Attracting television coverage, Heritage Auction Galleries? Signature Auction of the Jules Reiver Collection of U.S. coinage realized more than $8.5 million. That figure includes the 15 percent buyer?s fee.

?Interest has been so strong that WFAA, Channel 8 in Dallas, sent a camera crew to cover Tuesday night?s session, said Greg Rohan, president of Heritage. Needless to say, Mr. Reiver?s family is thrilled with the results of the auction.?

Held Jan. 24-28 at the company?s headquarters in Dallas, Texas, the auction featured nine sessions, with 2,815 total bidders participating, 654 of them successfully, for 4,642 total lots. The online session closed on Jan. 30. Once those results are tallied, totals for this auction will climb higher.

A World War II hero who was awarded the Bronze Star, Reiver assembled what Rohan calls ? ... probably the most complete collection that has ever existed of early U.S. copper and silver coinage by die variety and die state.?

Originally projected to bring in $7 million, according to Rohan, the sale featured a 1796 silver dollar with Small Date, Large Letters, graded MS-61 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp., that fetched $172,500. It?s been off the market for 30 years, according to the cataloger.

?There are fewer than a dozen coins of this date which are the equal or finer than the present example,? writes the cataloger.

Another six-figure coin, a 1794 silver dollar, graded VF-25 by NGC, realized $161,000. Also, an 1831 half cent in Proof-58 condition, according to NGC, brought in $80,500, and a 1794 half dollar, graded AU-55 by NGC, realized $69,000.

To buy a catalog for any Heritage Auction, contact Nicole Jewell by writing to her at: Heritage Auction Galleries, 3500 Maple Ave., 17th Floor, Dallas, TX 75219.

To order by credit card, visit HeritageAuctions.com/coins.