Heritage’s Sept. 7 to 13 Long Beach, Calif., auctions included the Twelve Oaks Collection of rare U.S. gold coins assembled by a Midwest collector.

Noteworthy for its scope and size, that collection realized $8.5 million across nearly 2,600 lots, and Heritage’s Long Beach auctions overall brought more than $31 million.

Leading the Twelve Oaks offerings was a 1795 Capped Bust gold $5 half eagle graded Mint State 62 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp. that sold for $141,000. More selections from the same collection are set for Heritage’s upcoming coin auctions in Dallas and New York City. 

Here is one of three coins from the Long Beach auctions that we're profiling in this week's Market Analysis:

The Lot:

1848 Coronet, CAL. gold $2.50 quarter eagle, PCGS Very Fine 25.

The Price:

$32,900

The Story: 

Collectors will long debate whether the 1,389 1848 Coronet gold $2.50 quarter eagles with CAL. stamped above the eagle’s head on the reverse are truly the first U.S. commemorative coins. The letters were stamped at the Philadelphia Mint above the eagle to identify coins minted from the first gold sent to the Philadelphia Mint from California.

Connect with Coin World:  

Sign up for our free eNewsletter
Like us on Facebook  
Follow us on Twitter

This one, graded Very Fine 25 by Professional Coin Grading Service, realized $32,900.

Coronet gold quarter eagle: The Coronet $2.50 quarter eagle series may appear to be a boring, redundant series on the surface, but it is full of scarce dates of low mintages, very low mintage Proof coins and many interesting die varieties. How much are Coronet quarter eagles worth?

The simplicity of the punch means that fakes of this issue are frequently seen, though third-party grading has removed many from the market. A single CAL. punch was used, but the exact placement of the punch varies subtly from coin to coin. On genuine examples the obverse is not flattened where the coin was punched on the reverse, since researchers believe that the stamping likely occurred while the coins were still in the press.

Keep reading analysis of Twelve Oaks Collection gold coins:
		Privately struck coin that is a ‘historic reminder’ of Gold Rush dazzles at Twelve Oaks sale: Moffat & Co. was "the most important and longest-lasting of the California private minters, and their coins today are historic reminders of the heady Gold Rush days.”
		An affordable example of the typically high-priced 1877-CC Coronet gold half eagle: The coin sold provided a convenient entry point for a collector to purchase this otherwise expensive and rare Carson City Mint issue with a low mintage of 8,680.