Lighting can strike twice when it comes to 1804 silver dollars and Central States Numismatic Society conventions.
Last year Heritage Auction Galleries sold the 1804 dollar from the Queller collection at the CSNS show in suburban Chicago.
This year the Adams-Lyman-Carter-Flannagan Specimen will headline Heritage’s Platinum Night during the 2009 CSNS convention slated for April 29 to May 2 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Last year’s coin was one of eight Class I specimens.
This year’s coin is one of six known Class III pieces. It is graded AU-58 by the Professional Coin Grading Service and Heritage says it is the finest of the three examples not in museum collections.
“No coin inspires such passion in collectors as the 1804 dollar, known as the King of American Coins,” said Greg Rohan, president of Heritage. “It’s a thing of beauty, mystique and even intrigue, and when one gets set to change hands it’s always a major event for the hobby.”
The present specimen was purchased by Amon Carter Sr., a Fort Worth, Texas, newspaper magnate, for $3,250 in 1950.
It came on the market in a private treaty sale brokered by Heritage in 2006. Then it sold for $2,475,000.
What will it bring this year?
“Even in the present economy there’s no reason to expect that the coin won’t be just as much in demand this April,” Rohan said.
Steadily rising prices have been noted in previous sales, according to Heritage.
Before selling in 2006, it was purchased at an auction in July 2003 for $1,207,500, then a record price. In 2001 it sold for $874,000, when Ohio business executive Phillip Flannagan sold the coin to raise money for construction of a Christian school near Cincinnati.
“The 1804 may be the star of the auction,” said Rohan, “but it’s hardly the only amazing numismatic rarity we’ll be featuring during the event.”
The Joseph C. Thomas Collection of more than 750 numismatic rarities with an estimated value of $20 million to $25 million will be offered without reserve.
For more information visit www.ha.com, or to obtain a copy of the catalog, telephone Client Services at (800) 872-6467, ext. 150.
What’s next for Heritage, a Class II 1804 at the 2010 CSNS convention?
