A rich variety of coins including many collector favorites sold at Scotsman Auction Co.’s Nov. 3 Collectors’ Auction at the Saint Charles Convention Center in Missouri. A few higher-end gold coins failed to meet their reserves, including a 1930-S Saint-Gaudens $20 double eagle, graded Mint State 63+ by Professional Coin Grading Service and bearing a green Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker, that was estimated to bring $85,000 to $100,000. However, popular collector coins including a nice group of Morgan dollars performed admirably in the auction, which totaled $1,374,140.

Here’s one of those Morgan dollars from Scotman’s sale:

The Lot:

1900 Morgan silver dollar, Proof 45

The Price:

$834

The Story:

In contrast to the Proof 68 Cameo dollar, a Proof 45 1900 Morgan dollar lies at the other end, quality-wise, of the Proof dollar spectrum. Unlike the rare Proof-only 1895 Morgan dollar, examples of which can be identified as a Proofs even in low grades due to the absence of any circulation strikes issued that year at the Philadelphia Mint, this 1900 Proof dollar makes one wonder how it was identified as a Proof because of the lack of obvious Proof characteristics.

Mysterious zinc cent discovered in antique store. A 1982 Lincoln cent and cent blanks encased in acrylic are possibly employees’ souvenirs from when the Ball Corp. began supplying the Mint with cent planchets.

As Scotsman writes, “Imagine the look of surprise on the submitter’s face when he submitted this silver dollar for certification, and it came back certified as a PROOF.” The description adds, “It’s quite possible the coin was used as a pocket piece, since the wear is singularly smooth and consistent, and even with fifteen points of wear, there is just.... something.... about the character that affirms the proof status.” The rims are unusually sharp and there is a bit of reflectivity that remains in the protected areas. It carried an estimate of $450 to $550 and sold for $834.

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