The second of five planned auctions by Stack’s Bowers Galleries and Sotheby’s of the D. Brent Pogue Collection of Masterpieces of United States Coinage realized $26,120,838 on Sept. 30 in New York City. Four coins topped the $1 million marker. When combined with the first sale on May 19, the total for the first two Pogue sales now exceeds $50 million. (A Rarities Auction held after Pogue II on Oct. 1 realized nearly $3 million.)

At Pogue II, the first 40 of the 105 lots offered were Capped Bust half dollars. Here is one that was a standout.

The Coin 
1807 Capped Bust half dollar, MS-65

The Price
$129,250

The Story 
The second Pogue auction opened with a bang with lot 1, a PCGS MS-65 1807 Draped Bust half dollar, of the 50/20C reverse variety (Overton 112). The coin started the sale strong as it brought $129,250, well above the estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. 

While not, by itself, a rare variety, few Gem examples are known and this one featured surfaces described as a “polychromatic delight” with rich gold centers, “concentrically framed by orange, rose, violet, pastel blue, and pale green.”

The half dollar came from the collection of Cornelius C. Vermeule III, longtime curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and numismatic author of many works including Numismatic Art in America. Despite the presence of numerically higher-graded examples of this variety, some Bust half dollar aficionados consider Pogue’s to be the finest known.

Keep reading this Market Analysis:

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