DALLAS, TX.- For some collectors, the more fertile the mine, the greater the treasure within.

Such is the case with Heritage Auctions' Central States US Coins Signature® Auction, one of the premier annual events for the most serious collectors of numismatics.

This year's May 4-8 event is loaded with nearly 3,000 lots, many of which come directly from significant collections.

Important Selections from The Bob R. Simpson Collection, Part VIII

Long before he became part owner of Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers, Bob R. Simpson owned XTO, previously Cross Timbers Oil Co. Simpson's collection has been ranked by Professional Coin Grading Service as one of the best ever amassed.

"The Bob R. Simpson collection is as impressive in its quality as it is in its quantity of extraordinary rarities, which has allowed us to get to this, the eighth installment" said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage Auctions. "What he has put together over the years is an assemblage of some of the best coins anywhere, many of which will become centerpieces of their new collections."

Among the highlights from the Simpson Collection in this event:

An 1863 Double Eagle PR65+ Cameo PCGS. CAC. JD-1, Low R.7 is from a reported mintage of just 30 specimens. This beauty is exceptionally rare: both John Dannreuther and PCGS CoinFacts estimate no more than 10-12 proofs – some in impaired condition - survive today in all grades. Two are in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution and another is in the collection of the American Numismatic Society. The Simpson example offered in this auction is the finest known of this acclaimed 19th-century rarity.

An 1839 Gobrecht Dollar Name Omitted, Judd-107 Restrike, Pollock-119, Unique, PR65 Brown PCGS is believed to be one of a kind, as no other specimens have surfaced since this coin was first sold at auction in 1908. The Judd-107 is basically a Judd-105 struck in copper, and it was one of just two Gobrecht issues and mules missing from the extraordinary collection of the late Dr. Julius Korein, whose collection was donated to the ANS and remains there. This auction marks just the second time in the last half century that this piece has been at public auction.

A 1915 Panama-Pacific Half Dollar in gold, Judd-1960, (formerly Judd-1793, Pollock-2031), High R.8, PR64 PCGS is one of the rarest and most enigmatic issues in the U.S. pattern series; this offered coin is one of just two known examples and is struck on a cut-down Saint-Gaudens double eagle. Eric Newman's handwritten notes state that "Colonel" E.H.R. Green owned both of the known gold specimens, four of the silver examples and three of the copper pieces. These extremely rare patterns were clearly clandestine strikes, produced at the Philadelphia Mint before mintmark punches were applied to the working dies.

The Warren Collection

The Warren Collection includes a nearly complete date/mintmark run of Saint-Gaudens double eagles, as well as 11 certified proof sets, with dates ranging from 1860-69, plus 1880. The sets, each of which is ranked as the all-time finest for those sets on the PCGS Registry, are being sold as individual coin lots.




Highlights from The Warren Collection include:

A 1930-S Double Eagle MS65 PCGS is the second-rarest collectible issue in the Saint-Gaudens series after the 1927-D. The famous 1933 double eagle, of which at least 13 pieces are known, is not legal to own (aside from the monetized King Farouk example) and therefore cannot be considered collectible. In 1930, the San Francisco Mint produced just 74,000 double eagles – one of the lowest mintages in the series – in its final twenty dollar issue. But the 1930-S is even rarer, initially intended to serve as currency reserves, rather than circulation issues, because the Great Depression had significantly reduced the economy's capacity to absorb virtually any significant quantity of large denomination gold coinage. Research by Roger W. Burdette indicates only 727 examples of this issue were ever available for collector acquisition, and many of those coins were not distributed. It is believed that no more than 75 examples are extant today, almost all in Uncirculated grades.

A 1920-S Double Eagle MS65 PCGS is one of a handful of MS65 or finer coins ever to reach the market. Only two MS66 coins are certified at PCGS; the example offered in this auction is one of just four Gems at that service. Virtually all of the 558,000 minted 1920-S examples were melted, and no European hoards emerged in later years to augment the diminished population of known survivors. The example offered here, which Heritage Auctions sold in 2011 for $212,750, is one of just six on the PCGS 1920-S Double Eagle Roster, MS65 and finer specimens.

The Long Island Collection, Part III

The third installment of this collection features exemplary rarities, including a notable number of choice Colonials. Among the highlights from the Long Island Collection:

An 1854-S Quarter Eagle VG10 PCGS, the first Liberty quarter eagle struck at the San Francisco Mint, which boasts a minuscule mintage of just 246 pieces – a production total smaller than all but the 1875 eagle (100 pieces) and half eagle (200 pieces). The first verifiable auction appearance of this coin was in the 1979 ANA Convention Auction; it has appeared at auction on two occasions since then, but it has been off the market for 22 years. It is one of just 12 examples that appear on the Roster of 1854-S Liberty Quarter Eagles.

Of the six varieties listed in Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia under the "New Hampshire Coppers" heading, a 1776 New Hampshire Pine Tree Copper, Breen-708, Whitman-8395, High R.7, Good 6 PCGS. CAC is the only variety considered a genuine New Hampshire Copper. Surviving examples are exceptionally rare: Walter Breen estimated that eight or nine pieces exist, and Q. David Bowers suggested the total might be as high as 32 when he assigned this variety a rating of "URS-5 or 6" in the Whitman Encyclopedia of Colonial and Early American Coins.

One of just two known examples of the 1714 Gloucester Shilling Fine 12 NGC. Breen-237, W-8180, R.8 is from an issue most collectors never encounter "in the wild" and has not been seen publicly in four decades, making it an unquestionable prize for the most advanced Colonial collector. The example offered in this auction is graded Fine 12, but it's technical grade is less significant than its rarity.

The Fred Weinberg Collection

Those who enjoy collecting error coins will find numerous options among the 151 lots from the collection in this auction, including:

A (2000)-P Sacagawea Dollar / Statehood Quarter Mule MS65+ PCGS, which is believed to have been discovered in a roll of otherwise ordinary Sacagawea dollars in May 2000 by Frank Wallis, of Mountain Home, Arkansas. Heritage Auctions experts know of only eight other appearances at auction of the Sacagawea dollar / statehood quarter mule. The offered example is one of what is believed to be about 18 remaining specimens, most of which have been acquired over the last couple of decades by New Mexico numismatist Tommy Bolack.

An 1880-S Morgan Dollar – Struck 40% Off Center – MS63 PCGS draws attention immediately, in part because it is so far off-center. For comparison, most off-center Morgans offered by Heritage Auctions are in circulated grades and are struck off-center by 20% or less. Finding a coin graded MS63 or finer and struck this far off center is extremely rare. This example is so far off center, toward 11:30, that most of "E PLURIBUS UNUM" and all of "ONE DOLLAR" are off the flan. All of the eagle is present, but half of "LIBERTY" is absent, as is the top of Liberty's head. The mintmark area is absent from the coin, but PCGS believes this mint error was struck at San Francisco, due to its similarity in appearance to other Mint State 1880-S silver dollars.

Other top lots include, but are not limited to:

• A 464.65-ounce Justh & Hunter Gold Ingot
• A 238.84-ounce Henry Hentsch Gold Ingot
• A 1921 Chapman Proof Dollar PR67 PCGS
• An 1864 Eagle PR65 Deep Cameo PCGS. JD-1, High R.6
• An 1884 Half Eagle PR66 Ultra Cameo NGC. JD-1
> • A 1907 Double Eagle High Relief, Flat Rim, MS67 PCGS
• An 1852 Double Eagle MS65 PCGS. CAC
• An 1879 Flowing Hair Stella, Judd-1635, Pollock-1833, JD-1, R.3, PR64 Deep Cameo PCGS. CAC