An 1808 quarter eagle in Stack?s Baltimore auction March 20-21 sold for $425,500, top lot of the nearly 3,400-lot sale.
The 1808 quarter eagle, graded MS-63 by Professional Coin Grading Service, was a one-year type that had a mintage of 2,710 pieces. It was the only year of use of this left-facing Capped Bust obverse design. After 1808 no gold $2.50s were produced until 1821, and for that production the design was altered and the denomination?s diameter reduced by 1.5mm.
Overall, Stack?s five Baltimore sale sessions totaled $7,415,345. All prices reported here include 15 percent buyer fees.
Lots were offered in two catalogs, one for the Brooklyn Sale, one for Part 17 of the John J. Ford Jr. collection.
Second-highest bid was $172,500 for a 1794 Flowing Hair half dollar, Overton 106, graded PCGS AU-58. According to the cataloger: ?There are nine 1794 half dollars certified in various Mint State grades up to MS-64 for the entire year. Another three examples are graded AU-58 between the two major grading services, including the present coin. Without a doubt this is a tremendous opportunity for the advanced numismatist to acquire a famous and desirable example of this rare, first year of issue coin.?
A 1796 Bust quarter in PCGS MS-64 drew a bid of $166,750. 1796 was the first year quarters were struck.
Returning to gold, an 1834 Classic Head $5 graded MS-66 Prooflike by Numismatic Guaranty Corp. fetched $126,500 after a starting bid of $60,000.
Coming in at $103,500 was a 1794 Flowing Hair dollar. With some tooling and other detracting marks, it was graded EF-40 by the auction firm. The piece benefits from a sharper than average strike, catalogers noted.
A 1907 High Relief Saint-Gaudens double eagle with wire rim sold for $97,750. It was graded PCGS MS-63. Another 1907 High Relief $20, this one with flat rim and graded PCGS MS-64, brought $57,500.
At $94,875, a 1792 half disme, PCGS VF-30, traded hands. ?This specimen may not appeal to ultra-connoisseurs, but to collectors who love the history of American coinage and don?t mind a bit of honest circulation, this piece will long stand out in a cabinet full of carefully selected specimens,? catalogers wrote.
An octagoal 1915-S Panama-Pacific Expo gold $50 commemorative, NGC MS-64, went for $81,650.
Three lots sold for $80,500. The first, an 1806/5 gold $2.50, NGC MS-62, was described as a ?nice opportunity for an advanced early gold specialist.? The second, an 1879 gold $3, NGC Proof-67 Ultra Cameo, was termed ?one of just 30 proofs of the date reportedly struck, though we suspect far fewer than that figure can be accounted for today. The present coin is the finest certified by NGC within any Proof designation.? Third was a 1796 gold $10 in PCGS AU-55.
Next, at $74,750, was an 1852 octagonal Humbert ?887 THOUS? gold $50 slug graded PCGS AU-55.
The same price was realized by a 1793 half cent, PCGS MS-62 Brown.
A bank note reached $55,200, the piece being an 1882 $50 Gold Certificate, Krause-Lemke 697, Friedberg 1192, graded very fine and nearly choice by the auction firm.
The sale also included a selection of printing plates and related items from the archives of the American Bank Note Company. Top performers in this section were two steel plates for Russian provisional government credit notes, a 1918 25 rubles, Standard Catalog of World Paper Money No. P-38, that brought $43,700, and a 1919 250 rubles, P-40A, that brought $48,300.
Sale results and images are also available online at www.stacks.com.
For more information, contact Stack?s, 123 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019-2280; telephone (800) 566-2580.
