A 1913-S Indian Head $10 gold piece and a 1927-S Saint-Gaudens $20 are among rare coins in Stack?s Oct. 17-18 auctions of coins and medals.
Three sale catalogs showcase items from the John J. Ford Jr. collection, the George Byers collection and additional consignments in Stack?s 71st anniversary sale.
The 1913-S eagle is described by Stack?s catalogers as ?Brilliant Uncirculated. Pleasing orange-peel fields and meticulous devices.? Mintage of the 1913-S was 66,000.
About the 1927-S double eagle, graded choice BU by Stack?s and MS-63 by Professional Coin Grading Service, catalogers wrote, ?This date?s high reported mintage is totally misleading as a guide to actual rarity. Most of the 3.1 million coins struck were never released to the American public but ended their careers consigned to the smelter. ... PCGS has graded only 126 in all grades, only 23 of these as Choice and 14 in all higher classifications combined.?
In the photo: Stack's will auction this Saint-Gaudens double eagle rarity, a 1927-S graded MS-63 by PCGS.
These two pieces will be sold Oct. 18 as part of the 1,123-lot anniversary sale. The Ford XVI and Byers lots will be auctioned Oct. 17.
In the Ford catalog, 189 lots total, are U.S., British, French and Spanish medals, many being versions of Peace medals given to Native Americans by officials and explorers, as well as other medals of the period. British medals range from Charles II to George III, including several Quaker, Duffield or Treaty of Easton medals and a pair of Montreal medals of 1760 as well as a pair of 1777 silver Lion and Wolf medals.
In the photo: Stack?s Ford XVI sale features Peace medals from 18 Presidents, one a 76mm 1853 silver Franklin Pierce example of which perhaps eight are known, catalogers said.
Silver U.S. Peace medals include examples from 18 U.S. Presidents: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, James Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses Grant, James Garfield, Chester Arthur and Benjamin Harrison.
Also offered is an early 1900s U.S. Mint-struck George Washington Peace medal, made for sale the the public. Privately made Washington Peace medal imitations are offered, as well as privately made medals for presentation to Native Americans from John Jacob Astor?s American Fur Company.
Seven Washington Seasons medals are offered, including versions of the Shepherd, Sower and Spinner.
The George Byers sale catalog contains 539 lots, primarily U.S. half dollars, from the 1795 Flowing Hair half to a proof 1964 Kennedy half, including nine commemorative halves. Also offered is a Goloid Metric Dollar pattern as well as more than 50 high-grade Buffalo nickels.
In the photo: Key to the Walking Liberty half dollar series is the 1921-S, and Stack?s will offer one from the George Byers collection Oct. 17 that catalogers grade very choice BU.
Stack?s 71st anniversary sale on Oct. 18 leads off with gold, $1s through $20s, followed by commemorative gold, including a Panama-Pacific set, then Pioneer and California gold, patterns, Hawaiian coinage and U.S-Philippine coinage.
Then come lower denomination U.S. coins, half cents through silver dollars. Among highlights of this section are selections from the Cy Schlosser Collection of toned coins, in particular Walking Liberty halves, Morgan and Peace dollars and silver commemoratives.
More classic commemoratives and proof sets round out the session, along with rolls of Walkers and silver dollars.
Sale sessions begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 17-18, in Le Parker Meridien Hotel?s Tansa Room (3rd Floor), 118 West 57th St., New York City (between 6th and 7th Avenues).
For more information or to request sale catalogs, contact Stack?s, 123 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019; telephone (212) 582-2580.
The catalogs may be viewed online at www.stacks.com, where online bidding is also available.
