Heritage Auctions opened their sales connected with the 2026 FUN show with FUN Special Sessions: Ellsworth and Jacobson and realized over $7.1 million in the Orlando-based auction.

The Harvey B. Jacobson, Jr. Collection of Early Half Eagles is a 68-lot trove of the rarest and most important varieties of the entire early half eagle series. The lots in the collection reflect the years Jacobson spent chasing the rarest of the rare, an effort that ended with his acquisition of every early gold variety that eluded Harry W. Bass Jr.; the only exceptions were two unique 1797 varieties that are housed in the Smithsonian Institution.

The COL Steven Ellsworth Collection of U.S. Large Cents 1793-1796, acquired over the last four decades and presented in partnership with Chris Victor-McCawley's Early Cents Auctions, included every Sheldon number of the Chain, Wreath and Liberty Cap types, as well as three of the 21 Sheldon "NC" varieties.

"Elite collections of exceptional coins produce extraordinary results, and that is exactly what happened with these two magnificent collections," says Todd Imhof, Executive Vice President at Heritage Auctions. "The coins in each represent the decades of deep understanding of the significance of the coins in each, resulting in collections that are undeniably elite, in both quantity and quality."

"I am very pleased with the results of the auction," Jacobson says. "Heritage did an excellent job marketing the collection and achieving excellent results in the auction, and the auctioneer, Mike Sadler, was outstanding — as usual!"

"I've done about 40 shows a year for 40 years, and this is the best collection I could put together," COL Ellsworth said. "The promotion, advertising and marketing Heritage did for this was really good, the auctioneer was terrific, and the catalog will be a reference book for the next 100 years."

A tie for top selling lot was realized with two coins from Jacobson’s collection each bringing $268,400. A 1797 half eagle graded AU-58+ by PCGS and an 1834 half eagle that was graded MS-64+ with a CAC sticker, also certified by PCGS, set the standard for the sale.

Leading the way from the Ellsworth Collection was a 1795 Reeded Edge cent graded VG Details by PCGS that brought $207,400.

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