A Proof 67 1880 Coiled Hair Stella gold $4 pattern coin sold for $2.28 million to lead Heritage’s Aug. 26 through 31 ANA U.S. Coins Signature Auction to $51,171,731. It was one of three coins in the auction that eclipsed the $2 million plateau.

The U.S. coins portion’s total, combined with the $16,954,975 ANA World & Ancient Coins Platinum Session and Signature Auction Aug. 27 through 29, raised the combined total for the six days of auctions to $68,126,706, setting several records along the way.

The $2.28 million Stella pattern is cataloged as Judd-1660 (in the reference United States Pattern, Experimental and Trial Pieces by J. Hewitt Judd, first published in 1959) and graded by Numismatic Guarantee Co. with approval from Certified Acceptance Corp. signified by a green CAC sticker.

This magnificent 1880 Coiled Hair gold $4 Stella pattern coin is one of just nine examples traced of this rarest of the four gold Stella varieties. The result is the second-highest price realized at auction for an 1880 Coiled Hair Stella.

Also topping $2 million was a Proof 64 Deep Cameo 1879 Liberty Head Quintuple Stella gold $20 pattern coin graded by the Professional Coin Grading Service that sold for $2,160,000.

Cataloged as Judd-1643, (also cataloged as Pollock-1843 in  United States Patterns and Related Issues, by Andrew W. Pollock III,  covering patterns and experimental pieces from 1792 to 1979) the piece has a rarity rating of a low Rarity 7.

This coin broke its own previous record of $1.88 million realized in 2016. Only five examples of the Quintuple Stella gold $20 pattern coin are known to collectors, and one of them is securely held in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.

The third coin in the auction to reach at least $2 million was a PCGS Proof 65 Deep Cameo 1874 Bickford $10 pattern coin that drew a winning bid of $2,040,000, topping the previous record of $1.98 million set at Heritage in 2022.

Cataloged as Judd-1373 and Pollock-1518, Rarity 8, this beautiful rarity is one of just two examples known of this pattern issue.

All three of the pieces were consigned to Heritage as part of The Costa Family Collection, Part I, a trove from which 94 lots went to new collections.

Other highlights from the collection included, but were not limited to:
*  A PCGS Proof 65, CAC approved,  1879 Coiled Hair gold $4 Stella pattern that sold for $1.44 million — surpassing the previous auction record of $1.05 million that was set at Heritage in 2019.
* A PCGS Mint State 64, CAC approved 1852 Augustus Humbert U.S. Assay Office of Gold $50 slug, cataloged as Kagin 14 with a Rarity 5 rating realized $690,000, racing past the previous auction record of $411,250 that was set for the piece in a Heritage auction in 2014.
*  An NGC Proof 66 Cameo 1880 Flowing Hair gold $4 Stella  pattern realized $492,000.

Todd Imhof, executive vice president of Heritage Auctions summed up the event saying, “As we continue deeper into this bullish market for numismatics, there is often doubt about the collecting community’s capacity to absorb these amazing, expensive rarities, but auction after auction, Heritage is delivering new and/or emboldened bidders, which results in highly satisfying prices for our consignors.”

Connect with Coin World:  
Sign up for our free eNewsletter
Access our Dealer Directory  
Like us on Facebook  
Follow us on X (Twitter)

Whether you’re a current subscriber or new, you can take advantage of the best offers on magazine subscriptions available in digital, print or both! Whether you want your issue every week or every month, there’s a subscription to meet your needs.