A $5 million price has been paid for one of four known proof 1804 $10 gold pieces, announced Albanese Rare Coins, Inc., of Albion N.Y.
The anonymous buyer also purchased a proof 1838 $10 gold piece for $1.7 million that pedigrees to Egypt?s King Farouk and later John Jay Pittman.
?The buyer and seller want to remain anonymous. Both are northeastern United States entrepreneurs who have been collecting coins since they were young boys,? said David C. Albanese, president of Albanese Rare Coins.
The 1804 proof $10 is graded NGC Proof-65 Ultra Cameo (with star designation). Albanese points out that although dated 1804, the coin was actually struck in 1834 to be included in presentation sets given as trade mission diplomatic gifts overseas on behalf of President Andrew Jackson.
Two of the four known specimens are in private collections; the third is part of the famous, privately owned King of Siam proof set; and the fourth 1804 proof eagle is part of the Harry Bass Collection at the American Numismatic Association museum in Colorado.
?In the last four years it?s increased in value from $1 million to now $5 million? said Dean Albanese, CEO of the company, who is planning a book.
The 1838 $10 gold piece, one of only three known proofs, is graded PCGS Proof-65. Its pedigree includes Lorin Parmelee, a prominent 19th century collector; Virgil Brand, an early 20th century Chicago beer baron; Col. E.H.R. Green, another early 20th century collector; William H. Woodin, who served as U.S. Treasury Secretary during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; and Pittman, a former ANA president who acquired it at the historic 1954 Cairo auction of King Farouk?s collection and then kept it until his death in 1996.
The anonymous buyer issued a brief statement: ?To own these two coins is a dream that?s come true.?
The anonymous seller said, ?It has been a tremendous honor to have owned these two remarkable coins.
The $5 million purchase price for the 1804 eagle ties the record for the world?s second most valuable coin that was established earlier this year with the private sale of a 1913 Liberty Head nickel. The previous record prices for an 1804 proof eagle and 1838 proof eagle were $2,274,000 and $1,177,000, respectively, in February 2005.
For additional information, contact Albanese Rare Coins, Inc., P.O. Box 146, Albion, NY 14411. Phone: (585)589-1803. E-mail: info@coinace.com. The Web site is www.coinace.com.
