ALL STAR RARITIES LINEUP FOR 2020 AND 2021

Dreams for Every Collector and Investor

In the realm of classic U.S. coins, famous rarities capture the imagination and stimulate the dreams of collectors, dealers and those who like to learn about coins. Famous rarities are prime topics of current conversations and significant parts of the history of coin collecting. Moreover, they receive a great deal of coverage in the general news media. A remarkable number of famous rarities, including some of the greatest, have been or will be auctioned in late 2020 and 2021.

In November and probably in December 2020,

Stack’s Bowers will auction rarities from the late

Larry H. Miller collection. During the summer, it was announced by Heritage that most of the tremendous collection formed by Bob Simpson was scheduled to be auctioned in six events starting in September 2020 in Dallas and ending in August 2021 at the ANA Convention near Chicago. It was also announced that the collection of Donald G. Patrick would be sold by Heritage starting in October 2020 with three separate sales, followed by most of the collection presented in multiple auctions during the first six months of 2021.

Very famous rarities in the Partrick Collection will be auctioned in January and in April 2021. The most famous coin in the Partrick Collection is a

Brasher Doubloon. This coin has been ‘off the market’ since Partrick acquired it, possibly through an agent, at the Garrett I sale in November 1979 for $725,000. Did that auction price set a record for a coin or coin-related item?

Ephraim Brasher was a well-established silversmith in New York City. His hallmarks on silver utensils and foreign coins were widely recognized. There are sharp differences of opinion as to whether Brasher Doubloons are privately issued coins or patterns intended to interest New York State authorities into allowing Brasher to mint official coins for New York State.

The critical aspect of Brasher’s interest in seeking the ability to mint was to produce New York State Coppers. In 1785, the State of Connecticut authorized a private firm to mint official Connecticut Coppers, and the

State of Vermont contracted with an entrepreneur to mint official Vermont Coppers. In 1786, New Jersey and Massachusetts also arranged for the private production of authorized state coins. Under the Articles of Confederation, before the U.S. Constitution’s ratification, states were free to authorize coins’ issues.

While the State of New York never authorized the minting of New York coins, the idea of doing so was seriously considered. Understandably, Brasher sought to become involved. Like other leading silversmiths of his era, Brasher stamped his hallmark on foreign coins that he found to be satisfactory in terms of weight and fineness, in the context of markets in the United States. Additionally, Brasher and other silversmiths ‘regulated’ foreign coins of various weights and gold content to conform to prevailing standards for money in the United States.

As Doubloons were gold coins of the Spanish Empire wildly accepted for substantial sales or purchases in the U.S., likely, Brasher often dealt with them. Brasher also stamped imitations of Spanish Doubloons, which were legitimate if they contained a proper or fairly revealed amount of gold. Evidently, Brasher himself made some of these imitations. If so, these were clearly privately issued coins intended to circulate in the United States alongside gold coins of the Spanish Empire.

‘Lima Style’ imitation Spanish Doubloons made by Brasher, by Brasher’s firm or in Brasher’s name, should not be confused with Brasher Doubloons with an original design. These showcase symbols and terms associated with the national government on one side and with the State of New York on the other side, a coin or pattern that was indeed an original creation in the U.S.

As some Brasher Doubloons around currently show expected wear and because a great deal of work must have gone into minting Brasher Doubloons, some researchers believe that dozens or hundreds of Brasher Doubloons were made during or around 1787 and that they circulated as money. Throughout the 18th century, the Spanish Empire’s silver and gold coins were the dominant coins of North America, Central America, and most of South America. It would have made sense for Brasher to create a New York area product similar to a Spanish Doubloon and acceptable to people engaging in large transactions.

Whether they be privately issued patterns for U.S. or

State of New York gold coins or privately issued gold coins, Brasher Doubloons are extremely famous and important historical relics. In the Partrick Collection, there is the finest known Brasher Doubloon with the distinctive Brasher design and one of perhaps two known ‘Lima Style’ Brasher imitations of Doubloons of the Spanish Empire. Presently, seven original design Brasher Doubloons are known and one Brasher Half-Doubloon, which is in the Smithsonian. Two of the seven are in museums, one in the Smithsonian and one in the American Numismatic Society museum.

Of the five privately owned Brasher Doubloons, one has Brasher’s ‘E.B.’ punch on the eagle’s breast while the others each have this punch on a wing. The ‘punch on breast’ piece is considered different and worth a premium over other circulated Brasher Doubloons. That piece was NGC graded as Extremely Fine-45 when it was auctioned on January 12, 2005, for $2.99 million. In that same auction on January 12, 2005, in Fort Lauderdale, an NGC graded AU-55 Brasher Doubloon with the wing’s punch brought

$2,415,000. The ‘punch on breast’ Brasher was later PCGS graded AU-50. In December 2011, it sold privately for $7.395 million, according to the parties involved. In 2020, a representative of the owner has been publicly asking for $15 million for the ‘punch on breast’ Brasher Doubloon.

Two Brasher Doubloons have received ‘mint state’ grades from NGC. As far as I know, the DuPont piece has never been sent to NGC or PCGS.

The ‘Ten Eyck’-Brand-Perschke Brasher Doubloon was NGC graded as MS-63, and had a CAC sticker, when Heritage auctioned it for $4,582,500 in January 2014. If experts at CAC find that a coin’s quality is “solid” for its previously certified grade, then a green sticker is placed on its NGC or PCGS holder. CAC verification can be confirmed by entering a PCGS or NGC serial number for an encapsulated coin on the CAC website.

Not long after the NGC graded the MS-63 Brasher Doubloon sold in January 2014, the buyer turned down an offer of $6 million. In 2018, the ‘Ten Eyck’-Brand-Perschke Brasher Doubloon was sold privately to a collector in California for an amount higher than $4.5 million though less than $6 million. This coin has cool die finishing lines. I found it to be attractive and very memorable.

The Partrick Collection Brasher Doubloon was graded MS-65 by NGC, probably during the spring or summer of 2020. Experts at NGC added a star for super eye appeal. As of September 20,

2020, it had never been submitted to CAC.

Although the ‘Lima Style’ pieces seem to have been created by Brasher as well, these are called ‘Lima Style’ gold pieces rather than Brasher Doubloons to avoid confusion. The ‘Lima Style’ gold pieces are imitations of the Spanish Empire’s Doubloons, with very similar designs. Curiously, Brasher’s name was part of the design, in small letters on the obverse. Merchants in the late 1780s would have been accustomed to the general design and immediately understood the purpose of the ‘Lima Style’ imitation Doubloons by Brasher. Some merchants may have found the original-design Brasher Doubloons to be puzzling, the likes of which they never saw before.

The gold type set that Heritage auctioned on January

12, 2005, included two original design Brasher Doubloons and a ‘Lima Style’ piece, essentially three Brasher Doubloons in one collection. The ‘Lima Style’ piece in that auction was NGC graded XF-40 and had deliberate etchings, in my opinion. I viewed the lots and I attended that auction. On January 12, 2005, that ‘Lima Style’ piece brought $690,000, more than eight times as much as the same amount brought in the Garrett II sale by Bowers & Ruddy in March 1981, which was 80,000.

The NGC graded MS-61, Partrick Collection’ Lima

Style’ Doubloon is different from the ‘Lima Style’ Doubloon that Heritage auctioned on January 12,

2005. The Partrick Collection also includes three foreign coins that were counter-stamped by Ephraim Brasher. One of the three is an ‘E.B.’ stamped 1750 British Guinea gold coin that was NGC graded as VF-25. It is planned for all of these Partrick Collection Brasher pieces to come to auction in January or April 2021.

Although Brasher Doubloons are legendary, more collectors identify with 1894-S dimes. No other Barber dime is rare. Circulated Barber dimes do not cost much and many people collect them. I did when I was a kid.

1894-S DIMES

Although Simpson collected dozens of famous rarities along with hundreds of coins and patterns, the most famous silver coin in the Simpson Collection was his 1894-S dime, the second or third finest known. The Chicago-Simpson 1894-S was purchased ‘over the counter’ by a Chicago area collector from James Ruddy at the Los Angeles office of Bowers & Ruddy, the leading retail and auction firm during the 20th century. In 1974, this Chicago area collector paid $97,500 in actual cash, not a check or money order. For years, he had dreamed

of owning a Great Rarity, especially a 1913 Liberty

Nickel, 1894-S Barber Dime, or 1804 silver dollar.

Superior Galleries auctioned the Chicago-Simpson 1894-S on August 10, 1992. At the time, it was PCGS certified Proof-64 and realized $165,000. Dwight Manley was the top bidder, via telephone. The coin was mildly toned, and the colors were light and very attractive.

The Chicago-Simpson 1894-S realized $1,035,000 in the Heritage Platinum Night auction of January 12, 2005, the same night that three Brasher pieces sold. While the Chicago-Simpson 1894-S had further toned over the previous dozen years, it remained very attractive. PCGS had upgraded it to Proof-65. Not long after this auction in 2005, NGC certified it as Proof-66, and this 1894-S was holdered by NGC along with Simpson’s other Proof Barber dimes with a “BRS” pedigree printed on their respective labels if I remember correctly.

When Heritage published the auction catalog for the Simpson I sale, held on September 17, 2020, this 1894-S dime was listed as having been graded by NGC. Before the auction, it was crossed into a PCGS holder with the same ‘66’ grade. On September 17, this coin sold for $1,500,000, which was not an auction record for an 1894-S dime, though it was an impressive price given market conditions in 2020. In July 2013, I composed a condition ranking of 1894-S dimes with details regarding the chain of custody of those that appeared in recent decades. I was in attendance when the just mentioned 1894-S was sold in 1992 and again in 2005. I was also in attendance when the Eliasberg 1894-S was auctioned by Bowers & Merena in New York on May 22, 1996, for $451,000. The Eliasberg 1894-S was in the same auction in October 2000 in which the Dexter-Dunham 1804 dollar was sold, though I did not attend that sale.

The Eliasberg 1894-S dime will appear again, in November 2020, in a Stack’s Bowers auction of rarities from the collection assembled by Larry H. Miller, who died in 2009. The Eliasberg 1894-S dime was NGC certified as Proof-65. According to the PCGS CoinFacts site, it was earlier graded “64” by PCGS, though this could have happened long ago. Certified grades of 1894-S dimes and especially of 1804 dollars have changed over time.

1804 DOLLARS

The three most famous rarities are the 1913 Liberty Head nickel, the 1894-S Barber dime, and the 1804 silver dollar. During the late 19th century, 1804 dollars received a tremendous amount of attention from collectors. Periodicals and auction catalogs often discussed the controversies surrounding the coins. Even today, it has still

not been determined in which years each was made.

In the early 1950s, Harold Bareford purchased the Dexter-Dunham 1804 dollar. In October 1981, Stack’s (N.Y.) auctioned this 1804 dollar for $280,000. The Dexter-Dunham-Bareford 1804 coin sold for $990,000 in July 1989, in an auction by Ed Milas’s Rarcoa firm. As part of a special event, this sale, “Auction ‘89,” was held just prior to the summer

ANA Convention. The $990,000 price was at the time an auction record for a coin, a record which was not broken until Jay Parrino paid exactly 50% more, $1.485 million, on May 21, 1996, for the

Eliasberg Collection 1913 Liberty Head nickel.

The Dexter-Dunham 1804 dollar was PCGS certified as Proof-64, when Stack’s Bowers auctioned it in October 2000 for $1,840,000. The Pogue family bought it with an absentee bid. This 1804 was PCGS certified as Proof-65 when Stack’s Bowers auctioned it in March 2017 for $3.29 million. Kevin Lipton was the top bidder. He and John Albanese became co-owners of this coin. While multiple collectors demanded the coin, Albanese sold the Dexter-Dunham 1804 to Bruce Morelan.

As of September 28, 2020, the minimum acceptable bid for the Dexter-Dunham-Morelan 1804 dollar was “$3,200,000,” which works out to $3.76 million with Legend’s 17.5% buyer’s commission. In the same Morelan collection in this same auction to be held on October 8, 2020, the only coin will be offered to ever sell for more than $10,000,000, exactly $10,016,875 in a Stack’s Bowers auction on January 24, 2013.

This coin is the only known specially made

1794 silver dollar. It was PCGS certified as

Specimen-66. In my opinion, it is not a business strike and is something very special.

As I mentioned earlier, Stack’s Bowers will offer rarities from the Larry H. Miller Collection in November, including the already discussed Eliasberg-Miller 1894-S dime. The Eliasberg Collection was the best collection of classic U.S. coins ever assembled. It was about as complete as such a collection could be during Louis Eliasberg’s lifetime, and included many gem quality, classic U.S. coins. Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. died in 1976.

Eliasberg’s quarters, half dollars and silver dollars were auctioned in New York by Bowers & Merena of New Hampshire in April 1997. The StickneyEliasberg 1804 silver dollar broke an auction record set less than twelve months earlier, a $1.485 million price realized for the Eliasberg 1913 Liberty nickel. On April 8, 1997, the Eliasberg 1804 dollar brought $1,815,000, more than any other coin auctioned

before. Soon after the Eliasberg ‘97 auction, the Stickney-Eliasberg 1804 dollar was PCGS certified as Proof-65. This coin realized $3,600 in 1907, during an auction of Matthew Stickney’s collection. At the time, that was a huge sum. The Stickney-Eliasberg 1804 dollar is scheduled to be auctioned by Stack’s Bowers in November 2020 as part of the Larry H. Miller Collection.

While seasoned collectors understand the appeal of 1894-S dimes and 1804 silver dollars, those with just a casual interest in coins are more likely to think about the off-metal strikings of pennies during the 1940s. These have been covered in the general media in countless instances since the 1940s, and penny errors are in the general public’s hearts and minds.

WORLD WAR II PENNY ERRORS

Among people who are not active in the coin collecting fraternity, yet hear about or read about rare coins once in a while, World War II penny errors may be the most famous rarities. They are also well known because a large portion of U.S. coin collectors began by collecting Lincoln cents. Almost every single long-time collector of U.S. coins knows about World War II penny errors, and it is easy to learn more.

In the 21st edition of The Insider’s Guide to U.S. Coin

Values by Scott A. Travers, I’m included as a source of “information about 1943 bronze and 1944 steel Lincoln cents” (NY: Random House, 2015). As there is no universal definition of the term ‘bronze’ and bronze U.S. coins are typically 95% copper, I prefer to use the term’ copper,’ which covers a greater range of coins and other numismatic items.

All Lincoln cents minted in 1943 at all three mints were sup

posed to be struck on zinc-coated steel blanks. The use of zinc-coated steel was in response to copper urgently needed for military purposes. Except for such steel cents, all pennies minted from the middle of 1864 to some point in the middle of 1982 were specified to be 95% copper.

Steel cents do not contain copper. All 1944 Lincoln cents were supposed to be 95% copper but were struck on zinc-coated steel blanks. A small number of 1943 cents were struck in copper rather than the zinc-coated steel.

In November 2020, Bob Simpson’s copper 1943-S cent will be auctioned by Heritage. Simpson’s 1943-S cent in copper is probably the finest of six to eight known 1943-S copper Lincoln cents. When the Goldbergs auctioned the same 1943-S copper in 2000 for $115,000, years before Simpson owned it, this 1943-S copper was NGC graded as MS-61. It is now PCGS graded as MS-62, the only 1943-S copper that has received a mint state grade from either PCGS or NGC.

In the past, Simpson owned the 1943-S copper that was PCGS graded as AU-58. He consigned that 1943-S to the Heritage FUN auction of January 2016, during which time it went for $282,000. That price realized was more than twice as high as the price realized for the same PCGS graded AU-58 1943-S copper when American Numismatic Rarities auctioned it in March 2004 for $138,000. In

August 2019, that same PCGS graded AU-58 1943-S copper cent was auctioned again, that time for $252,000.

The king of the World War II penny errors, the

1943-D in copper, is also in the Simpson Collection and will be auctioned in January 2021.

This is widely believed to be unique,

In May 1996, Superior Galleries auctioned this

1943-D copper for $82,500. In February 2003, the Goldbergs auctioned it for $212,750.

In 2010, Simpson bought the unique 1943-D copper from a collector in the Midwest, with intermediaries’ involvement. I investigated the sale at the time and discussed the matter with appropriate sources. I was told there were several coins involved in the deal, a complex trade rather than a straight purchase. The price paid for this 1943-D copper in 2010 was factored as $1.7 million, a price that was widely discussed among dealers and collectors. However, it is impossible to precisely verify this price without examining all the pieces in the terms’ deal and learning.

In 2010, I estimated that, if the 1943-D copper cent had then been auctioned, it’s price range was

$650,000 to $950,000. Market conditions are different now, and I am not now providing a current estimate of its value. The widely reported sale price of $1.7

million in 2010, which I have not completely verified, may have a strong effect on bidders in 2021.

During the Simpson IV sale at the Long Beach Expo in February 2021, Heritage is slated to offer a PCGS graded MS-62 1943 copper cent. Partrick also had a 1943 Philadelphia Mint copper cent, which was recently NGC graded as AU-55. I am not sure when this will be auctioned.

Returning to the Simpson II sale to be held in November 2020, an 1879 Schoolgirl silver dollar pattern will cross the block. The Schoolgirl is by far the most famous of all silver dollar patterns. Although the word ‘pattern’ refers to a wide assortment of non-coins, a Schoolgirl dollar in silver is an example of the most understandable definition of a pattern, a minted piece that is an example of a design that was considered though never adopted for regular issue coinage.

After reading Saul Teichman’s list on www.uspatterns. com, and thinking about the Schoolgirl dollars that I have personally examined, it seems to me that there are twelve or thirteen Schoolgirl dollars in silver and ten or eleven in copper. An additional 1879 Schoolgirl dollar pattern, neither silver nor copper, which may have never been sent to PCGS or NGC. While it is debatable whether the Simpson Schoolgirl is the finest known, it is the most famous of all the Schoolgirl dollar patterns.

T. Harrison Garrett bought this pattern from W.

Eliot Woodward in 1883. Nearly a century later, it was auctioned by Bowers & Ruddy for $105,000 in a legendary auction event, the Garrett II sale in March

1980. At an auction in February 2003, the Garrett Schoolgirl dollar brought less than it brought in 1980, $97,750. The Garrett-Simpson Schoolgirl dollar in silver is now PCGS certified as Proof-65+. I have seen it, and the toning is very attractive, really memorable.

MULTIMILLION DOLLAR COINS

In the Simpson III sale slated for January 2021, the finest known of one of the most famous patterns will be offered: the 1792 silver center copper cent. The pattern is the subject of a historical correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. These embody a brilliant though the unworkable idea of a planchet (prepared blank) with a silver plug worth three-fourths of one cent combined with a blank that contained one-fourth of a cent worth a copper so that a total of one cent worth of metal was in each U.S. one-cent coin. These are the first patterns listed in references about U.S. patterns, often identified as Judd-1.

The finest known 1792 silver center copper cent pattern at one time was in the same collection that contained the Partrick Collection Brasher Doubloon and the just mentioned Simpson Collection Schoolgirl dollar. Most of the U.S. and American colonial items in the Garrett Family Collection was auctioned by Bowers & Ruddy in four sales between 1979 and 1981. This silver-center copper cent pattern was auctioned in March 1981 for $95,000, after markets for rare coins crashed around eleven months earlier. It would have realized much more had it been auctioned in March 1980.

The Garrett-Simpson 1792 silver-center copper cent pattern was PCGS graded as MS-67 and CAC verified. While I have not seen the Garrett-Simpson silver-center copper cent pattern, I have seen most of the twelve known, and they are business strikes, not special strikings.

In contrast, all 1884 and 1885 Trade dollars are

Proofs. Simpson has one of five known 1885 Trade dollars. Simpson’s coin was PCGS certified as ‘Proof-63+ Cameo’ and set to auction in January 2021. This 1885 Trade dollar was earlier in the collection of Amon

Carter, as was the already mentioned 1794 silver dollar that sold for more than $10 million in 2013.

Proof 1804 $10 gold coins are worth far more than

1804 business strikes, even though the business strikes

were made in or around 1804. There exist three or four Proof 1804 $10 gold coins, made in 1834 or 1835 during the era of Class I 1804 silver dollars. One is in the

King of Siam Proof Set, and another is locked inside the Harry Bass Collection. Simpson’s Proof 1804 $10 gold coin is set to sell at auction in January 2021.

The Hayes-Simpson 1794 silver dollar is a business strike, but it is only three gem quality 1794 silver dollars, including the already mentioned Carter-Cardinal-Morelan SP-66 1794. The Hayes-Simpson 1794 silver dollar was PCGS graded as MS-66+ and was CAC verified as MS-66. Experts at CAC ignore plus grades awarded by PCGS or NGC and link CAC stickers to whole number grades.

The Hayes-Simpson 1794 silver dollar realized nearly $5 million in the Pogue II sale by Stack’s Bowers, in association with Sotheby’s, on September

30, 2015, in New York. It is scheduled to be sold in

August 2021 at an ANA Convention near Chicago.

While Simpson has many famous rarities, the Partrick Collection contains many rarities familiar and understood by a relatively small number of dedicated specialists. Partrick was known for colonials, tokens, unusual medals, and pre-1793 patterns of all sorts. However, it isn’t common knowledge that Partrick also put together a very impressive collection of U.S. half cents.

1796 HALF CENTS

All 1796 half cents are rare, ‘No Pole’ and ‘With

Pole.’ Collectors assembling sets of half cents ‘by date’ usually feel a need to acquire both ‘With Pole’ and ‘No Pole’ 1796 half cents. They are thought of as two dates of the same year. These two 1796 half-cent issues are the most famous rarities in the series of half cents, which started in 1793 and ended in 1857.

On most half cents of the 1790s, the liberty cap is on a pole. On some dated 1795 and a small number dated 1796, however, the liberty cap is there, but there is no pole. The absence of a rod is readily noticeable, and these are not minor varieties. With this, they are designated as additional’ dates.’

In December 2013, I cited a leading half cent specialist who estimated that between twenty-five and thirty-five 1796 ‘No Pole’ half cents exist. I suggest that the total is closer to twenty-five, if that many. Moreover, it is likely that just nine to thirteen grade above Very Good-10. These are extremely rare.

The Partrick Collection has three 1796 ‘No Pole’ half cents, all of which are planned to be offered in 2021. NGC has authenticated all three. The best of the three was graded as “MS-63+.” Another was graded Fine-12. The third failed to be assigned a number grade and is listed as “V.F. Details.”

The 1796 ‘No Pole’ that was recently graded as

MS-63+ by NGC was earlier in the Stack’s auction of the John Whitney Walter Collection of 1796 coins on

May 4, 1999. This coin, which was uncertified in 1999, realized $287,500, an enormous price at the time.

Between 100 and 150 1796 ‘With Pole’ half cents are known. I maintain that the total is closer to 100 than to

150. The Partrick Collection has a 1796 ‘With Pole’ that was NGC graded as MS-62 with a brown color designation. Furthermore, the Partrick Collection has another that was NGC certified as MS-65-‘Red and Brown,’ and was also earlier in the collection of John Whitney Walter. I have examined it, a very attractive coin. It realized $195,500 on May 4, 1999, and should realize much more in 2021.

During the last few months of 2020 through August

2021, a surprising and especially important assortment of famous rarities will be offered at auction. These will draw a lot of attention and may increase interest in rare coins. Collectors who cannot afford famous rarities like to hear about them, read about them, see them, and discuss them with their friends. Offerings of notable rarities are newsworthy and exciting.