All eyes in the coin hobby will be watching Heritage’s auctions in Fort Lauderdale between Jan. 4 and 9, held in conjunction with the Florida United Numismatists 2017 convention Jan. 5 to 8. 

The firm will offer 18 featured collections included this year in the U.S. coin auctions, along with hundreds of other consignments from collectors and dealers. Two additional Heritage auctions featuring U.S. and world paper money are also scheduled for the convention.

Top Morgan dollar

Morgan dollars remain one of the most popular and widely collected American coins and the FUN auctions includes more than a thousand. Few (if any) examples are better preserved than an 1880-S Morgan dollar graded Mint State 69 Prooflike by PCGS. As Heritage writes, it is simply the finest Morgan dollar that money can buy. 

PCGS uses the Prooflike design­ation on Morgan dollars that show a clear reflection in the fields on both sides from 2 to 4 inches away. 

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Most of the highest grade Morgan dollars are either an 1880-S or 1881-S example, as these two issues were well-produced by the San Francisco Mint and Mint State examples of both dates have been saved in large quantities. 

Heritage reports wildly lustrous surfaces with only the lightest hints of pale blue and rose in the fields. It adds, “Only the tiniest luster breaks keep this coin from perfection; there is no flaw that could be called an ‘abrasion’ in the ordinary sense,” before advising potential bidders, “This is a coin that stands alone, impeccable and seemingly untouchable — yet for the brief time it takes to sell an auction lot, it will be ownable. Seize the moment.” 

It has been offered three times at auction in the past dozen years. At a 2005 auction by Superior Galleries it sold for $59,800 and Heritage has offered it twice previously. At its 2006 FUN auction it brought $80,500 and in an October 2011 sale it sold for $86,250.