. brass "Dogs" Medal ND (c. 1893) AU53 PCGS, Rulau-NJ-Brg-6. 37mm. The largest advertising or promotional token type produced by the Ferracute Machinery Company, which features its iconic coin press on the reverse. In the realm of Chinese numismatics, the company is best known for the machinery and patterns it provided to the Chengtu mint in Szechuan for the province's first milled 'Western-style' coinage."
If my experience and opinion counts I would say the high prices and spirited bidding is because not much has been listed at auction during the past year. I haven’t made a purchase since sometime in 2023.
A few nice West Virginia pieces on there. Out of my range at the moment.
That's a good take. Maybe a bit of pent up desire to spend on exonumia. A little further digging and it seems that 2 or 3 deep pocketed buyers went on a tear. Hats off to them. There were certainly a lot of treasures to be had. Time will tell if these were truly good buys or if auction fever took over.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I was the underbidder on the Low-1. I have two, but that one would have been a significant upgrade.
Since I had two, I was less aggressive. The piece did sell for less than Steve’s estimates.
These two are slightly different.
Compare the hair on the top of Jackson's head. The pictures in Rulau are not very good. You have to go to the "Real Hard Times Token" book to see the difference.
At the height of the market, about 15 or so years ago, one went for $25K.
I am not sure that the token market is that hot. I bought this Low 6 for a good deal less than I thought it would bring. I did not care for the one in the Hayden auction despite the fact that it had a higher grade. It had too many spots for my taste.