Time to drool over rarities

Imagine working for a major firm like Stack’s Bowers Galleries and being able to see the crown jewels of numismatics close up.

Thinking of how wonderful it would be to see such rare pieces as the only 1822 $5 gold piece in private hands simply makes me drool.

I know that I will never have the funds to purchase it, but I will be able to report on its sale.

This is just one of many coins that will be put on the block in the coming months by Stack’s Bowers.

The firm has been filling its calendar and I have received press releases in rapid succession in the last few days.

First on the list is a sale that will be conducted as the official auction of the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Baltimore Expo, which will be held Oct. 30-Nov. 2.

This sale will offer material that runs the gamut of U.S. coins and paper money to world coins and ancient coins and world paper money.

At the Whitman show in March 2015 a collection of Massachusetts silver, Colonial and early Federal coins will go on the block.

The Massachusetts silver coins number over 120 pieces and is the most complete group ever offered, Stack's Bowers says.

These silver coins will be sold under the name of the Henry P. Kendall Foundation.

The 1822 $5 gold piece is part of the D. Brent Pogue Collection.

This assemblage of rare coins will be sold over a period that stretches over more than two years starting with a New York City sale May 14, 2015.

There will be seven more sales in the metropolis concluding Sept. 21, 2017.

Surely there will be many headlines generated over that period of time. I can’t wait.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper is winner of the 2014 Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."