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Sale 62
The Pre-Long Beach Coin and Currency Auction
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Description |
Realized |
Lot 2167 |
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1909-D. PCGS graded MS-64. Boldly struck with lovely golden-orange toning. A desirable MS64 example of this always-popular Type and representative of the grade. This choice to intermediate-gem coin is untouched by spotting and is very nicely preserved. Taking stock of another key aspect of the grade, this piece has knife-edged devices throughout, including feathers, rather than a soft, mushy strike as sometimes seen on Indian fives. 1909-D is often used in a U.S. Gold Type Set since it carries no rarity premium (PCGS # 8514) .
Estimated Value $2,900 - 3,000.
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| Unsold |
Lot 2168 |
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1909-D. PCGS graded MS-63 PQ. Housed in a First Generation Holder. Nice even toning. Sharply struck with exceptionally attractive surfaces and thick mint frost. Subtly variegated patina adds even more to the overall attractiveness of this high grade 1909 (PCGS # 8514) .
Estimated Value $1,500 - 1,600.
The Wayne Fowler Estate.
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| Realized
$1,955 |
Lot 2169 |
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1909-O. NGC graded MS-65. Housed in NGC holder 1998186-001. A well struck frosty mint gem with a clear round mint mark. The lustrous surfaces are a natural light reddish-orange in color. The key date Indian half eagle and the most eleusive example in high grade of them all.
The 1909-O Indian half eagle is in the same predicament as the "only time of issue" 1854 Dahlonega Mint three-dollar gold piece insofar as it is the only delivery from its respective branch mint in its series. Why should this be so? Only the ghost of the New Orleans Mint Director could say. And he isn't telling. The archives, too, are mute, other than in their droll fact-sheet that thus-and-so-many specimens were made that year. Combined with an especially low mintage, this causes the '09-O to be the key-date Indian half eagle. By several orders of magnitude, we might add, the rarest issue in the series in Gem condition. Survivors from an original 34,200 pieces are rarities at all levels of preservation but especially Mint State grades. Circulated to low Mint State pieces are offered for sale on occasion. Writing in 1988 (A Handbook of 20th-Century United States Gold Coins: 1907-1933) David W. Akers believes there are fewer than 10 pieces in existence at or above Mint State 64, all of which (presumably) qualify as Condition Census.
What about the coin's other specifications? Listing them in random order, we find first a strong mintmark which is as full and sharply impressed as we have ever seen on an '09-O Indian $5. Notable as this is, it is just the first item in a procession of fine features. Next up comes the luster, which is of exemplary quality: a sheen of frostiness that has a lovely satiny veneer over the Indian's cheek and brow contours. Also, all elements of the main motifs whether satiny or frosted are clear and sharp in keeping with the clear mintmark. We could stop right here, but we cannot go back now. For as an encore that should attract serious buyers, while the surface appears to be smooth enough to warrant all due respect at the full Gem Mint State 65 grade level, the full flood of beautiful light toning completes the splendid list of qualifications. There is nothing more attractive than this bold 1909-O half eagle. If someone disputes this, we haven't seen or heard of another quite like it. Yes, there is one other MS65 graded by NGC, but that is of no concern. If a single example of this date is desired, the present piece should be considered for its beauty and quality, its rarity and historic situation. Pop 2; none finer at NGC (PCGS # 8515) .
Estimated Value $250,000-UP.
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Lot 2170 |
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1910. NGC graded Proof 66. Only 250 proofs struck. Housed in a new NGC 3 pronged holder. Well struck with light golden toning. Beautiful color and blemish-free surfaces adorn this Roman Gold finish Proof. This finish allows gem specimens to display luster to its fullest and the present specimen definitely has outstanding luster on both sides. Even with strong magnification, no problems are visible. The same slick luster is interrupted by the grading service as warranting a Proof 66 label. As such, it is a superlative Proof gold rarity, much more so than the mintage figure would imply. With the highest mintage for Proof Indian Head half eagles (250 coins), one could be misled about the rarity of this issue. For reasons unknown, perhaps melting or excessive use, the 1910 is one of the scarcest Proofs in the series. Many years may lapse before the offering of another such true gem which is why we urge our clients to consider this when bidding. Pop 13; 10 finer, 1 in 66 Star, 2 in 67, 3 in 67 Star, 3 in 68, 1 in 68+ (PCGS # 8541) .
When Bela Lyon Pratt's new Indian head motif was launched upon the American waters in 1908, the public was surprised by the novel appearance. Never before in American numismatics had a coin designer broken with tradition in such a way as did Pratt. For what he did was to recess the design below the surface of the coin. Never mind the fact that his Half Eagles and Quarter Eagles are far more aesthetically astute than the long-running Liberty heads they replaced. Unlike his predecessors, Pratt chose to pay tribute to a real American Indian not some gussied-up Greek goddess wearing a feather bonnet. Because of this, his design helped to propel American coin design into the World Class league.
Estimated Value $34,000 - 36,000.
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| Realized
$40,250 |
Lot 2171 |
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1911 $5 Indian PCGS graded Genuine. Cleaned. Our grade is MS60 (PCGS # 8520) .
Estimated Value $375 - 400.
The Dr. Charles Richman Collection.
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| Realized
$414 |
Lot 2172 |
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1913. NGC graded MS-65. CAC Approved. Old holder. Lightly toned. An incandescent and sparkling gem whose satiny beauty comes with fully defined design features plus a torrent of varying golden hues on both sides. The epitome of careful preservation by former owners, and sporting 100% crisp detail. Both sides of this distinguished looking 1913-P Half Eagle deserve special mention for their color, fresh appearance, and overall aesthetic appeal. Pop 36; 6 finer in 66 (PCGS # 8525) .
Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, got the idea of making coins with devices sunk beneath the fields -- not true intaglio, but rather with relief designs depressed so that the highest points would not be at once worn away, somewhat in the manner of certain Egyptian Fourth Dynasty stelae. The late Augustus Saint-Gaudens had just bequeathed the nation two coin designs of unprecedented magnificence for the double eagles and eagles (1907); now it was the turn of Mint Engraver Charles E. Barber to turn Bela Lyon Pratt's new devices into workaday coins, which he did expertly, of which this 1913 is a foremost example.
Estimated Value $12,000 - 13,000.
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| Realized
$12,650 |
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