By Charles Morgan – Content Manager for CoinWeek…..
A busy second day at the Central States Numismatic Society Convention got underway at the Women in Numismatics meeting, held at 9am in the Serenity Room at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center here in Schaumburg, Illinois.
The guest speaker was Allen Mincho, a leading expert in United States currency and co-founder of Currency Auctions of America (now part of Heritage Auctions Group). Mincho gave a detailed presentation on National Bank Notes, their origins and legal basis, and also offered attendees a variety of collecting strategies to employ when entering this exciting field.
We also caught up with Central States Bourse Chairman Patricia Foley, who was pleased with the way the show was going and excited about the limited edition Red Book that’s being offered at the show.
Author Mark Ferguson gave a presentation on his new book The Dollar of 1804: The U.S. Mint’s Hidden Secret as revealed by the “Dexter Dollar,” The King of American Coins. CoinWeek recorded footage of the event and I spent the rest of the night reading the book. Ferguson’s book is a work of 19th century numismatic intrigue. It’s a delightful, well-written companion to Kenneth Bressett and Eric Newman’s The Fantastic 1804 Dollar (2009, Tribute Edition).
Platinum Night Results:
Heritage’s Platinum Night coin auction brought $37,932.044. 2883 lots were offered altogether, including a spectacular assortment of rarely offered territorial gold.
Noticeably absent was the recently-discovered 1974-D aluminum cent pattern, the sale of which is held up by the federal government’s claim that the coin cannot be legally privately held. The piece, the only known D-mint example of this experimental striking, was still advertised by the CSNS on their website and in their printed show materials as being offered at the auction. Heritage’s auction catalogs omitted the controversial issue.
Six coins surpassed the $500,000 mark. In a tie for first, an 1849 Pacific Company $5 gold in PCGS AU-58 and a proof strike 1855 Kellogg & Co. $50 gold in PCGS PR64 CAM brought $763,750.00 each. An 1849 Mormon $10 gold coin in NGC AU-58 brought $705,000.
A believed-to-be-unique 1855 $20 Wass Molitor $20 gold coin (Large Head) in NGC AU-53 brought a strong price of $558,125, which is the same price an 1849 Mormon $20 in NGC MS-62 realized.
The highest price realized for a federal issue was $440,625.00, which is what it took to buy an 1865 Liberty Head $20 in NGC PR-66 UCAM and a rare 1854-O Liberty Head $20 in PCGS AU-55.
A 1793 Wreath Cent (Vines and Bars Variety) in PCGS MS-65 Brown brought $258,500.
While the 1974-D Aluminum cent was a no-show, another aluminum Lincoln cent pattern struck in 1942 brought $199,750.
A trio of 1995-W American Silver Eagles graded PR-70 (one from PCGS, two from NGC) were offered at the show. The PCGS example sold for $41,125.00–a staggering sum, but it’s less than half of the price realized in March 2013 when a specimen offered by Great Collections sold for a record $86,654.70, and more than 20% off of the $55,550.00 that Great Collections got for a second example that sold last September. When the March 2013 specimen sold, Great Collections reported that only eight examples had earned PCGS PR-70DCAM. Since that time, an additional 22 coins have been certified by PCGS alone.
The NGC examples each brought less than half the amount of the PCGS coin, bringing $17,625 and $17,037.50 respectively.
That wraps up a busy second day. Coin shows like the Central States Numismatic Society Convention offer collectors and attendees a sense of the pulse of the hobby and a chance to encounter many of its most interesting and important figures. The show ends tomorrow, at which time I’ll file my final report and head back home.
Expect a First Read of Mark Ferguson’s book early next week.
From Schaumburg, IL.,
Charles
© April 2014 COINWeek.com, LLC.
