One of the most underappreciated significant coin collections of the 20th century is about to retake center stage. Stack’s Bowers Galleries will present Part I of the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection on December 9, 2025, unveiling treasures that have been hidden from the numismatic community for generations, including a newly confirmed 1804 dollar, now recognized as the finest known Class III specimen.
This event marks the first primary public offering of Stack’s coins in decades and is expected to redefine how collectors view both the man and his legacy.
A Collector Ahead of His Time
Born in 1887, James A. Stack, Sr. began collecting coins in the late 1930s. Despite having no family ties to Joseph and Morton Stack, founders of the famed Stack’s Rare Coins, he lived steps away from their Manhattan gallery in the Roosevelt Hotel and quickly became one of their most critical early clients.
With life expectancy still hovering around 60 years at the time, Stack set an ambitious goal: assemble the most complete and finest-quality collection of United States coins he could. Leveraging the flood of exceptional material entering the market before, during, and after World War II, he succeeded beyond measure.
His collection grew rapidly, encompassing finest-known examples, major rarities, and extraordinarily complete runs across multiple series.
Why the Collection Became a Legend… Quietly
Stack remained intensely private. Rather than selling the collection as a whole, he gifted portions to his children, intending the coins to benefit future generations only once his youngest grandchild reached adulthood.
As a result, the collection emerged in fragments. The first major portion to reach the public appeared in 1975, a full 25 years after Stack’s death, when Stack’s Rare Coins offered his quarters and half dollars. Sporadic auctions continued through 1995, each time stunning bidders with the depth and quality of the material.
Then……..silence. Most assumed the rest of the collection had long since been dispersed.
The 2025 Revelation: A Hidden Trove Surfaces
In summer 2025, Stack’s Bowers Galleries shocked the hobby by announcing a large, completely unknown surviving tranche of the Stack collection, still held by descendants and untouched for decades.
The Headliner:
A newly-discovered 1804 silver dollar, now the 16th known example, graded PCGS Proof-65 CAC CMQ and the finest certified Class III specimen.
Alongside it are major Bust and Morgan dollars and an extraordinary concentration of rare and high-grade gold coinage. The two-part sale is projected to exceed $20 million.
Part I Highlights: Silver Dollars and Double Eagles
A New Census Entry: The 1794 Silver Dollar
Part I includes a 1794 dollar, the first year of the U.S. dollar, graded PCGS EF-45 CAC CMQ, newly confirmed in the modern census.
Eight Proof Double Eagles—Including a Historic First
Among the most astonishing discoveries is an 1854 Proof double eagle, graded PCGS Proof-61 CMQ, the earliest Proof $20 known in private hands. Its existence was previously unconfirmed in modern numismatics, and this specimen is now identified as the same coin auctioned in 1934 and 1940 before disappearing for nearly a century.
Other Proof double eagles in Part I include spectacular examples dated 1859, 1864, 1867, 1883, 1887, and 1891, culminating in an 1893 PCGS Proof-66 Deep Cameo CAC, the finest of its date and among the most elite Proof $20s known.
Elite Circulation-Strike Double Eagles
Collectors of Liberty Head double eagles will find some of the finest pieces in existence:
- 1852-O PCGS MS-62 CMQ – lightly prooflike and visually stunning
- 1856-O PCGS EF-40 – newly recorded in the census of this famously rare New Orleans issue
- 1859-S PCGS MS-63 CAC – one of only two at this level
- 1890 PCGS MS-65 CAC – a sleeper date, second-finest at PCGS and the single finest CAC-certified
A Bittersweet Pairing: The 1931 and 1932 Saints
Only a handful of Saint-Gaudens double eagles appear in Part I, but two have remarkable provenance: a 1931 PCGS MS-65 CAC CMQ and a 1932 PCGS MS-64 CAC CMQ.
Both were acquired in the same 1943 transaction that included Stack’s fabled 1933 double eagle, the coin seized by the Secret Service in 1945 and never returned.
Two Sessions, One Historic Opportunity
Session 1 of the December 9 sale features the marquee rarities, while Session 2 offers more accessible pieces, giving collectors at every level the chance to own a part of one of America’s great, but long overlooked, collections.
Auction Details
The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection, Part I
Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Griffin Studios, Stack’s Bowers Galleries World Headquarters
Costa Mesa, California
For additional information or to consign to a future Showcase Auction,
contact Stack’s Bowers Galleries at 800-458-4646 or [email protected]
Article based on Stack’s Bowers Press Release Dec 2, 2025
