DALLAS, TX.- One of the highest-graded examples from the lowest-mintage Saint-Gaudens With Motto issue sold for $336,000 to lead Heritage’s Nov. 13-14 U.S. Coins Signature® Auction to $8,751,859.
The prize that led the auction was a 1908-S Double Eagle, MS67 PCGS. CAC from The Alymaya Collection, Part III that prompted 32 bids before the hammer fell for the final time.
“A result like this is only appropriate for a coin of this caliber,” says Todd Imhof, Executive Vice President at Heritage Auctions. “It comes from a small mintage, and of those, this is one of the finest examples: PCGS has awarded a higher grade to just two other examples.”
Even more bids — 93 — poured in for an 1879 Flowing Hair Stella, PR66 Cameo NGC until it achieved $216,000. An extraordinary, fresh-to-market example of this extremely popular coin, it is one of just 20 to earn a 66 Cameo grade, with only 10 receiving higher grades. Stella patterns were struck in various metals, using two different obverse designs bearing two different dates; gold pieces dated 1879 with the Flowing Hair design were the coins struck and distributed to Congressmen.
A 1910-S Double Eagle, MS67 PCGS, also from The Alymaya Collection, sold for an auction record $168,000, nearly doubling the previous record of $88,125 set at Heritage in 2015. More than 2 million were minted in San Francisco in 1910, but most were melted in the 1930s once the U.S. went off the gold standard and monetary gold became illegal to own. Some survived in collections, and a few small groups made their way to banks in Europe or El Salvador, providing the limited number of Mint State examples available today. The 1910-S is especially rare above the Gem level. PCGS has awarded the MS66 grade just nine times, with four graded in 66+. This example is the only one graded MS67, with just one other graded higher.
A 1795 BD-1 Eagle, MS61 NGC, a beautiful example of the popular “13 Leaves” variety that is one of the most highly sought type coins in the U.S. gold series, brought a winning bid of $132,000. As the largest gold coin in the realm at the time, the early ten dollar gold pieces were intended to compete with the circulating Spanish eight escudo pieces, although in 1795, the half eagle was preferred in both domestic and international trade. Of all of the “13 Leaves” varieties graded by NGC, this is one of just eight graded MS61, and there are only nine carrying higher grades. Another example, graded AU58 PCGS, drew $114,000.
An 1861-S Paquet Reverse Twenty, AU55 PCGS closed at $126,000. Listed in 100 Greatest U.S. Coins, it is an exceptional example of the rarest of all San Francisco double eagles, with only about 200 pieces extant. With a reverse that was modified in 1861 by Mint Assistant Engraver Anthony C. Paquet, it slipped quietly into commercial channels, many to settle large accounts in foreign trade. In 1937, when collecting large denomination gold coins had attained a measure of popularity, an S-Mint Paquet twenty was discovered under an old barn in Hull, Texas, with some other gold coins. More examples from the original small mintage eventually turned up, primarily examples repatriated from European holdings in recent years, but the issue remains elusive in all grades. Until recently, no Mint State examples were known, but a single MS61 example and an MS62 specimen now show on the PCGS Population Report, and the NGC Census lists a single MS61 coin.
The seventh coin in the auction to surpass $100,000 was a 1929 Double Eagle, MS65+ PCGS from The Alymaya Collection that realized $108,000. Double eagles no longer circulated after World War I, and while substantial quantities were minted in many of the next 13 years, many remained in government possession as gold reserves for the national currency. They never were intended for circulation, and most ended up being melted in the late 1930s, which is why so many high-mintage issues of the 1920s and early 1930s are so rare.
Two dozen bids came in for a 1924-S Double Eagle, MS65 PCGS from The Alymaya Collection before it sold for $90,000. More than 2.9 million were minted, but it has been suggested that only about 250,000 ever were used in commerce, with the rest stashed in government storage as currency reserves until the Gold Recall of 1933 was enacted; afterward, all were melted into gold bars and stored at Fort Knox. Many that were released into circulation were used in foreign trade and held in European holdings, eluding the recall order, but only three or four examples were known. This example is one of just eight to receive the Gem grade from PCGS, with one 65+ and one finer.
Also reaching $90,000 was an 1865 Liberty Half Eagle, PR64 Cameo PCGS. CAC, from a year in which just 25 proof Liberty half eagles were struck, as the Civil War dragged to a close. PCGS has 12 certification events for the 1865 proof Liberty half eagle in its Population Report, while NGC has recorded 14 submissions in its Census — totals that include an unknown number of resubmissions and crossovers. PCGS CoinFacts suggests 15-20 examples of this issue, including this one, are extant.
An 1895 Morgan Dollar PR65 Cameo NGC. VAM-2, from an original proof mintage of just 880 pieces, ended at $87,000. Mint records indicated a circulation strike of 12,000, coins that if indeed struck were never paid out. Instead, any circulation coinage was apparently melted under the terms of the 1918 Pittman Act, when about 350 million silver dollars were converted into bullion, leaving only the small proof coinage for collectors to seek out.
A “Two-Tailed” Washington Quarter Mule, MS64, an undated Washington quarter mule that was struck with two reverse dies, set an auction record at $84,000. An exceptional example of the mule many collectors consider to be the Holy Grail among U.S. coin errors, it is one of only a few dozen known across all types, series and denominations. The rarest mules are those “double-sided” coins — like this one — that were struck with two obverse or two reverse dies.
