Is The Stecher Collection of gold coins (offered by Heritage), the real deal?
Longacre
Posts: 16,717 ✭✭✭
I got the weekly update email from Heritage, and it contained the announcement below. This collection seems to have been off the market for ages, and it is nice to see a fresh set of coins coming up for auction. Does anyone know if this collection of gold coins is the real deal? I looked at the pictures online of some of the coins, but with Heritage's typically lousy pictures, it is hard to tell if the coins are original, or if they were given a little spritzin' between the time they left their original envelopes and their final resting place in plastic. Does anyone have further details on this collection? What do you think of it?
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The Stecher Collection
Every once in a while we have the opportunity to auction a collection that has been off the market for many years. But among old time collections, few give as much insight into what the numismatic hobby once was as the Stecher Collection, an outstanding collection of gold coins to be featured in our upcoming Charlotte ANA Signature Auction, to be held on March 15 and 16.
Karl Stecher Sr. (1891-1965) was inspired to consider working for the federal government after meeting presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt - during a Bull Moose campaign whistle-stop in Wichita in 1912. In 1914, he relocated to Washington, D.C. where he briefly worked for Senator William J. Stone of Missouri, and then as a Stenographer at the Interstate Commerce Commission to 1918. After receiving two law degrees from Yale University, he served America as a Railroad Valuation Attorney at the ICC until 1928. Between 1938 and 1961, he was a Trial Attorney and later Hearing Examiner for both the Federal Trade Commission and the ICC. He maintained a private law practice until his death in July 1965.
All of the coins in Mr. Stecher's collection were acquired between 1933 and 1941, and remained in their original envelopes until some were submitted to PCGS in October 2006. Parts of this collection were purchased from major coin dealers such as the Guttag Brothers of New York, B. Max Mehl, Henry Chapman of Philadelphia, Syracuse Coin Shop, Barney Bluestone, Joseph Stack, and Joseph Barnet.
Additionally, many of the gold coins offered in this auction were obtained through marvelous circumstances that existed for Mr. Stecher while he was a law professor at Emory University in Macon, Georgia from 1928-1934, and at the University of Louisville in Kentucky from 1934-1938. President Franklin Roosevelt's Emergency Banking Relief Act (Order #6102, March 9, 1933) ordered the public to turn in their 'non-collector' gold coins; naturally many rare coins suffered a similar fate.
Mrs. Stecher's uncle, Thomas W. Smith, had enjoyed a lifelong banking career starting in 1909 that culminated in responsibility for the Atlanta "gold room" of the Citizen's and Southern Bank. All of the gold that flowed through the bank's branches in response to President Roosevelt's 1933 decree passed through Mr. Smith's office, and Mr. Stecher was allowed to select numismatic items from the river of gold, paying face value for the numismatic coins he selected. He sold coins from this supply to dealers and collectors to earn additional income, and saved many others for his own collection.
Without his employment in Macon, Georgia some 75 years ago, Mr. Stecher would never have met his future wife, then a school teacher. His good, dependable income as a Professor during the Depression gave him a financial position most did not enjoy, that of a steady stream of extra income. Mrs. Stecher's lifelong close relationship with her mother's youngest brother, Thomas W. Smith, and the administrative position he had risen to after 24 years in banking, made it possible for a university professor with a salary of $3,000 to $3,600 per year to acquire these coins, at very low cost.
Without this marvelous series of circumstances, this collection would not exist, and we would not be able to present these wonderful coins for your bidding pleasure in this auction - along with many of Mr. Stecher's envelopes identifying their source. Prices for many of the coins in this auction are written on the envelopes, and many others were acquired for face value - essentially from circulation.
Highlights of the Stecher Collection include:
1844-C $2 1/2 AU58 PCGS
1895 $2 1/2 PR66 Deep Cameo PCGS
1911-D $2 1/2 MS63 PCGS
1883 $3 MS62 PCGS
1888 $3 MS64 PCGS
1879 $3 PR63 Cameo PCGS
1886 $3 PR63 Cameo PCGS
1840-D $5 Tall D MS61 PCGS
1861-C $5 AU58 PCGS
1907 $20 High Relief, Wire Rim MS63 PCGS
This auction will open for bidding soon at www.HA.com/Coins.
******************************
The Stecher Collection
Every once in a while we have the opportunity to auction a collection that has been off the market for many years. But among old time collections, few give as much insight into what the numismatic hobby once was as the Stecher Collection, an outstanding collection of gold coins to be featured in our upcoming Charlotte ANA Signature Auction, to be held on March 15 and 16.
Karl Stecher Sr. (1891-1965) was inspired to consider working for the federal government after meeting presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt - during a Bull Moose campaign whistle-stop in Wichita in 1912. In 1914, he relocated to Washington, D.C. where he briefly worked for Senator William J. Stone of Missouri, and then as a Stenographer at the Interstate Commerce Commission to 1918. After receiving two law degrees from Yale University, he served America as a Railroad Valuation Attorney at the ICC until 1928. Between 1938 and 1961, he was a Trial Attorney and later Hearing Examiner for both the Federal Trade Commission and the ICC. He maintained a private law practice until his death in July 1965.
All of the coins in Mr. Stecher's collection were acquired between 1933 and 1941, and remained in their original envelopes until some were submitted to PCGS in October 2006. Parts of this collection were purchased from major coin dealers such as the Guttag Brothers of New York, B. Max Mehl, Henry Chapman of Philadelphia, Syracuse Coin Shop, Barney Bluestone, Joseph Stack, and Joseph Barnet.
Additionally, many of the gold coins offered in this auction were obtained through marvelous circumstances that existed for Mr. Stecher while he was a law professor at Emory University in Macon, Georgia from 1928-1934, and at the University of Louisville in Kentucky from 1934-1938. President Franklin Roosevelt's Emergency Banking Relief Act (Order #6102, March 9, 1933) ordered the public to turn in their 'non-collector' gold coins; naturally many rare coins suffered a similar fate.
Mrs. Stecher's uncle, Thomas W. Smith, had enjoyed a lifelong banking career starting in 1909 that culminated in responsibility for the Atlanta "gold room" of the Citizen's and Southern Bank. All of the gold that flowed through the bank's branches in response to President Roosevelt's 1933 decree passed through Mr. Smith's office, and Mr. Stecher was allowed to select numismatic items from the river of gold, paying face value for the numismatic coins he selected. He sold coins from this supply to dealers and collectors to earn additional income, and saved many others for his own collection.
Without his employment in Macon, Georgia some 75 years ago, Mr. Stecher would never have met his future wife, then a school teacher. His good, dependable income as a Professor during the Depression gave him a financial position most did not enjoy, that of a steady stream of extra income. Mrs. Stecher's lifelong close relationship with her mother's youngest brother, Thomas W. Smith, and the administrative position he had risen to after 24 years in banking, made it possible for a university professor with a salary of $3,000 to $3,600 per year to acquire these coins, at very low cost.
Without this marvelous series of circumstances, this collection would not exist, and we would not be able to present these wonderful coins for your bidding pleasure in this auction - along with many of Mr. Stecher's envelopes identifying their source. Prices for many of the coins in this auction are written on the envelopes, and many others were acquired for face value - essentially from circulation.
Highlights of the Stecher Collection include:
1844-C $2 1/2 AU58 PCGS
1895 $2 1/2 PR66 Deep Cameo PCGS
1911-D $2 1/2 MS63 PCGS
1883 $3 MS62 PCGS
1888 $3 MS64 PCGS
1879 $3 PR63 Cameo PCGS
1886 $3 PR63 Cameo PCGS
1840-D $5 Tall D MS61 PCGS
1861-C $5 AU58 PCGS
1907 $20 High Relief, Wire Rim MS63 PCGS
This auction will open for bidding soon at www.HA.com/Coins.
Always took candy from strangers
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
0
Comments
it seems to me if you want to maximize the bidding interest in your own collection, its best to leave it in a box, untouched, until 42 years after your own demise.
One lesson I recently learned is that just because the collection has been off the market a long time does not mean that the quality is all there and that the coins have not been messed with. I learned the hard way.
<< <i>Sounds pretty cool -
it seems to me if you want to maximize the bidding interest in your own collection, its best to leave it in a box, untouched, until 42 years after your own demise. >>
Is this your advice to me?
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
<< <i>I got the weekly update email from Heritage, and it contained the announcement below. This collection seems to have been off the market for ages, and it is nice to see a fresh set of coins coming up for auction. Does anyone know if this collection of gold coins is the real deal? I looked at the pictures online of some of the coins, but with Heritage's typically lousy pictures, it is hard to tell if the coins are original, or if they were given a little spritzin' between the time they left their original envelopes and their final resting place in plastic. Does anyone have further details on this collection? What do you think of it?
******************************
The Stecher Collection
Every once in a while we have the opportunity to auction a collection that has been off the market for many years. But among old time collections, few give as much insight into what the numismatic hobby once was as the Stecher Collection, an outstanding collection of gold coins to be featured in our upcoming Charlotte ANA Signature Auction, to be held on March 15 and 16.
Karl Stecher Sr. (1891-1965) was inspired to consider working for the federal government after meeting presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt - during a Bull Moose campaign whistle-stop in Wichita in 1912. In 1914, he relocated to Washington, D.C. where he briefly worked for Senator William J. Stone of Missouri, and then as a Stenographer at the Interstate Commerce Commission to 1918. After receiving two law degrees from Yale University, he served America as a Railroad Valuation Attorney at the ICC until 1928. Between 1938 and 1961, he was a Trial Attorney and later Hearing Examiner for both the Federal Trade Commission and the ICC. He maintained a private law practice until his death in July 1965.
All of the coins in Mr. Stecher's collection were acquired between 1933 and 1941, and remained in their original envelopes until some were submitted to PCGS in October 2006. Parts of this collection were purchased from major coin dealers such as the Guttag Brothers of New York, B. Max Mehl, Henry Chapman of Philadelphia, Syracuse Coin Shop, Barney Bluestone, Joseph Stack, and Joseph Barnet.
Additionally, many of the gold coins offered in this auction were obtained through marvelous circumstances that existed for Mr. Stecher while he was a law professor at Emory University in Macon, Georgia from 1928-1934, and at the University of Louisville in Kentucky from 1934-1938. President Franklin Roosevelt's Emergency Banking Relief Act (Order #6102, March 9, 1933) ordered the public to turn in their 'non-collector' gold coins; naturally many rare coins suffered a similar fate.
Mrs. Stecher's uncle, Thomas W. Smith, had enjoyed a lifelong banking career starting in 1909 that culminated in responsibility for the Atlanta "gold room" of the Citizen's and Southern Bank. All of the gold that flowed through the bank's branches in response to President Roosevelt's 1933 decree passed through Mr. Smith's office, and Mr. Stecher was allowed to select numismatic items from the river of gold, paying face value for the numismatic coins he selected. He sold coins from this supply to dealers and collectors to earn additional income, and saved many others for his own collection.
Without his employment in Macon, Georgia some 75 years ago, Mr. Stecher would never have met his future wife, then a school teacher. His good, dependable income as a Professor during the Depression gave him a financial position most did not enjoy, that of a steady stream of extra income. Mrs. Stecher's lifelong close relationship with her mother's youngest brother, Thomas W. Smith, and the administrative position he had risen to after 24 years in banking, made it possible for a university professor with a salary of $3,000 to $3,600 per year to acquire these coins, at very low cost.
Without this marvelous series of circumstances, this collection would not exist, and we would not be able to present these wonderful coins for your bidding pleasure in this auction - along with many of Mr. Stecher's envelopes identifying their source. Prices for many of the coins in this auction are written on the envelopes, and many others were acquired for face value - essentially from circulation.
Highlights of the Stecher Collection include:
1844-C $2 1/2 AU58 PCGS
1895 $2 1/2 PR66 Deep Cameo PCGS
1911-D $2 1/2 MS63 PCGS
1883 $3 MS62 PCGS
1888 $3 MS64 PCGS
1879 $3 PR63 Cameo PCGS
1886 $3 PR63 Cameo PCGS
1840-D $5 Tall D MS61 PCGS
1861-C $5 AU58 PCGS
1907 $20 High Relief, Wire Rim MS63 PCGS
This auction will open for bidding soon at www.HA.com/Coins. >>
All,
This collection is the real deal. David Hall and I met Mr. Stecher and personally assisted him in preparing his collection for submission, so I can vouch for the coins that are in our holders. This was one of the neatest deals I've seen in my long career in numismatics, simply because it was such an old, fresh deal with such a great story. Mr. Stecher's coins went directly from his old collector envelopes into fresh flips, then into the grading room, with no "spritzing", "conserving", or freshening-up of the coins in-between. The original "look" and "skin" of these coins were inspiring.
President
PCGS CoinFacts - the Internet Encyclopedia of U.S. Coins
www.CoinFacts.com
Karl Stecher Sr. (1891-1965)
Ron, that's nice to hear. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that we'd prefer our coins that way and feel that the conservation game has gone too far. Please feel free to treat more submissions like that in the future.
<< <i>Mr. Stecher's coins went directly from his old collector envelopes into fresh flips, then into the grading room, with no "spritzing", "conserving", or freshening-up of the coins in-between. The original "look" and "skin" of these coins were inspiring.
Ron, that's nice to hear. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that we'd prefer our coins that way and feel that the conservation game has gone too far. Please feel free to treat more submissions like that in the future.
Now, for the sad part. These coins appear to have a lot of "meat" on them. I suspect that the majority of the coins will be sold to crackout dealers, who will dip many, and try to get them upgraded. What a shame.
Didn't wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss every night and day
--"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
<< <i>Does anyone know if there will be a separate Heritage catalog for this collection? I recently learned that I was dumped from the mailing list but I would like to have this catalog for reference. >>
I doubt it, but I will find out for you.
Can you expand on that for those of us who are clueless about gold?
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
<< <i>These coins appear to have a lot of "meat" on them.
Can you expand on that for those of us who are clueless about gold? >>
The coins seem to have nice strike/detail/surfaces for the grade, and would be candidates for "improving" the shine, to improve the grade for profit, by those who are so inclined.
<< <i>Does anyone know if there will be a separate Heritage catalog for this collection? I recently learned that I was dumped from the mailing list but I would like to have this catalog for reference. >>
I have been getting all the catalogs lately but have no interest (ie money) for coins like these so if I receive a copy you can have it for postage cost to ship it to you if you want it.
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<< <i>All of the coins in Mr. Stecher's collection were acquired between 1933 and 1941, and remained in their original envelopes until some were submitted to PCGS in October 2006 >>
And this has me scratching my head........
<< <i>David Hall and I met Mr. Stecher and personally assisted him in preparing his collection for submission >>
then this.........
<< <i>Karl Stecher Sr. (1891-1965) >>
Can someone splain this?
<< <i>He is a Jr. >>
That's what I was assuming, however I don't see that part anywhere.
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<< <i>I missed things the first time around. How strong was the bidding on the first group of coins? >>
It was mixed. Some coins were strong, others were not.