US Coins

2015: What a year: Guest Commentary

By Rich Uhrich

Published: Jan 25, 2016, 9 AM

2015 was a good year for several coins from 1794. The Lord St. Oswald 1794 dollar, PCGS MS-66+ (left), sold for $4,993,750 Sept. 30 in the Pogue II auction by Stack’s Bowers in conjunction with Sotheby’s, and the unique 1794 Overton 109 half dollar, NGC VF-25 (right), sold in April at the Heritage CSNS auction for $705,000.

Original images courtesy of Stack's Bowers Galleries and Heritage Auctions.

A unique O-109 1794 Flowing Hair silver half dollar, graded VF-25, that had been off the market for a generation, sold for a strong $705,000 April 23 at Heritage’s 2015 Central States Numismatic Society Platinum Night auction.

Professional Coin Grading Service graded the 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar with silver plug in the Pogue Collection as Mint State 66+. It sold for $4,993,750 Sept. 30 in the Pogue II auction by Stack's Bowers in conjunction with Sotheby’s.

Image courtesy of Stack's Bowers.

Guest Commentary from the Feb. 8, 2016, issue of Coin World:

Here is my coin year in review for 2015:

??BEST FIND #1 — A new die marriage was found (Very Fine, cleaned) for the 1798 Bust dollar, designated as Bolender 34 (Bowers-Borckardt 126).

??BEST FINDS #2 & #3 — 1919 and 1926 Mercury dime doubled die obverses discovered.

??BEST FIND #4 — The first known note on the First National Bank of Rhyolite (Nevada) sold for $258,500.

??BEST FIND #5 — Archeologists in Columbia discover the wreck of the San Jose ship, which sank in 1708.

Connect with Coin World:

??GOLD AND SILVER DOWN AGAIN — Gold closed at $1,062 (down 11 percent from Dec. 31, 2014, close of $1,197) and silver closed at $13.86 (down 14 percent from Dec. 31, 2014, close of $16.11).

??BIGGEST NEW NUMISMATIC BOOK — The Deluxe Edition of the Red Book (also known as Mega Red) is 1,500 pages and weighs 7 pounds.

??CONGRATULATIONS TO — Garrett Ziss, 13-year-old numismatic prodigy, delivered a presentation to the John Reich Collectors Society at the American Numismatic Association convention in August, on the topic of Bust coins illustrated on 19th century currency. Garrett’s presentation was well-researched, well-delivered, and resulted in a standing ovation.

??SUPER-RARE BUT THERE WERE TWO AUCTIONED IN 2015 — Original 1861 Confederate half dollars (only four are known).

??IT PAYS TO BE THE ONLY ONE — The only known example of the 1794 Overton 109 half dollar (Numismatic Guaranty Corp. VF-25) sold at auction for $705,000.

??QUARTER EAGLE BIG AT POGUE SALE #1 — The 1808 quarter eagle, a one-year type, in Mint State 65 brought $2,350,000.

??1827 QUARTER DOLLAR (one of nine known originals) sets record at Pogue sale #1 — $705,000 for a Proof 66+ Cameo.

??OH SO CLOSE AWARD — The Lord St. Oswald 1794 dollar, Professional Coin Grading Service MS-66+, sold for $4,993,750.

??NEW THEORY — The 1776 Continental dollars were struck in Europe!

??NOW THAT IS A DONATION — The du Pont specimens of the Proof 1866 Seated Liberty, No Motto quarter dollar (unique), half dollar (unique) and dollar (two known) were donated to the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution. Hopefully these coins can be viewed by the public and won’t end up in storage.

??WHEN WILL IT EVER END — The Langbords and the government continue their lengthy ordeal in the case of the 10 confiscated 1933 double eagles. In April, a 2-to-1 ruling in the Federal Court of Appeals reversed the jury’s decision awarding the coins to the government. In July, the Federal Court of Appeals vacated the April ruling. In October, a new hearing was held.

??BEST SALE (ALL COINS) — The D. Brent Pogue Collection. Two parts were completed in 2015, and included some amazing coins. More in 2016.

??BEST SALE (BUST & SEATED COINS) — The Gene Gardner Collection. His Seated Liberty collection was complete except for two unique coins, and one with four examples known.

??BEST SALE (EARLY COINS) — The Donald Partrick Collection, which had wonderful Colonial coins, plus the most 1792 pattern coins seen in one place.

??SOME REFRESHING NEWS — After the sale of Part 1 of the Donald Partrick Collection, the owner postponed the remaining parts of the sale, because he wanted to enjoy his coins a bit longer!

??NEW ISSUES MEET WIDE ACCEPTANCE — The U.S. Mint sold out of the Truman Coin & Chronicles set in 15 minutes. Mintage of the set was 17,000 and most of them were flipped for significant profits.

??NEW ISSUES MEET WIDE ACCEPTANCE VOL. 2 — The Proof 2015-W American Eagle platinum $100 coin was limited to a mintage of 4,000 and sold out in five minutes on the U. S. Mint’s website and phone lines. Lucky buyers either got a rare coin or flipped it for a decent profit.

??GONE TOO SOON — Dwight Brockman, Cheyenne, Wyo., coin dealer. Jay Cline, longtime dealer in Standing Liberty quarters. Shane Downing, publisher of the Coin Dealer Newsletter. Lloyd Gabbert, advanced Morgan dollar collector. Chuck Moore, California dealer who specialized in Canadian coins. Evelyn Newman, wife of famous numismatist Eric P. Newman. Gary Overton, Florida dealer and Florida United Numismatists board member. Diane Piret, driving force behind the Industry Council for Tangible Assets for many years. David Queller, longtime collector of patterns, silver dollars, and just about every denomination both circulation and Proof strikes. Margo Russell, editor of Coin World for 23 years. Henry “Hank” Schab, expert on John Chalmers coinage and a founder of the Colonial Coin Club of Annapolis, Md. John Turner, Austin, Ind., coin dealer.

??GREYSHEET CHANGES HANDS — John Feigenbaum and a group of investors bought the Coin Dealer Newsletter, more often called the Greysheet. John was previously the CEO of David Lawrence Rare Coins and he has pledged to improve the quality of information on the Greysheet. Good luck, John!

To read more, go to my website www.richuhrichcoins.com/newsletter.php.

Rich Uhrich is a coin dealer from Hershey, Pa., who specializes in Bust and Seated Liberty silver rare U.S. coins.