Rarities Sought On West Coast: $170,500 For Circ 1794 Flowing Hair Dollar

Reprinted from Issue No. 21   May 25, 2007 of the Coin Dealer Newsletter

New World Rarities conducted its annual GSNA Auction in conjunction with the show on May 18. The 186 lot sale realized $450,000 highlighted by the $170,500 received for a PCGS F12 1794 Flowing Hair Dollar. This particular Dollar resides in an old green holder which are perceived to have been more conservatively graded than today.

Dealers remain optimistic as they prepare for the May 31-June 2 Long Beach Expo and surrounding auctions. First, two Pre-Long Beach sales will take place in Beverly Hills, California. Superior will host their auction May 27-28 and Ira & Larry Goldberg will conduct their sale May 27-30. Competition is expected to be considerably strong as a multitude of rarities will be on the block. From here, everyone heads to Long Beach for the Expo with set-up commencing on May 30. Most dealers have come to expect strong activity as this show because it usually attracts a fair amount of public and its share of rarities.

Still, the optimism being expressed by today's dealers is primarily due to the ongoing demand. They are encouraged that the market for no-problem rare coins is still very powerful. Many of them believe that this collector-driven demand has yet to be satisfied despite higher Bids. And, it is this force that is keeping the bull market's fires burning brightly. It all stems from knowledgeable collectors chasing after original coins that are truly rare. Dealers know how difficult it is to obtain this type of material because most of it remains locked away in collections. Most realize that these collections occasionally hit the auction block or appear from an over-the-counter walk-in sale. Nevertheless, it's absolutely imperative that they have funds allocated for these opportunities when they surface. Most dealers are willing to pay well over current Bids when quality coins are offered but unfortunately they haven't been able to capture the number of examples that they need. They tell us that their clients are financially well heeled and so the price is usually not the stumbling block. Attractive and relatively problem-free coins for the grade have customers willing to stretch to add one to his or her collection. Generally retail transactions involving those problem-free early rarities are becoming few and far between. One dealer is trying to buy all the Large Size Bust Quarters and early Dimes he can find. Attractive Circulated examples are high on his customers' want lists. His target Circ grades are Good 4 thru AU50 and he is looking to buy coins that have been graded and encapsulated by either PCGS or NGC. It's really nothing new because these rare coins seem to always be in favor but supplies are genuinely lacking. Another area of great need for him is Liberty Seated Dollars.

Family Sues Mint Over Rare, Valuable Coins

By JOANN LOVIGLIO
AP 2006-12-06 10:30:07

PHILADELPHIA (Dec. 5) - A family is suing the U.S. Mint, saying it illegally seized 10 gold coins that are among the rarest and most valuable in the world that the family found among a dead relative's possessions.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, accuses the Mint of violating the Constitution and breaking federal forfeiture laws by refusing to return the 1933 "double eagle" coins to the family after it handed the coins over to have their authenticity confirmed.

Plaintiffs Joan S. Langbord and her sons, Roy and David, are seeking the immediate return of the coins, said their attorney, Barry H. Berke. Defendants named in the suit include the Mint, the Treasury Department, and officials in those agencies.

A Mint spokesman declined to comment, saying that the Mint had not yet been officially served.

Double eagles were first struck in 1850. They are so named because they had a face value of $20, twice the amount of gold coins known as Eagles. The coins, which Mint officials have said are so rare that their value could not be calculated, feature a flying eagle on one side and a figure representing liberty on the other. There were 445,500 minted in 1933, but they were melted down before being released into circulation when President Franklin D. Roosevelt took the country off the gold standard.

A handful escaped, however. Two were deliberately set aside and are at the Smithsonian Institution. The Mint has said any others in existence were obtained illegally, but agreed after a lengthy court battle to allow one of the coins to be sold at auction in 2002 for $7.59 million - the highest price ever paid for a coin - after its owner agreed to split the proceeds with the Mint.

Langbord, who discovered the coins in 2003 in a safe deposit box belonging to her deceased father, longtime Philadelphia jeweler Israel Switt, was aware of that case and contacted the Mint to disclose the coins' existence and "attempt to reach an amicable resolution of any issues that might be raised," the lawsuit states.

She handed the coins over to the Mint to be authenticated, but the Mint refused to give them back, saying they must have been stolen from the Philadelphia Mint in the early 1930s because they had never been in circulation, according to the lawsuit.

Switt, who died in 1990, told Secret Service agents in 1944 that he had possessed and sold nine 1933 double eagles, according to the Mint. All were tracked down by the government and destroyed between 1944 and 1952.

"The Mint's lawless position is that by merely claiming the coins were somehow removed from the Mint unlawfully in the 1930s, they can take the Langbords' property without proving it in a court of law," Berke said.

The coins at the center of the lawsuit were briefly displayed this summer for an American Numismatic Association's convention in Denver. They have been secured at the U.S. Bullion Depository in Fort Knox, Ky.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Eliasberg 1913 Liberty Nickel, PCGS PR-66, Sold for $5 Million

- April 25, 2007

(Santa Barbara, California) - An unnamed California collector has paid $5 million for the Eliasberg specimen 1913 Liberty Head nickel, a record price for the coin and the second highest price ever paid for any rare coin. It is graded Proof-66 by Professional Coin Grading Service, and is the finest of the five known 1913 Liberty Head nickels.

"The new owner is a long-time Southern California resident and a dedicated collector of historic United States rare coins," said Santa Barbara coin and jewelry merchant, Ronald J. Gillio, who negotiated the sale between the collector and the sellers, Legend Numismatics of Lincroft, New Jersey and Washington state business executive, Bruce Morelan.

Legend and Morelan jointly purchased the coin from New Hampshire dealer, Ed Lee, in May 2005 for a then-record price of $4,150,000.

Gillio said he talked with the collector about the coin for over three months. "We spoke many times in recent months about the coin's legendary numismatic status, and he agreed to purchase it for $5 million," explained Gillio who recently was named Numismatic Acquisition Coordinator for Spectrum Numismatics International and Bowers and Merena Auctions, and continues his role for Collectors Universe as General Chairman of the Long Beach and Santa Clara Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expos.

The unnamed collector took possession of the coin at an undisclosed Southern California location on Wednesday, April 25. In 1913 the United States Mint introduced a new design for nickels depicting a Native American Indian on the front and a bison on the back. However, some nickels were struck dated 1913 using the previous year's design of a symbolic "Miss Liberty."

Only five 1913 Liberty Head nickels are known today. Two are in permanent museum collections at The Smithsonian in Washington, DC and the American Numismatic Association Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

One of the previous owners of this particular 1913 Liberty Head nickel was renowned Baltimore banker, Louis E. Eliasberg Sr., known to collectors for the extensive, one-of-everything collection he assembled before his death in 1976.

"We're pleased that this coin now is in the collection of another devoted numismatist. We hope he enjoys it as much as we did," said Laura Sperber, a partner in Legend Numismatics. The world's record price for any rare coin is $7.59 million paid for a 1933 U.S. $20 denomination Double Eagle gold coin in July 2002.

Reprinted from AP as a service to our valued clients

No inflation? Rare gold coin doubles in value in two years

Submitted by cpowell on Fri, 2007-10-05 04:38. Section: Daily Dispatches
Collector Pays $5 Million for Rare Gold Coin
By The Associated Press
via Yahoo News
Thursday, October 4, 2007

A rare $10 gold coin made for President Andrew Jackson to give as a diplomatic gift during trade missions to Asia was purchased Thursday by a private collector for $5 million. The 1804-dated Eagle coin -- which was actually struck in 1834 at the Philadelphia Mint -- is one of only four surviving examples of the special coin.

"The buyer and seller want to remain anonymous. Both are northeastern United States entrepreneurs who have been collecting coins since they were young boys," said David Albanese, president of Albanese Rare Coins, which handled the sale.

The same coin sold for $1 million in 2003 and again in 2005 for $2.47 million, said Dean Albanese, the company's chief executive officer.

"It is one of the rare U.S. coins out there. They are neat pieces in that in one sense they are not really a coin made in 1804, even though it is dated 1804 ... it is sort of a created coin," said Douglas Mudd, curator of the American Numismatic Association Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo.

All four of the 1834-minted $10 coins are held by private collectors, although one is on 25-year loan to the Colorado museum, Mudd said.

The pristine-condition coin depicts a turban-wearing symbolic "Miss Liberty" surrounded by 13 stars representing the original 13 colonies. The word "Liberty" is near the top of the coin and the date 1804 at the bottom. The reverse shows a spread-winged eagle surrounded by the words, "United States of America."

The $5 million purchase price was the highest price ever paid for an 1804-dated $10 gold piece and shares the record for the world's second most valuable rare coin with a 1913 nickel that sold this year, Dean Albanese said. The world's most valuable coin is a 1933 Saint-Gaudens gold Double Eagle that was purchased at auction in 2002 by an anonymous buyer for $7.59 million.

Because of its high-grade condition and history, the coin sold Thursday is considered "the King of Eagles," Dean Albanese said.

The coin was actually the first specimen from a proof set commissioned by Jackson to be used as a presentation piece for dignitaries of other countries, said Albanese, who is writing a book about the 1804 Eagles.

The treasury had stopped minting the $10 Eagle coins in 1804. So when Jackson asked for the proof sets in 1834, the old 1804 dies had to be used, he said. The proof sets, which included every denomination of U.S. coin, were to be given to the leaders of China, Siam, Japan and Muscat.

Only two of the proof sets actually made it to their destinations -- the envoy carrying the other two died of dysentery before he could present them, Dean Albanese said.

The coin sold Thursday was lost until the 1960s, he said, adding that it had three previous private owners that he knows about. Its history before that is "sketchy."

As part of the transaction Thursday, the anonymous buyer also paid a record $1.7 million for one of only three known $10 denomination proof gold pieces dated 1838.