US Coins

When coins from major auctions are offered again

By Steve Roach

Published: Nov 23, 2016, 4 AM

A 1797 Draped Bust, 16 Star half dime graded MS-66 by PCGS, with CAC sticker, sold for $123,375 at a recent Heritage sale, just a smidgen less than it sold for last year at the first Pogue auction.

Original images courtesy of Stack's Bowers Galleries

A 1797 Draped Bust, 16 Star half dime graded MS-66 by PCGS, with CAC sticker, sold for $123,375 at a recent Heritage sale, just a smidgen less than it sold for last year at the first Pogue auction. Its more than seven trips to auction in the past decade have made the coin appear more common than it actually is, plus the collector pool that was chasing it a few years ago has changed.

Original images courtesy of Stack's Bowers Galleries.

In looking at recent coin auctions, one can’t help but notice the number of coins that return to auction quickly.

In reviewing Heritage’s recent New York sale held Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, I noticed one coin that crossed the auction block seven times in the past decade before being offered, again, on Nov. 1. An 1896-O Barber quarter dollar graded Mint State 67 by Professional Coin Grading Service, it failed to meet a reserve of $28,000 and was available after the auction for $32,900 (the reserve plus Heritage’s 17.5 percent buyer’s fee.)

The high consignor expectations were surprising, especially considering that the coin had sold earlier this year at Heritage’s May 1 Central States Numismatic Society auction for $29,375 and before that at Heritage’s October 2014 sale of the Gene Gardner Collection, Part II, where, then graded by Numismatic Guaranty Corp., it brought $22,325.

Connect with Coin World:

Prior to that it sold at Bowers and Merena’s November 2009 Baltimore Auction for $43,125. Back at the 2009 Florida United Numismatists auction it realized $37,375, and it soared at Heritage’s August 2007 American Numismatic Association auction where it sold for $80,500.

What was different in 2007, when it sold for $80,500, and more recently, when it didn’t find a bidder at a much more modest level? In 2007 several collectors were putting together sets of high grade Barber quarter dollars and the competition increased prices.

The coin’s rarity is unquestioned and it has long been considered among the absolute finest known, tied with one other example also graded MS-67 at PCGS and bested by a lone MS-68 example listed on Numismatic Guaranty Corp.’s census.

Yet, its many trips to auction have had the effect of making the coin appear more common than it actually is. With the 2014 Gardner sale at the $22,325 price level and a reoffering so soon after the last auction at the Central States show, the prior underbidders would likely not be willing to stretch to a higher price level.

Coins from the collection of D. Brent Pogue have generally stayed with their original owners and few have resurfaced on the market. At Heritage’s recent New York auction was one that did — Pogue’s 1797 Draped Bust, 16 Star half dime graded MS-66 by PCGS sold for $123,375.

The price was a bit less than the $129,250 that the coin brought on May 19, 2015, at the first Pogue auction by Stack’s Bowers Galleries in conjunction with Sotheby’s.

Considered the finest known of its variety, it looked especially gorgeous in the Pogue catalog where it had been photographed prior to encapsulation.

Since the Pogue auction it received a green Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker, indicating quality within the grade (as have many coins from the Pogue Collection). It remained in its original Pogue slab with the special Pogue insert, a trait that the market finds highly desirable for Pogue coins.