Three round and four octagonal 1915-S Panama-Pacific $50 gold commemoratives will highlight the official auction of the American Numismatic Association National Money Show conducted March 25-28 by Heritage.
These coins, which are the largest gold coins ever issued to the public by the U.S. Mint, contain almost 2.5 troy ounces of gold.
“In most of our auctions, one of these California commemorative coins would be a star highlight,” said Greg Rohan, president of Heritage Auction Galleries. “With seven of them in this auction, it’s more like an ensemble cast,” he joked.
The round $50s have a mintage of 483 and the octagonal mintage is 645.
The top grading piece is a round version that is MS-65, according to Numismatic Guaranty Corp., and it has a Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker.
“This lovely coin is immensely lustrous with pale canary-yellow surfaces. While the centers show slight striking softness, most visibly at the owl’s legs, the overall eye appeal is remarkable,” the cataloger noted.
Two other examples of the round coin are described by catalogers as having been improperly cleaned.
The top two octagonal versions are both graded MS-63. One is by NGC and it also has a CAC sticker. The other is by the Professional Coin Grading Service but without a CAC sticker.
Of the two other octagonals, one is noted as being improperly cleaned and the other as scratched.
The two top Pan-Pac pieces with the CAC stickers come from the Larry V. Cunningham Collection.
Other gold coins in the auction include a set of 15 Indian Head quarter eagle coins that are included as Part Two of the Atherton Family Collection.
“Every coin in this collection is a highlight in its own right, but two lots stand out,” said Rohan. “The 1911-D is the key to the series, and the Atherton coin, Lot 2176, is graded an amazing MS-66 by PCGS. Former owners include Ambassador and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb, and later one of the most famous gold coin collectors of all time, Harry W. Bass Jr.”
The 1914 $2.50 in the set is graded MS-67 by PCGS. Heritage notes that it is the finest known for the date and one of just four MS-67 Indian Head quarter eagles of any date.
Almost 300 lots of gold double eagles include rarities such as an AU-50 1860-O, a 1907 high relief, wire rim 1907 Saint-Gaudens $20 graded MS-65 star by NGC, and two high relief, flat rim examples of the date graded NGC MS-67 and PCGS MS-64, respectively.
An NGC MS-66 1927-S Saint-Gaudens piece is another of the $20 gold rarities.
The final lot in the run of gold $20s is a 1911 Saint-Gaudens piece in matte proof. The coin is graded Proof-65 by NGC. The cataloger notes it has the “typical fine-grained pebbly texture characteristic of the issue.”
Other highlight lots include early copper coins and small cents. Among the latter lots is what Heritage calls a spectacular Lincoln cent variety, the rare 1969-S doubled die obverse. It is graded AU-55 by PCGS. The cataloger notes that just a few dozen survivors are known.
For more information about the sale, visit the Heritage Web site at HA.com.
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