DALLAS, TX.- When in doubt, under-promise and over-deliver.

That likely wasn’t the intent of renowned collector Walter J. Husak, but it ended up being the result.

Having already assembled a nearly complete collection of large cents by Sheldon numbers, he was well on his way to completing a second Sheldon-numbered collection when he died in December 2022. He had told his friends that his second collection would focus largely on attractive middle-grade coins ... but he outdid himself, saying, “I just can’t help myself.” He assembled another collection of exceptional, high-grade early cents that will cross the auction block January 4 in Heritage’s Collection of Walter J. Husak and The Liberty Cap Foundation US Coins Signature® Auction - Orlando FUN.

“Walter Husak already assembled an extraordinary collection, which we sold in 2008,” says Todd Imhof, Executive Vice President of Heritage Auctions. “So when he embarked on this second collection, he shared more modest expectations. But he was an exceptionally knowledgeable collector with a taste for the best of the best, and that’s what ended up being included in this auction. He started acquiring more high-grade coins that make up this amazing collection.”

Husak was a California businessman whose numismatic interest started when he was just a teenager with collections of Indian cents, Lincoln cents and Buffalo nickels. That passion, especially for copper coins, reached a new level in 1980, when he purchased an 1804 large cent for just $600. In 2008, he founded and became the first president and executive director of The Liberty Cap Foundation; the foundation purchased historic artifacts that Husak proudly displayed and discussed at numismatic conventions across the country. Husak’s family has decided to expand the educational structure and purpose of the foundation.

“Walter Husak was a connoisseur who sought out the best available coins for his collection,” says Mark Borckardt, Senior Cataloger of Numismatics at Heritage Auctions. “He was also a friend to everyone he met through numismatics, and his personality is reflected in many of these coins that carry historic provenances from his friends, and from collectors of previous generations.”

Large cents, which are roughly the same size as half dollars that currently are in circulation, drew significant pursuit from numismatic collectors in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, and grew in popularity in part because of Sheldon's 1949 book, Early American Cents — a survey of large cent varieties created from 1793 through 1814.

Among the top lots in the auction from Husak’s collection is a 1793 S-1 Cent, AU58, which is graded finer by PCGS than all but three other examples. It once was a part of the Daniel W. Holmes Jr. large cent collection — the most complete ever formed and missing just two unique varieties that never became available to the public. Holmes acquired it following the American Numismatic Rarities auction of the Dr. Haig Koshkarian Collection.

A 1794 S-18B Cent, MS64 Brown is a remarkable example of the 1794 Head of 1793 cent, the finest known of the type — a coin for any elite collection that comes with an unbroken provenance of more than 150 years.

The auction includes a pair of 1794 Head of 1794 Cents, both graded MS65 Red and Brown by PCGS. One is the finest Sheldon-49 and the plate coin for the variety in the 1991 Noyes reference; its obverse is plated in the 1979 Morley grading guide for 1794 cents. The other is the finest S-57 cent and the Noyes plate coin for the variety in his 1991 reference.

A 1796 Liberty Cap Cent, MS63 Brown is equal to the finest Sheldon-90 and is plated in the 1909 Gilbert-Elder rederence on the cents of 1796. It is accompanied by more than 100 years of unbroken provenance.

A 1796 S-93 Draped Bust Cent, MS65 Red and Brown is the finest known example, ahead of the ANS example in the Noyes census. It is the Noyes plate coin for the variety in his 1991 reference, and comes with impeccable provenance, which includes a stint in the collection of Francis J. Lee, the one-time curator of numismatics at the Essex Institute in Salem, Massachusetts.

The finest known 1800/79 S-193 Overdate, MS63 Brown is the finest by a significant margin, in the Bland and Noyes census lists. The plate coin for the die variety in Dr. Sheldon’s Penny Whimsy and in the 1991 Noyes reference, it was discovered in England by the New Netherlands Coin Co. It comes with an exceptional provenance, a history that includes time in the collections of C. Douglas Smith, Dr. Sheldon and Douglas F. Bird.

The finest Sheldon-203 1800 Normal Date Cent, MS63 Red and Brown is plated in the 1991 Noyes reference to illustrated the die variety. This is the only Mint State example available to collectors, and it comes with more than a century of uninterrupted provenance.

An 1807/6 S-272 R4+ Overdate Small 7 over 6 AU55 PCGS, the finest small 7 over 6, has been recognized as the undisputed finest known example of the variety for a century. Both sides are plated in Sheldon’s Penny Whimsy and in the 1991 Noyes reference. This beauty is an important prize for the collector who wants the finest example of this tough “Redbook” variety.