US Coins

1876 Seated Liberty 20-cent coin leads FUN sale

By Steve Roach

Published: Aug 1, 2017, 7 AM

An 1876 Seated Liberty 20-cent piece graded PCGS MS-67 and bearing a green CAC sticker sold for $88,125 on July 6, substantially besting its two recent auction offerings.

Original images courtesy of Heritage Auctions

This 1876 Seated Liberty 20-cent piece is among the finest known of the denomination, graded PCGS MS-67 and bearing a green CAC sticker, with virtually flawless fields, frosty luster and just a hint of champagne toning.

Images courtesy of Heritage Auctions

Heritage’s July 6 to 9 auctions held in conjunction with the summer Florida United Numismatists convention realized nearly $6 million, with a 99 percent sell-through rate. While a “double dime” topped bidding, many collectors were attracted to an 1893-S Morgan dollar graded About Uncirculated 55 by PCGS, and it sold for $38,796, right in line with what comparably graded examples have traded hands for in recent sales. Here are three pieces — two of them coins and one a medal — that illustrate the variety of material offered in the auction.

Here's one of three lots we're profiling from Heritage's Summer FUN sale:

The Lot:

1876 Seated Liberty 20-cent coin, PCGS MS-67, CAC

The Price:

$88,125

The Story:

It’s not often that a Seated Liberty 20-cent coin tops bidding at a major auction the way this 1876 example did, graded Mint State 67 by Professional Coin Grading Service with a green Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker, and realizing $88,125.

The peak of Olympic gold coins: Another column in the August 14 weekly issue of Coin World also profiles a rubber token that promotes a commonplace object we all use.

The 20-cent coin — sometimes less formally called a “double dime” — was struck for just four short years, only two of which were for circulation. 1876 represented the second year of issue and it had a low mintage of fewer than 15,000 coins. PCGS has graded just three in MS-67, one MS-67+ and none finer, making the offered example, featuring virtually flawless fields, frosty luster and just a hint of champagne toning, among the finest known of the denomination.

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The price in Orlando represents a sharp increase from its last auction appearance with Heritage, where it sold for $44,650 at a 2015 Heritage auction, and the $54,625 it brought at the auctioneer’s January 2010 Florida United Numismatists auction. While these offerings weren’t included in the cataloged provenance, images from those sales reveal the same two tiny imperfections this coin bears: a small spot near Liberty’s forearm that holds the shield and another dot near her drapery, under Liberty’s arm, before her knee (and they share the same PCGS certification number).