Philadelphia No Motto Half Eagles & Eagles

I’m beginning to gain a new-found appreciation for --gasp!-- No Motto half eagles and eagles from the Philadelphia mint. Read on for some thoughts about these coins and why I’m beginning to see them in a new light. As I’ve mentioned more than once, No Motto half eagles and eagles from Philadelphia have never ranked high on the list of popular coins in the world of DWN. I’ve found these coins to be somewhat mundane and boring and haven’t really bothered all that much with them. So what’s happening to change my mind?

I love originality. It saddens me to see that such a large percentage of branch mint gold issues have been scrubbed and processed and now look like Frankencoins. Ironically, because of their lack of popularity, the major coin doctors have (temporarily) ignored No Motto Philadelphia half eagles and eagles. In essence, the connoisseur of truly original mid-19th century coins has almost nowhere to turn other than Philadelphia.

This was really clear to me when I was viewing the recent auctions in Milwaukee as part of the ANA festivities. I disliked most of the branch mint coins. But I saw a decent number of No Motto Philadelphia half eagles and eagles in the AU50 to MS63 range that were choice, original and quite attractive. Had my anti-Philadelphia gold prejudice begun to fall by the wayside?

Now, before you drop your jaw on the table and think that I’ve committed numisheresy, let me expand on what I just stated. I’m certainly not abandoning my strong interest in branch mint coins and starting to focus on Philadelphia coins; that’s far from the case. What I am realizing, though, is that these Philly issues may be more interesting than I thought.

Here’s a few reasons why I like these coins:

The collector of average means can put together nice date runs from the 1840’s and the 1850’s. As an example, there are really no rare Philadelphia half eagles struck between 1839 and 1861. Nearly every date can be found in nice AU55 to AU58 for well under $2,000 (in some cases under $1,000). If you can’t afford a nice collection of Charlotte, Carson City, Dahlonega or New Orleans gold, you can still participate in the Philadelphia gold market.

The coins are well made and are found with original surfaces with greater frequency than their branch mint counterparts. For the collector who insists on originality, you will find many more attractive pieces than in the branch mint series.

This is a virtually uncollected area. Good news: you have very little competition. Bad news: when you go to sell your collection, no one may care.

If you like varieties, this is a very fertile area. Other than Harry Bass, almost no one has ever searched through these issues for major varieties and I’m willing to bet some very interesting coins are awaiting discovery.

No Motto Philadelphia half eagles and eagles are close to a century older than Indian head half eagles and eagles yet they offer the gold coin collector a lot more bang for the buck. $2,500 won’t buy you very much in the way of an interesting or rare Indian Head half eagle. But it will buy you a pretty scarce Liberty Head half eagle from the 1840’s.

Unlike some of the 20th century gold series, No Motto Philadelphia gold has never really been promoted or heavily marketed. Price levels have stayed flat for many years and there are some real sleepers in both the half eagle and eagle series awaiting discovery by the student of the series. As I stated above, I’m not planning on abandoning my focus on branch mint gold coins any time soon. But after some careful thinking, I’ve decided that maybe No Motto Philadelphia gold coins aren’t the Numismatic Pariah that I thought they were for many years.

Market Musings

It’s a rainy Monday morning here in Portland and the sudden lack of sunshine is leaving me highly unmotivated. To try and shake out the cobwebs, I’m going to touch on a few miscellaneous topics of interest. If I were a syndicated folksy newspaper columnist, I’d call this Monday Mornin’ Market Musings. Lucky for you, I’m not. Sales of the Wexford Collection of Dahlonega Coinage have been excellent with close to $500,000 placed within the first few weeks of being posted on my website. I have noted a few definite trends thus far.

I have been surprised (but not shocked) by the extreme popularity of the key dates in this collection. One of things that was especially nifty about the Wexford coins was that nearly all the key Dahlonega issues were present and, for the most part, they were extremely nice. I could have sold half a dozen examples of the 1861-D gold dollar in PCGS AU55 and probably even more examples of the 1838-D half eagle in PCGS EF45.

While many of the coins were bought by existing clients, I did sell coins to at least two brand new people including one who had never bought a Dahlonega piece.

Two other observations can be gleaned from the first few weeks of sales. The first is that the Dahlonega quarter eagle series is clearly alive and well. I sold a number of expensive, key issues to serious collectors. The second is that gold dollars are a little weaker than I would have expected. I did sell the three most expensive gold dollars in the set but other examples, including a few that I felt would sell quickly, have not yet found new homes.

One last thing. In my rush to get the coins cataloged and imaged and out on the web for a few days before I took them to the ANA show, I didn’t have time to fully research them. It turns out that the 1840-D quarter eagle is the ex: James Stack coin while the 1856-D quarter eagle was formerly in the Bass collection. The new owners of each coin were quickly able to deduce this and I congratulate them on these terrific new additions to their collections.

I’ve been asked by a number of collectors how I think CAC is affecting the coin market. I can’t really speak for areas like Indian Cents or Buffalo Nickels but I think CAC is having a very strong affect on selected areas of the United States gold coin market.

In my experience, CAC is extremely tough on generic issues, especially common date Saint Gaudens double eagles. I have heard of dealers sending groups of 25 or 50 common date Saints in MS65 to CAC and having as few as two or three stickered. Because of this fact, MS65 and better Saints with CAC stickers are currently trading for significant premiums.

Another area that is definitely being affected by CAC is early gold. CDN Bids for early gold are continuing to go up but these bids are posted by John Albanese and are reflective of only CAC quality coins.

What this has done to the early gold market is to make it, effectively, two-tiered. As an example, John’s current bid for an 1812 half eagle in MS62 is $15,000. My guess is that a really nice, CAC-quality MS62 is pretty easy to sell for $15,000-16,000 on a wholesale level and might be worth as much as $17,500-18,500 on a retail level. But a nasty, overgraded MS62 example of the same date is not going to be of interest to John (or any other quality-oriented CAC dealer) at $15,000; it is more likely a coin with a wholesale value of $13,000-14,000. What the challenge for buyers of coins of coins like this is to determine which 1812 half eagle in MS62 is ultimately worth $13,000 and which one is worth $16,000+.

Speaking of early gold, I’ve had a few people ask me lately if they feel that prices on this material are going to continue to rise in the coming year. My answer to this is “yes but with an asterisk.”

As I mentioned above, the early gold market is becoming much more selective; partially on account of CAC. If coins like the aforementioned 1812 half eagle in MS62 are going to continue to bring these strong new price levels (remember, this is an issue that was trading for $8,000-9,000 just three years ago) they have to be very solid for the grade. By this, I don’t mean that every 1812 half eagle in an MS62 has to be an upgrade candidate. But for me (or John Albanese or whoever else) to pay $15,000 for one, it has to have good luster, a lack of significant wear or rub, nice color and a reasonably pleasing overall appearance.

I believe that there are certain areas of the early gold market that have become very pricey. For me to pay $35,000 for a 1799 eagle in MS61, it has got to be a nice coin that I feel is really “new.” If it is recolored, obviously worn, full of unsightly hairlines or covered with goop, I’m out at the current price levels. Same goes with Heraldic Eagle and Capped Bust Left half eagles in AU55 to MS64. If they aren’t really solid, original coins then I have a hard time liking them at current levels.

Conversely, there are other areas of the early gold market that I still like. As you no doubt know, I am a big fan of nearly all early quarter eagles, especially the Draped Bust series of 1821-1827 and the “mini-Fat Heads” of 1829-1834. And despite very strong price advances in recent years, I still feel that the half eagles of 1813-1834 form one of the most interesting and exciting series of United States coins for collectors with large budgets.

Most importantly, the demand for early gold remains strong. In addition to many avid collectors, there are a few coin funds that love early gold and they are continuing to buy it as long as the coins are “all there.”

The Five Year Hold

Back in the Old Days of coin collecting (say 1998...) we dealers continually preached the mantra of the Five Year Hold. What the Five Year Hold said was that in order for your coin purchases to have a chance to mature financially (a euphemism, of course, for making a little dough...) you needed to hold your coins at least five years. But in the Age of the Internet, this maxim seems to have gone the way of the numismatic fixed price list.Revisiting this maxim in 2008, perhaps our sage advice wasn’t so anachronistic after all. I personally believe that many collectors have been fed unrealistic expectations by auction companies and large retailers and that they honestly believe that a coin they purchase in 2008 can—and should—be flipped in 2009 for a profit.

It’s hard to argue with the auction companies when they show you results like the 1805 quarter dollar selling for $402,500 in 2008 after bringing $74,750 exactly a year earlier. I mean every coin in this market is going to show a 5 ½ fold increase in a year, right?

I would contend that for every one of the incredible grand slams like the aforementioned 1805 quarter, there are other coins that show minimal appreciation after a short holding period. In fact, it is more likely that the typical coin is actually worth less after a year than its purchase price. Which is why the Five Year Hold might not be such a bad strategy to (re)consider after all.

Let’s say that you decide to put together a set of Type One Liberty Head double eagles. If you came to a specialized dealer and said that you wanted to complete your set in a year my guess is that the answer you’d get would be somewhere along the line of “well, it could be done but you’d have to cut some corners.” But I’m willing to bet that there a number of less ethical dealers who figure “hey, the guy is going to spend his money with someone so it might as well be me.” And our new collector would probably then be off to the races.

A year later Mr. Double Eagle is done and, if form holds, he’s already bored and looking for something else to do. So he’s ready to sell. Overlooking the fact that he’s probably bought more than his share of dud coins because he was in such a rush, he’s likely to learn the hard way that his collection, while no doubt very valuable, might not bring him the insta-profit that he was promised.

When you hold coins for a very short period of time, you run into at least three problems:

1. Your collection isn’t fresh. The chances are good that at least some of your coins have come directly (or indirectly) from auctions and can easily be pedigreed from these sales. Other coins may have bounced around from dealer to dealer and have a “staleness factor” that only insiders in a specialized market area are aware of. By holding your coins for at least five years, suddenly they appear a lot fresher. Most coin collectors and dealers have relatively short memories and 2009’s stale set of , say, Indian Head half eagles could well be fresh and interesting in 2014.

2. You are paying fees coming and going as a collector that you have to recapture before you can make a profit. Let’s say you are a newbie and you are exceptionally lucky to have hooked up with an honest, knowledgeable dealer who sells you very nice coins at competitive prices. You are still likely to be buying coins at 10-20% above this dealers cost. And when you go to sell your coins, you are going to be paying anywhere from 5% (unlikely) to 20%. So even in a situation where the collector is dealing with someone very fair his in/out fees are at least 15-40%. That’s a big hit to make up in a year and this is another reason why longer terms holds make sense. And that’s not even taking into consideration the fact that most collectors never find these trustworthy, honest dealers and wind-up dealing with the big budget, big mark-up guys.

3. By going in and out of an area quickly you are not allowing a full market cycle to occur. Chances are, collectors who rush into a series are doing so because of a promotion and the series in question has already begun an upward climb. Unless this is a series with a strong collector base that can maintain an upward climb without external stimuli it is likely that by the time the collector is ready to sell, the train has already left the proverbial station.

The reason that #3 has not always held true to form in recent years has been the phenomenon of the Set Registry. I can think of a number of sets that have been assembled quickly and then sold for a good profit to Registry Set collectors. But what if your set was the dumping ground for other quickly-assembled sets and there is no one else waiting in the wings to clean up after your mess?

The bottom line is that serious, high level coin collecting is more complicated than most new collectors and investors think and it is extremely important to find a trusted professional to work with you when assembling a set.

Key Date Price Performance

At the end of my last blog, I mentioned that the price gains in the coin market that many collectors and investors have been seeing are somewhat misleading. My guess is that if you took a random sample of 100 miscellaneous coins and calculated their price appreciation since 2003, fewer than 20% would show plusses. Some would even show minuses. If you had asked me in 2003 which coins would have shown the greatest gains, I would have split my answer(s) in two: traditional “trophy” coins and popular key dates in the most avidly collected series. My answers have turned out to be partially right as key dates have performed exceptionally well. What has really surprised me, though, is that the traditional trophy coins that have inevitably led the way in past bull markets have not necessarily been the best performers this time around.

I consider traditional trophy coins to be things like Stellas, High Reliefs, Pan-Pac Round and Octagonal $50’s, Proof gold (especially high denominations), etc. In the past, rich guys who didn’t know much about coins tended to gravitate towards these categories because they were big and sexy.

But things have been different this time around and I attribute this mainly to a coin market that is far, far more information-driven than in the past. In 1998, the rich guy who wanted to buy a few neat coins for his portfolio had no easy way to figure out how rare something was. Additionally, he was likely to be dealing with a salesman (as opposed to a numismatist) at a large marketing-oriented firm who had little knowledge about coins. Since both parties tended to be dealing from ignorance, it made sense that the unsophisticated seller would focus on a big, shiny High Relief or a Stella as the unsophisticated buyer was most likely to relate to such a coin.

Fast forward to 2008 and the market has changed. Information about coins has spread virally on the Internet and now, with an investment of a few hours, people can read a lot of good information about a wide variety of topics. In addition, the person selling coins to the big money buyers is likely to be more sophisticated as well. He needs a more interesting product to set himself apart from his competitors and the Old School Trophy Coins of the 1990’s suddenly seem passé. Just as importantly, the new breed of buyers can go on-line and see the population figures for coins like Stellas and High Reliefs. Due to significant resubmissions, these former rarities now seem common. The new buyers want exceedingly rare coins that no one else can have.

And this is where the New Right Coins come into play. If you follow auctions, you’ll note that in the last year or so, the types of coins that have been bringing jaw-dropping money are things like 1804 Dimes in AU55 and 1850 Quarters in PR68 and 1920-S Eagles in MS67. All three of these are truly great coins but they are not coins that, five years ago, I would have expected collectors or investors to have paid record-shattering prices for. In the old coin market these coins were “really neat but really exotic.” Today, they are the Right Coins.

Not everyone, of course, can afford to spend $632,500 on an 1804 Dime or $480,000 on a Proof 1850 Quarter. And, interestingly enough, lower grade examples of these same issues are not necessarily going to drive big money new collectors into a feeding frenzy (my guess is that the collector who paid $480,000 for his PR68 1850 quarter would have been A LOT less interested in a PR64 example of this date).

So what are the right coins for those of us who don’t have an extra $480,000 lying around to buy a Proof 1850 quarter? (and, by the way, I don’t mean to “pick” on Mr. 1850 Quarter as I think this is a great coin...just not one I expected to see sell for nearly half a million bucks...)

In this market, I would look to be a value-oriented collector or investor and would stick with coins that are very scarce to very rare, “interesting” from the standpoint of history, aesthetically appealing and old.

In the realm of rare date gold, some of the coins that I think will continue to perform well in spite of the vicissitudes of the market include the following:

-Virtually any 18th century issue

-Virtually any Liberty Head coin that is either the finest known or solidly in the Condition Census

-Any very low mintage coin (for business strikes, this is generally 2,500 or lower; for Proofs this is generally 50 or lower)

-Any coin pedigreed to a great collection (Bass, Garrett, Norweb, Eliasberg and a few others are great collections. The Rainy Day collection of CC Double Eagles IS NOT a great collection...)

-Virtually any coin that is historically significant (1861-D gold dollar, 1838-C and 1838-D half eagles, 1854-D three dollar gold, 1879-O double eagle, etc.)

-Coins that have original skin and a great, original appearance

-Any coin in a popular series that is rare and in demand. This is a huge range; from Rarity-7 Bust Half Dollar die varieties to key date Morgans in perfect, original AU55 to important one-year type coins like the 1808 quarter eagle to rare date Saints in MS63 and better with CAC stickers.

Baltimore ANA Show Review

Being an eternal realist when it comes to the coin market, I wasn’t expecting this year’s ANA show to be a good one; let alone a great one. With the unrelentingly bad economic news in the United States (let alone the world) it seemed inevitable to me that most collectors would be slowing down. As usual, I was wrong. This year’s ANA was outstanding for me and many of the dealers that I spoke to (and who I trust) told me that it was a great show for them as well. The show began for me with the Stack’s sale of the S.S. New York shipwreck on Sunday. I had a feeling these coins would go strong, given the fact that the quality was far nicer than other shipwreck coins and the quantity was smaller. I expected that the typical “shipwreck premium” would be about 15-25%. In some cases this was true but in most, the premium was substantially higher; especially in the case of lower value coins that were being bought for their “knick-knack” appeal.

There were a few very important coins in the hoard and certainly among the best was the highest graded 1845-D quarter eagle, an NGC MS64. It sold to a very knowledgeable dealer for $63,250 which I thought was quite strong. Other Dahlonega coins in the sale went very strongly as well. Notable prices included $18,400 for an 1839-D half eagle in NGC AU58, $31,050 for an 1840-D half eagle in NGC MS62 and $51,750 for an 1842-D Large Date half eagle in NGC MS61.

Some outstanding New Orleans gold was featured and it brought remarkable prices. An NGC MS64 1844-O half eagle sold for $28,750, an NGC MS63* 1845-O half eagle brought $43,125, an impressive 1844-O eagle in NGC MS63 sold for a record $63,250 and an NGC MS62 1845-O eagle was bid to $54,625.

The show began in earnest on Tuesday with PNG day. I have never been a big fan of PNG day for one simple reason: because of the fact that only a limited number of dealers have tables, the cavernous bourse floor seems like a ghost town. I did some business but mainly concentrated on buying. As I expected, there was a shortage of interesting coins; a theme that you will no doubt read on other show reports from specialist dealers like myself.

The regular show started on Wednesday. With all of the dealers now set up, the huge hall felt more inviting. When the doors opened to the public, a stampede of collectors headed right towards my table. Could this possibly represent a tidal wave of Dahlonega collectors? A Tsunami of Charlotte aficionados? No such luck; all the collectors were headed for the Bust Half Dollar collection being sold by Sheridan Downey right in front of me.

I spent a good part of the show either at the table or out buying coins. My observations about the current rare gold coin market as are follows:

1. It is amazing how little nice material there is available. I would have been happy to have bought, say, ten interesting Dahlonega coins and a bunch of New Orleans eagles. I came home with very few of either.

2. CAC stickers are beginning to have a positive effect on liquidity, particularly in the high end of the market. As an example, I had three expensive pieces of early date gold with stickers on them and I wound up selling them to a collector who I have never done business with before. I fully believe that the stickers helped make the transaction happen.

3. Collector demand for interesting gold coins remains very strong. It seemed like every hour or so, another dealer would come up to my table and tell me that he had someone interested in some sort of gold issue. I sold a number of coins to dealers that I don’t do much—if any—business with at a typical coin show.

4. Without sounding completely self-serving, it continues to amaze me what so-so quality coins bring at auction. I expect great quality, one-of-a-kind coins and major rarities to do well at auction but I wonder why collectors are content to pay 10-20% more for average to above-average coins. Maybe said collectors should give more serious consideration to looking through dealer’s inventories.

One of my favorite things to do at an ANA show is to look at the exhibits. This year the Smithsonian had a small but awesome group of coins from the National Numismatic collection including an 1821 Proof set (the half eagle had to be seen to be believed), an 1843 Proof set (including all three denominations in gold) and an 1860 Paquet Double Eagle pattern in gold that, when viewed from the reverse appeared to grade at least Proof-68. There was also a group of Massachusetts colonial silver belonging to a well-known collector that was stunning.

Where does the market go from here? I think the next month or so will be interesting. There are no coin shows of note until Long Beach in September and my guess is that most dealers left ANA with money to spend. My guess is that there will be strong demand for good coins between now and then. Some of the money that is circling the market will get absorbed by the strong pre-Long Beach and Long Beach auctions that loom on the horizon but there will still be an excellent opportunity for collectors who have had coins for longer than five years to sell into the market.

In closing, I’d like to point out that this generally upbeat show report does not take into account one simple fact: to take advantage of this still-strong market, you have to have the right coins. At this point, you are probably sick of my saying this over and over and are wondering “what exactly ARE the right coins?” Check back later this week and I will be writing a blog that discusses what I think the right coins are. (A cliffhanger...I love it!!)

2008 Baltimore ANA Show Preview

Am I the only person who finds it astonishing that another ANA is upon us? Jeez, it seems like I just got back from last year’s Marathon in Milwaukee. But here we are already in late July and it’s time for the Battle in Baltimore. What can we expect from this bellwether show? If you are of a certain age, you remember when ANA was THE coin show of the year. It still is a critical event on the coin circuit despite being somewhat watered down; with pre-shows and a zillion auctions held before, during and after. This is my 26th consecutive ANA (I have attended every one since the 1982 Boston show) and I still feel a tinge of excitement as the days countdown.

My gut feeling is that this year’s ANA is going to be very strong from a wholesale standpoint and decent but not great from a collector standpoint.

With the uncertainty in the economy (and that’s putting it a bit mildly with today’s headlines...) I have the feeling that some would-be buyers are either going to avoid the temptation of the ANA or, if they do attend, it will be more for social and educational purposes than for buying.

Does that mean that there won’t be any action on the bourse floor? Hardly. Really good coins sell very well if the economy is soaring or circling the drain. The pool of potential buyers may not be as great in a bad economy but the number of great coins is much smaller now than in the past. Any dealer who has a case full of interesting coins at the ANA will certainly do retail business. Just not as much, I think, as two or three years ago.

Remember when I mentioned above that I think the show will be good from a wholesale perspective? Coin dealers making a living dealing coins and, at this point in time, nearly all dealers are short of useful inventory. Whether they can pay for these coins is an entirely different kettle o’ fish but I think the wholesale demand for coins right now remains strong.

What will sell at ANA? The Usual Suspects. Very high quality, choice original coins in nearly all categories will be easy sellers, as will key dates and rarities. Early gold and Proof gold continue to be in demand and examples for sale on the bourse should be very actively sought since the auctions do not contain as much of this material as usual. CAC certified coins appear to be readily gaining in acceptance and popularity and many dealers will have long want lists for CAC’d material.

What will sell at ANA? The Usual Suspects. Very high quality, choice original coins in nearly all categories will be easy sellers, as will key dates and rarities. Early gold and Proof gold continue to be in demand and examples for sale on the bourse should be very actively sought since the auctions do not contain as much of this material as usual. CAC certified coins appear to be readily gaining in acceptance and popularity and many dealers will have long want lists for CAC’d material.

For a number of reasons, I am not nearly as focused on the various pre-show and during-show auctions this year. The sales are not without interesting material. Stack’s is selling the S.S. New York shipwreck gold coins which include some great branch mint pieces and they have a Hard Times Token collection that—if I collected this series—would excite me greatly.

Heritage has their usual high value sale with a seemingly unlimited number of rarities. I found a few things of interest among the pages and pages of lots. Someone has been hoarding 1834 Crosslet Half Eagles and 1863 Double Eagles over the years and they have decided to sell their holdings. There are five 1834 Crosslet 4 Half Eagles ranging from VF30 to AU55 and I personally can’t recall having ever seen more than two examples in any one auction. Even more remarkable is the hoard of thirteen 1863 double eagles ranging from EF45 to AU58. I’m not sure if these all belong to one collector but even if they don’t, this is a remarkable aggregation.

If you are coming to the coin show, one thing I would urge you to do is look at this year’s Smithsonian exhibit on Proof coinage. Having just read about the coins in this exhibit even I am excited and look forward to seeing some of these priceless Gems.

1841-D Quarter Eagle Graded MS63 by PCGS

As a leader in the area of rare United States gold, I get to handle some pretty interesting coins on a regular basis. But every now and then there is a piece that comes into my inventory that is so truly exceptional that it gives me pause and makes consider keeping it instead of selling it. The most recent of these was an 1841-D quarter eagle graded MS63 by PCGS that is not only the finest known example of the date but one of the most aesthetically attractive Dahlonega gold coins of any date or denomination that I have seen. I rank the 1841-D as the fifth rarest of the twenty quarter eagles produced at this mint. There were a total of 4,164 struck of which an estimated 75-100 exist. When available, the typical 1841-D grades VF to EF and is characterized by poor eye appeal and extensively abraded surfaces. There are probably fewer than fifteen properly graded AU’s known as well as four in Uncirculated.

The four Uncirculated examples are as follows:

1. Kansas Collection, ex: Doug Winter, Wexford Collection, Doug Winter, Heritage 1/04: 1017 ($40,250), Green Pond Collection, Doug Winter, Bowers and Merena 11/98: 2076 ($46,000; as PCGS MS62), Heritage 2/90: 1264 ($15,000), Vintage Auctions 8/89: 286 (unsold), David Akers’ session of Auction ’89: 859 ($22,000). Graded MS63 by PCGS.

2. Private collection, ex: Heritage 4/06: 1496 ($46,000), Duke’s Creek Collection (as PCGS MS62), Hancock and Harwell, William Miller collection, Heritage 1993 ANA: 5508 ($25,300). Graded MS63 by NGC.

3. Georgia Collection, ex: Larry Jackson, David Akers 5/98: 1735 ($35,200), John Pittman collection, Stack’s 10/60: 3192 ($270), Milton Holmes collection. Graded MS61 by NGC.

4. Kansas Collection (duplicate), ex: Doug Winter 4/00, Mark Hurst collection, Heritage 1999 FUN: 7627 ($21,850; as PCGS AU58), North Georgia Collection, Stack’s 10/94: 867 ($22,000), James Stack Collection. Graded MS60 by NGC.

As you can tell from this list, I have had the good fortune to handle two of the four Uncirculated 1841-D quarter eagles and I have handled the finest known on three different occasions.

Let’s take a look at the coin itself. Here is a superb quality photo of the finest known 1841-D quarter eagle. Study the obverse and reverse for a few moments and then let me take you on a “tour” of it and explain why I think it is such a great piece.

What grabs me first about this coin is its coloration. You will note that the obverse and reverse both show deep brownish-gold coloration. If you ever wondered what exactly does a 160+ year old gold coin with completely original color look like, the answer is “like this.”

You will also note a bit of light haze on the surfaces. “Haze” often has the connotation of a coin having had a chemical applied to its surfaces in order to hide hairlines but on this coin, the haze comes from the way that it had been stored in the past; probably in an old coin cabinet or in a manila coin envelope. Before the era of extensive coin doctoring it was not uncommon to see choice, high quality gold coins with this sort of natural haze on the surfaces.

Next, look at the strike. The 1841-D quarter eagle is generally seen with a pretty good strike but this example was absolutely hammered with complete details on both the obverse and the reverse. If anyone doubts that the Dahlonega mint was capable of producing a product on the par with the Philadelphia mint from time to time, take a look at this coin and re-think your answer.

You will probably also note a thin, winding die crack on the obverse and a major bisecting crack on the reverse. This is the late die state of Winter Variety 2-C.

The depth of the coloration makes it hard to see the luster in its entirety but it is abundant. The texture is frosty and semi-prooflike, the blending of which creates a really unique look that I have not seen on more than a handful of Dahlonega gold coins.

The surfaces show a few light marks (mostly in the right obverse field) but they are very clean. When comparing this coin to the few MS63 and better Dahlonega quarter eagles that exist, I would certainly call this 1841-D a very high end example and I think it has claims to an MS64 grade.

In my experience, quarter eagles are among the hardest of the four denominations produced at this mint to find in high grade and it is exceptionally hard to find any coins that grade MS63 or better. I can only think of one true Gem Dahlonega quarter eagle (the Duke’s Creek 1847-D that was graded MS65 by NGC) and probably not more than three to five single coins that, by my standards, grade MS64.

If you are collecting Dahlonega quarter eagles by date or if you are a type collector looking for a single very high grade piece, my advice is to be aggressive on the very rare occasions that a coin like this 1841-D become available. Many years may pass before a comparable—or better—piece become available again.

Key Date Coins

I had an interesting conversation with another coin dealer the other day. We were discussing what we are buying (and not buying) right now and he mentioned to me that, for the last few years, he has been primarily focused on buying only the key date coins in all series, even in such esoteric areas as Charlotte and Dahlonega gold. Focusing on keys has been a great strategy in mainstream series such as Barber coins or Morgan dollars. Issues like the 1901-S quarter and the 1893-S dollar have clearly outperformed the rest of the market during the last six to nine years. This got me to thinking: is this performance also the same in the market areas in which I specialize? To determine this I decided to select a small group of key dates from each series and to then compare them with a “generic” date as a baseline. The results are interesting.

The first item I chose was the ever-popular 1861-D gold dollar. As a generic comparison, I selected an 1859-D gold dollar. The former is the key Type Three issue from this mint while the latter is one of the more common dates.

In June 2000 Heritage auctioned a PCGS AU55 example of the 1861-D gold dollar for $12,075. Today, a similarly graded 1861-D would probably fetch over $30,000. I think it’s a safe bet to say that this issue has at least doubled—if not tripled—in value since the beginning of the decade.

In comparison, an AU55 example of the 1859-D gold dollar in AU55 would bring around $3,750-4,000 at auction today. In looking back at auction records from the 2000-2002 era, I noted at least three AU55 coins selling for $3,000-3,300. The price growth of the 1859-D gold dollar has been marginal at best. This does not totally surprise me, given that the Dahlonega market is very collector-oriented and that this sort of market is generally skewed towards rare dates or “neat” specific coins.

(NOTE: An important factor that I am not going to delve deeply into here is gradeflation. Even though the 1859-D gold dollar in AU55 appears to have experienced little price growth in the last decade, it is likely that coins sold as AU55 in 2002 are, by today’s standards, at least AU58; if not better. Gradeflation is, for many more common coins, what has caused the greatest amount of price increases).

The second item I chose was the 1842-C Small Date half eagle. This is the rarest collectible gold coin from Charlotte. As a generic comparison I selected an 1849-C half eagle. It is one of the more common issues from this mint.

Heritage sold a pair of comparatively high grade 1842-C Small Date half eagles in their June 2008 auction. A PCGS AU58 brought $43,125 while an NGC AU55 realized $31,050. Looking back, I noted that Heritage sold a PCGS AU58 in April 2002 for $55,200 and a PCGS AU55 in January 2003 for $35,650. The price performance of this key issue has been poor in the last five years and the 1842-C Small Date in AU is clearly worth less today than it was in the past.

In AU55, an 1849-C half eagle is currently worth $3,500-4,000. Looking back at auction records from around 2002, the same coin was worth basically the same.

What I think this shows is that in an area like Charlotte gold that hasn’t been very popular during recent years, even though a coin is a key issue (like the 1842-C Small Date half eagle) this doesn’t mean it will rise in value. It seems obvious to say this but, no matter how rare a coin is, if it isn’t part of a popular series then it is unlikely to increase in price.

How about Carson City double eagles; an area of the market that was popular in 2002 and is even more popular today? I chose the 1871-CC as my key date and the 1892-CC as its generic counterpart.

Current values for About Uncirculated 1871-CC double eagles are as follows: AU50= $32,500-35,000; AU53= $40,000-45,000 and AU55= $50,000-55,000+. Looking back to early 2003, Heritage sold a PCGS AU50 example for $14,950 in their January 2003 auction and an NGC AU55 in the same auction for $17,250. Clearly, levels for this date in AU have almost tripled in the last five years.

How about the common 1892-CC in AU grades? Heritage recently sold an NGC AU55 in their June 2008 auction for $3,450. Going back to June 2004, they sold a PCGS AU55 in the same grade for $1,840. A more detailed examination of auction records from this era shows that the typical AU 1892-CC double eagle in AU has doubled in value in the last five years.

This is a fairly interesting case study. CC double eagles have performed really well in the last few years due to their popularity and just about every coin has doubled in value. But the key issues in the series (1870-CC, 1871-CC, 1873-CC, 1878-CC, 1879-CC, 1885-CC and 1891-CC) have outperformed their more common counterparts. The one exception to this rule tends to be in the area of high grade coins. Even the common CC double eagles in high grades (in this case MS62 and better) have performed exceptionally well in the last few years due to strong demand.

The one problem with the strategy of buying only key dates is that in most gold series, these issues are very expensive. With entry level undamaged 1861-D gold dollars now exceeding $20,000, only elite collectors can realistically look to purchase such coins. And maybe this amount would be more rewarding if spent on three or four nice common date Dahlonega coins in AU instead of one very-rare-but-not-so-aesthetically appealing 1861-D.

1854-D Three Dollar Gold Piece

I recently purchased a very unusual 1854-D Three Dollar gold piece. If you are even a casual aficionado of Southern gold coins, you are probably aware that a) the 1854-D is a rare and popular issue and b) it has a very established set of diagnostics. However, as this coin (and a few others) proves, not all 1854-D Three Dollar gold pieces are cut from the same cloth. If you look at page 145 of the second edition of my book “Gold Coins of the Dahlonega Mint” you will read the following diagnostic criteria about the 1854-D Three Dollar:

“(On the obverse) the denticles from 7:00 to 3:00 are so weak as to appear non-existent. The entire upper part of the rim has a very flat appearance. (On the reverse) the denticles are almost always very weak and they can usually be seen only from the 3:00 to 8:00 area with the rest of the border appearing very flat.”

Now take a look at the picture below and focus your attention on the obverse and reverse borders. You will note that there are complete and full denticles on both sides. I have personally seen or owned as many as 75 examples of this issue and the coin illustrated here is just the third 1854-D that I know of with full denticles. The other two are in the Bill House and Harry Bass Core/ANA Museum collections.

Before we go any further with this quick diagnostic study of the 1854-D Three Dollar gold piece, here is a picture of a “normal” example (courtesy of Heritage Numismatic Auctions). Note the weakness on the denticles and then also file the following diagnostics away in your memory for future reference:

1. Weakness on the U in UNITED 2. Large clashmark at the throat of Liberty and a smaller clashmark at the back of the neck (this may be hard to see in the photo) 3. Reverse clashmarks from the S in DOLLARS into the wreath above 4. Detached leaf to the left of the 1 in the date 5. Separation of the right bow knot (the one on the viewer’s left) from the wreath due to die polishing

What I find especially interesting about the 1854-D “full strike” is that it has essentially the same diagnostics as the “weak strike” coin. I had always assumed that the full strike coins represented an earlier die state; struck, perhaps, before the dies clashed and were lapped. But this is clearly not the case. We can see this because the full strike coin has virtually identical diagnostics to the weak strike coin. The only difference is that the clashmark in the right obverse field is not as pronounced on the coin with full denticles.

So what makes this coin different from other 1854-D Three Dollar gold pieces? There are two interesting features that might hold a clue to its special status. The first is that it has a mint-made lamination on the obverse; something I cannot remember on many other examples of this date. The second is that the surfaces of the full struck coin are somewhat reflective (this is hard to see from the picture); again, an unusual circumstance for the issue. Could this coin have been specially struck as a presentation piece?

My best instinct tells me that the full struck coins represent the very first 1854-D Three Dollar gold pieces. After a small number were made with full denticles, something happened during the minting process that caused the rest of the coins to be improperly struck. Given the fact that all 1854-D Three Dollar gold pieces were struck in one day, it is hard to say exactly what caused this failure.