Heritage’s official auctions of the October 2012 National Money Show in Dallas are complete, with overall prices realized exceeding $28.5 million. The US Coin Signature Auction on October 18-21 featured numerous outstanding rarities and brought total prices in excess of $23 million, with an additional $5.3 million selling the October 17-23 Currency Signature Auction. All prices include a 17.5% Buyer’s Premium.
The Greensboro Collection, Part 1, provided many of the highlights of this auction, with the most notable results coming from early proof and specimen strikes. A 1792 pattern disme, struck in copper and graded Proof 62 Brown, was the top-selling lot in the auction when it hammered for $587,500. 1792 pattern coinage is extremely popular, since it was struck as the US Mint was first being established. This coin, strictly a pattern unlike its half disme counterpart, is one of about 15 examples known.
Specimen strikes from the first year of issue of the half dime and the cent, respectively, were also among the highest valued coins sold in this auction. Perhaps five specimen strikes of the 1794 half dime are known, and the finest known, an example graded SP67 by PCGS, sold for $367,775. Similarly, a 1793 Wreath Cent with Vine and Bars edge, graded SP66 Brown and with a continuous provenance dating to the 19th century, sold for $329,000. This was the most perfectly preserved and singularly important early large cent we have ever had the privilege of offering at public auction, a true “museum quality” coin. Both of these coins were also from The Greensboro Collection, Part 1.
From the same collection also came the 1802 dollar novodel, Proof-64, which sold for $411,250. This was the second such piece out of only four known that we’ve been fortunate enough to auction in the last three months, and it, like the 1793 Wreath Cent above, also has a pedigree dating back to the 19th century.
A few of the many other highlights of this auction included:
- 1882 $20 PR66 Ultra Cameo NGC. CAC. Realized $293,750. From The Gnome at the Shore Collection
- 1870-CC $20 XF40 NGC. Realized $193,875. From The Gnome at the Shore Collection
- 1838 10C No Drapery PR67 Cameo NGC. Realized $164,500. From The Greensboro Collection, Part I
- 1792 Half Disme, Judd-7, Pollock-7, R.4, AU55 PCGS. Realized $158,625
- 1879 $4 Flowing Hair, Judd-1635, Pollock-1833, R.3, PR63 Cameo PCGS Secure. CAC. Realized $152,750
- 1833 $5 Large Date PR61 NGC. BD-1, R.5, R.8 as a Proof. Realized $146,875
The top lot in HA’s auction of US Currency was a $5 National Bank Note from the First National Bank of Fairbanks, AK, series 1902 with red seal. This note captured the imagination of both collectors and the public because it came directly from the family of Charles W. Fairbanks, Vice President of the United States under Theodore Roosevelt, and the man for whom the city of Fairbanks was named. This outstanding territorial note, graded Apparent Choice New 63, sold for $246,750.
