James Stack Sr auctions return in December
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Stacks Bowers announced that two new installments of the James Stack collection will occur in December and February (back after 30 years!). I am sure many of you received this announcement.
Of particular interest to half eagle collectors, the Atwater 1798 small eagle, which was last accounted for in 1946, has re-surfaced as part of this collection. Only five-six of these are available (2 are in the Smithsonian). It is graded PCGS AU53/CAC.
"Look up, old boy, and see what you get." -William Bonney.
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Really neat that the Floyd Starr $3's and the James Stack coins are coming out this year and next.
I had not heard about the Floyd Starr coins. Link ? Interesting on the 50 year gap in the three tranches of Stack coins. From the press release it appears that there were three heirs to the collector. Presumably, the three (and their descendants) simply had different needs and timelines.
@Scipio You are exactly right. Often times with large estates, the collection is split among heirs and travel different ways. That is why they pop up for auction, because each heir tends to have different plans.
The Floyd Starr Collection of $3s is a special section in the Rarities Night catalog. You can view it toward the bottom of this page and toggle through the next page to see the rest (Appears to end at lot 3276).
https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/auctions/3-1KO2NX/summer-2025-global-showcase-auction-session-5-rarities-night-lots-3001-3504?page=7&limit=36
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you" Matthew 6:33. Young fellow suffering from Bust Half fever.
BHNC #AN-10
JRCS #1606
Stack's has really been knocking it out of the park with the offerings over the next 6+ months. Some rare opportunities and great material.
I like the strictly- numismatic approach of Stacks-Bowers. The cataloguing in pertinent pedigree & historic detail is a pleasure to read, causing many catalogue recipients to retain them for later reference or, in my case attending their auctions back to 1960 Newcomer, to relive sale attendance with my many annotations at the time, like on the 4 Garrett sale catalogues. QDB once told me
that I was 1 of only 34 bidders who physically attended all four sales.
Heritage’s A “ telephone book “ catalogues are fine but too massive to keep and their huge variety of
auction subject catalogues defies description . SB is a “ smaller house “ and I like that.
I was told by Stack’s perhaps 20 yrs ago that their typical cost of catalogue issuance
( including mailing ) is $35 , undoubtedly $10 more now.
I look forward to their Starr and James Stack upcoming catalogues. A 1798 $5 small eagle reverse ! Good grief !
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As Daltry said, My heart starts palpitating…
"Look up, old boy, and see what you get." -William Bonney.
Amazing coins!
Proud follower of Christ!
I'm always interested in knowing more about these famous collectors. This is what I learned from the Stack's website.
James A. Stack, Sr., was no relation to the Stack dealership family. He was a widower who resided in the Hotel Roosevelt, East 45th Street and Vanderbilt Ave., just around the corner from Stack’s on West 46th Street. He was a broker and finished his day’s work at 3:00 each afternoon. He would visit Stack’s several times a week to see “what’s new” in our stock, view items in our upcoming auctions, and sit with my Uncle Joe or my father, Morton, to discuss coins.
In the 1940s and early 1950s Jim, as we all called him, formed one of the biggest collections of United Sates coins, U.S. paper money and English coins. Jim’s family immigrated to the United States in the late 19th century, and undoubtedly his sense of heritage attracted him to English coinage.
Jim, of course, also deeply loved the coins of the United States and pursued the classic American coins from 1793 to date in all metals – gold, silver, and copper. As he added to his holdings, he had vast collections to choose from as they came onto the market in the 1940s. It was a fact that many legendary collections formed during the late 19th and 20th centuries up to World War II, became available as either the old timers or their estates decided to sell them. The resulting “pickings” were great for collectors then active in the hobby.
Among these available collections were those of Geiss, Col. E.H.R. Green, J.F. Bell, F.C.C. Boyd, James Clark and numerous others. When Jim Stack died in 1949, the Stack collection was divided among his three children, with instructions that it remain intact until his youngest grandchild has turned 25. This directive ensured that none of his coins returned to the market until Stack’s Rare Coins (the predecessor of Stack’s Bowers Galleries) began auctioning portions of the collection in 1975. These landmark sales—held through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s—cemented the Stack name as a byword for rarity and quality among a generation of collectors.
This lovely coin can be yours for the low, low price of a quarter billion pennies but act now because supplies are limited
Thank you, @DisneyFan for sharing that VERY interesting information with us!
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
I loved the James Stack 1875-S $20 type II Liberty when it was auctioned by Stacks but was the 2nd underbidder in the 1992 auction, i ended up buying it from Jay Parrino, The Mint in 1997. I hung onto it until 2009 when I sold it to Pogue. It was graded by both NGC and PCGS as MS-67 then later submitted to and stickered by CAC when CAC first opened.
Wondering if the PCGS grading will be as "loose" as it was for the recent Bass sales. So far there seems to be a low percentage of CAC approved coins from the 10 or so that have appeared in the early Stack's advertisements.
The four sessions of the James Stack sale in December and February are now up on the Stacks website.
The 1798 half eagle small eagle in AU53 is stickered, the first of that issue approved by CAC.
"Look up, old boy, and see what you get." -William Bonney.
Proud follower of Christ!
Maybe it can be cracked out to get a 61 CAC.
"To Be Esteemed Be Useful" - 1792 Birch Cent --- "I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin
so, we just dropped the latest Greysheet Market Report podcast. I recored it earlier this week with John Kraljevich and lots of discussion on the James Stack collection, esp the 1804. It's going live tomorrow morning but you can watch it now on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLoaXGptW8M
Whitman Brands: President/CEO (www.greysheet.com; www.whitman.com)
PNG: Executive Director (www.pngdealers.org)
also, on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Fx7YIcotK7jAMM3XWBHbF?si=dupqBvKxTDy8lJ0bEUiJKQ
Whitman Brands: President/CEO (www.greysheet.com; www.whitman.com)
PNG: Executive Director (www.pngdealers.org)
Wow...fascinating to have an estate sale lasting decades....I can't think of any other such situations involving art, property, or financial assets.
Loved the discussion. I totally nerded out!