Coins We Love - October 4
This week was a fairly slow one at DLRC. We processed all of our new purchases, got two new auctions set up and generally tried to serve our customers as best we could this week. Some weeks are just less "exciting" than others, but the thing that never seems to change is the opportunity to handle some amazing coins on a regular basis. Jason actually wrote a blog recently on how we acquire so many interesting pieces. One aspect that we are still learning about every day is what we call the "Hansen Effect". In short, our relationship with what some are calling the greatest privately owned collection of US Coins, has brought about many new buying opportunities. We often are offered pieces for the collection that might just not fit, so we get the opportunity to buy them ourselves. This is one of our favorite aspects of working with the collection as it allows us to grow our offerings.
Along those same lines, next week I will be in Utah managing an event with the collection where we are getting the collection "branded" with new labels on the primary sets of coins. While it will be an intense week, it’ll give me a unique opportunity to study many of the coins and speak with Mr. Hansen in person to get his unique perspective on his collection and the coin market in general. So, I’m going to put it out there that we will present a few select questions to Mr. Hansen this week. Consider it an "Ask Me Anything", if you have a question you’d like to ask, shoot it to us at coins@davidlawrence.com, we will do our best to get them answered.
As for now, we wish you a wonderful week and I hope to hear from you soon!
Sincerely,
John Brush and Your Friends at DLRC
Why we love it: The wreath cent is a historic item that has long been desired by all levels of collectors. As someone who appreciates early American numismatics, this piece is a must-have. Most examples come with some porosity or are just generally unattractive, but this example is truly a leg above the rest and displays gorgeous fields and nice, high-end devices.
Value: There seems to be a ton of unattractive examples of this popular type on the market, but when looking for a piece with truly high-end details with surfaces that you’d want in your collection, this piece is the stopping point. With a recent auction record for a non-CAC example at $20,850, we expect the overly-conservative PCGS Price Guide value of $19,750 to jump into the mid-$20,000s. However, the CPG comes in at $24,200 making this piece with a starting bid of $24,250 a reasonably priced piece for such high quality and eye appeal.
Why we love it: The first year of issue for dimes in the United States, this 1796-dated piece is a highly desirable coin with the small eagle on the reverse. While the dime has always been a coin that is small in stature, it is very large in desire when it comes to early American history. A highly used denomination, the smallest silver coin to be produced in America (next to the under-appreciated Half Dime) these coins are fairly uncommon when it comes to pieces without any kind of cleaning or doctoring. This highly original and attractive piece is sure to catch the eye of a discerning collector.
The first year of issue for dimes in the United States, this 1796-dated piece is a highly desirable coin with the small eagle on the reverse. While the dime has always been a coin that is small in stature, it is very large in desire when it comes to early American history. A highly used denomination, the smallest silver coin to be produced in America (next to the under-appreciated Half Dime) these coins are fairly uncommon when it comes to pieces without any kind of cleaning or doctoring. This highly original and attractive piece is sure to catch the eye of a discerning collector.
Value: The PCGS Price Guide comes in at $15,000 for a non-CAC’d example and this piece ends this Sunday night in auction, but can be started with a bid of just $14,750.
Why we love it: The 1916-D Dime is the bluest of the blue chip items in American numismatics. Highly desired as one of the key dates of the early 20th Century, we love the long term values of this date in all grades. No Mercury dime set can be complete without one and when you can barely cross into the 5 figures for an uncirculated example, it just feels like good value. Give me this coin over a car-related stock any day (except maybe in 1916?).
Value: With the CPG coming in at $14,500 and the PCGS Price Guide at $15,000, this piece is listed with a starting bid of just $13,000 and is and ideal stopping place for someone looking for a key date with eye appeal!
Why we love it: There is simply something very special about this coin. As PCGS started designating coins with a prooflike finish, this piece jumped out in my mind as a coin that we had sold quite some time ago. Well, it found its way back in a prooflike holder and I wasn’t surprised. The coin is astounding and it’s truly a coin that I would put away myself if I were allowed to do so! With a commitment to not compete with our customers, I don’t often regret agreeing to this, but I do on this piece. As one of three graded by PCGS as MS67, this is the ONLY one with a prooflike designation and would be a home run for any collector…now if the Braves could hit a few more tonight I might get over the loss of this coin…
Value: The PCGS Price Guide does not reflect added value for a prooflike coin, so there are very few items to compare it with. In fact, there’s absolutely nothing for the date, series, or anything. That being said, DLRC bought this coin at a large premium in a deal at the ANA show and we’re marking it up just 10% in our auction this week as it is listed with a Starting Bid of just $18,000 in Sunday’s auction.
Why we love it: Really? Another key date. Yes. It happens. What can I say, we love the values on these and are happy to buy as many as we can. The queen of Morgan Dollars, the 93-S is missing from many collections, but this superb AU50 with nice luster would fit with any form of numismatic holdings.
Value: While lower grades are offered quite often (we always have a few in stock!), they become decidedly more difficult to located in grades of XF and higher. This lustrous AU50 is simply a coin that would be appreciated by all levels and is available with a starting bid of just $19,000 in this Sunday’s auction. With a PCGS Price Guide value of $20,000 we think that it’s right in-line with any comparable piece for the date and grade.
Why we love it: Yes, yes, I know. Too many expensive key dates. Well, please forgive me. This is the King of Morgan Dollars and while we’re playing Chess here, you can’t have a queen without a king. At least that’s the lesson I’m trying to teach my kids on the board game. This lovely, eye-appealing key date proof is another example of a coin that just can’t go wrong. While we actually have a pair of these in stock, this is the most desirable piece for the grade and is a guaranteed winner for any collection.
Value: This piece can be checkmated with a starting bid of $52,500 in Sunday’s auction. With the CPG at $58,100 and the PCGS Price Guide at $62,500 this seems like good value for a nice coin. In fact, we recently wholesaled a less attractive piece for over $53,000 just a few weeks ago, showing the value is all there for this treasure.
Why we love it: The 1870s have long been an under-appreciated decade of numismatics. With many low mintage rarities slipping through, the later dates were a bit more abundantly produced. However, this piece is bested by only a single coin at PCGS and is superbly preserved! A true gem with amazing eye appeal, this coin can simply not be improved upon in a lifetime and is a real winner.
Value: With a PCGS Price Guide at $12,500 it is offered in this week’s auction with a Starting Bid of just $11,500 and is a winning combination for a high-end collection.
Why we love it: We come across more of these popular varieties than one would expect, but they are by and large designated as Brown by the grading services. This lovely Red-Brown piece also possesses the coveted CAC seal of approval and is truly just a nice coin.
Value: With a wholesale Greysheet price level of $4,200 and a CPG value of $5,250, we think that offering this coin via Make Offer for just $4,750 makes it an excellent opportunity to acquire a nice example of this key date variety in the Lincoln Cent set.
Why we love it: With a mintage of 13,886 on a gold issue from Carson City, there just seems to be a good value awaiting if the coin is high-end. This piece is truly nice for the grade (as attested by CAC!) and is waiting for the next collector to be the caretaker for a period in its life.
Value: With a CPG of $11,900 and a PCGS Price Guide of $10,500, this coin can be had for just $500 over the wholesale value of a non-CAC coin at just $9,750. An opportunity for a grade value thanks for the wide range of purchasing at DLRC!
Why we love it: A great first-year (Small Eagle) type coin with frosty, lustrous surfaces and copious amounts of eye appeal. This gorgeous first year of issue of this beautifully designed piece of American numismatics is a scarce date that is perfect for a type set. From an estimated mintage of just under 5,100 coins, far fewer survive today.
Value: This may be the best value of the week, as the CPG comes in at $69,600 and the PCGS Price Guide of $66,500, we can offer this coin for below the most recent auction record that comes in at $58,750.
Available via Make Offer for JUST $57,500 this is an opportunity to help us lower our inventory levels a bit and to add a truly special coin to your collection…as always layaway option is available!
Check out all of the available "Coins We Love" from past newsletters