The December 16-19 Signature auction from Heritage caps off a record year for U.S. Coins and Heritage Auctions overall. Heritage’s World Headquarters hosts the auction, with the Premier Session on Thursday evening, December 16, preceded by an afternoon Floor Session. An online Signature Internet Session is Sunday afternoon, December 19. This auction is now open for Internet bidding at Coins.HA.com.
One of our consignors brings The Father and Son Collection to the auction. While this is not an extensive collection compared to the multi-million dollar rarities and trophy coins that frequent our events, the consignor’s words touch on the essence of collecting and the importance of the hobby that far exceeds any value of the coins themselves:
“My father came from meager means. When he was 10 years old, his father passed away during the Great Depression. His mother raised my father and his two siblings. He worked extremely hard to put himself through college and earned two graduate degrees. He made a comfortable living for himself and his family. He was a respected man. He was an enthusiastic and diverse hobbyist. He was a loving father.
“He started collecting in 1960, purchasing Proof and Mint sets from the Mint. He tried to get my brother and me interested in his collection, but I paid little attention until I was about 40 years old in 1995. My father and I went to local and regional shows, purchased a coin or two, and put them into my Dansco albums. We would study and look at those albums for hours. Pretty soon — with his financial help — we had almost filled a complete set of Morgan dollars, Washington quarters, Walking Liberty half dollars, commemorative coins, and Peace dollars. Life was GREAT. Over the years, we went from being uneducated, naïve, and crazed collectors (who made our fair share of bad purchases) to studied, discerning, informed, enthusiastic numismatists! We shared the love, the excitement, and the knowledge associated with coin collecting.
“Here, you will find a few of the coins we collected over the last 25 years. My father recently passed. I greatly miss talking to him about the coins we collected. I miss his enthusiasm and passion. I miss his knowledge. He had a remarkable memory and could tell me the grade of every coin and every date in ‘our’ collection. It is time for someone else to have fun with these coins. But do not worry. There are more that I am keeping in hopes of sharing my collecting passion and knowledge with my daughter or grandchildren. The only words of wisdom my father or I would share with any new collector out there are to educate yourselves, buy from reputable companies or people and share your passion with others. Thanks to Heritage Auctions for always taking care of my father and me. Heritage answered any questions we had and always gave us good advice.”
Our other featured collection in this auction is The Big Island Collection of Hawaiian Coinage and Tokens, with impressive material offered in both the Premier Session and the Signature Floor session. Highlights include:
- 1881 Hawaiian five cents, MS65 Medcalf 2CN-1 pattern, original design
- 1881 Hawaii five cent pattern, MS62 Medcalf-2CN-1, rare in any grade
- ‘1884’ Hawaii 1/8 dollar, 7.5g, gold, MS66, fantasy strike hub impression
- 1887 Grove Ranch Plantation token Medcalf TE-17, MS62 Brown, only six pieces certified
- 1891 Kahului Railroad token, AU53 75 cents, Medcalf TL-14, only four examples certified
- 1847 Hawaiian cent, MS65 Brown Medcalf-2CC-1, Crosslet 4, second-rarest variety
Other coins make this auction a December to remember. An 1879 Flowing Hair Stella displays spectacular field/device contrast, certified PR66 Ultra Cameo NGC. A 1797 B-3, BB-71 Draped Bust dollar is Condition Census quality, graded MS63 NGC. A splendid 1934-S Peace dollar is the finest we have ever handled, certified MS66+ PCGS with CAC, the CoinFacts plate coin. Other rarities abound.
Bid in this auction at Coins.HA.com.
