To many collectors, the ultimate opportunity involves a chance to acquire something unique, a stand-alone trophy that nobody else could have. Collectors of top U.S. coins will have three such opportunities within a week at Heritage Auctions, the world’s leading auctioneer of coins and currency, when a trio of unique trophy-quality coins are offered in The Bass Collection, Part II US Coins Signature® Auction – Orlando FUN Jan. 5 and the FUN US Coins Signature® Auction Jan. 11-15.
"The selection of unique coins coming to Heritage Auctions in January is extraordinary," says Todd Imhof, Executive Vice President of Heritage Auctions. "Opportunities to acquire coins like these come along once in a lifetime — if that. To have three such chances within such a short timespan simply underscores the significance of these two auctions, as any one of these coins can forever change a collection."
The second Bass Collection event at Heritage Auctions features a 1870-S Three Dollar Gold, SP50, which is among the rarest and most enigmatic coins in the U.S. federal series. Reliable reports suggest that a second example, housed in a ceremonial casket, was placed under the cornerstone of the Second San Francisco Mint in 1870, but the example offered in this auction is the only known example. But assuming the reports of that second example are accurate, that coin would be forever out of reach to collectors, meaning that for all intents and purposes, the example offered in this auction is unique. Even among collectors of the world’s top coins, the 1870-S three dollar gold piece is highly coveted, fully worthy of Holy Grail status — 15 times rarer than the 1804 dollar and five times rarer than the 1913 Liberty nickel. It’s like acquiring a prized painting — it is unique and, to the collectors who understand and appreciate them, nothing short of priceless.
"This is a fascinating coin, one that the most serious of collectors have waited years for a chance to acquire," Imhof said. "The fact that a second example might be buried under the cornerstone of the San Francisco Mint simply adds to the mystique of this coin, which is an unquestioned numismatic trophy."
Another of the prizes in the FUN auction will be an 1870-S Seated Liberty Half Dime, MS64 from the Bender Family Collection, the existence of which was completely unknown for more than a century. When it was revealed at the 87th Anniversary Convention of the American Numismatic Association in Houston in 1978, this coin was the talk of the convention. Immediately following the show, it made waves throughout major numismatic publications.
The September 9, 1978 issue of Numismatic News called the mintmarked 1870 half dime: "A super U.S. rarity — heretofore unknown," and the November publication of The Gobrecht Journal declared its reveal: "For the Seated collector the most significant event of the recent ANA Convention."
"This coin made collectors sit up and take notice at the 1978 ANA, because its existence was a surprise to so many," Imhof says. "That this coin was found and proven to be genuine was a major event in the history of U.S. numismatics."
According to Jim Simek, who worked at Chicago-based Rare Coin Company of America (RARCOA), several months prior to its display at the ANA convention, the offered coin was brought in by a dealer who had purchased the coin but did not know the exact circumstances of its provenance. Simek and RARCOA vice president Dennis Forgue discussed the very existence of the piece, since there were none listed in the Mint Director’s Report. Simek and Forgue speculated it may have been a trial or transitional piece that might have been prepared when the mintmark was relocated from below the bow in 1869 to above the bow in 1871, but it "was just a guess." They consulted with Virgil Hancock, a member of the Board of Governors and immediate past president of the ANA, as well as a founder of the ANA Certification Service, who said the coin would have to be examined under a scanning electron microscope, which revealed that the coin was genuine; details of the 1978 findings were laid out in a Certificate of Authenticity, a scan of which was included when the coin was sold at auction in 1985.
The third unique coin featured in the FUN auction will be an 1873-CC No Arrows Seated Dime, MS65 from the Prestwick Collection, Part II. One of the most prestigious coins ever offered through Heritage Auctions, it bears the Carson City mintmark, which appears on some of the most collected coins in U.S. numismatics.
From the 12,400 1873 No Arrows dimes that were struck, Mint Director Henry F. Rice took five examples and sent them — along with required quantities of the Seated half dollars and Seated dollars — to the Philadelphia Mint for testing in compliance with the Assay Commission statute. Shortly thereafter, the Coinage Act of 1873 required that all "old style" No Arrows dimes had to be melted. It is unclear what happened to the Assay Commission Coins, but what is clear is that just one example — a Gem at that — survives today, the coin offered in this auction.
"In a way, this coin should not even exist," says Imhof. "Coins like this one were supposed to be melted down, so the fact that this one survived is nothing short of remarkable, and makes it an immediate centerpiece in whichever collection it joins after this auction."
This example is unique in the Seated dime series and is the greatest Carson City rarity, the ultimate key, impossible to replace or ignore. Interest in Carson City issues is soaring, and the 1873-CC No Arrows is the missing link to many collecting disciplines.
The provenance of this magnificent coin reads like a "Who’s Who" of American numismatics. It became part of the Eliasberg Collection in 1950, when Louis Eliasberg completed his collection when he shelled out $4,000 for it. More than half a century later, it reached seven figures when it was sold in 2004 to the Battle Born collector for $1.84 million. Eliasberg and the Battle Born collector are the only ones ever to assemble a complete collection of the 111 Carson City coins.
Other highlights in The Bass Collection, Part II Auction — Orlando FUN include, but are not limited to:
An 1856 Gold Dollar, PR65 Deep Cameo
A 1796 BD-2 No Stars Quarter Eagle, MS63
A 1795 Small Eagle Half Eagle, MS64
A 1907 Arabic Numerals High Relief Double Eagle, Matte SP68, Small Edge Lettering
Additional highlights from the FUN US Coins Signature® Auction include, but are not limited to:
A 1797 Half Dollar, O-101a, Magnificent MS65+
A 1971-S Eisenhower Dollar Prototype, SP67
A 1907 Arabic Numerals Double Eagle, PR68
A 1794 Flowing Hair Half Dollar, MS64+
An 1854-S Liberty Quarter Eagle, VF30
Images and information about all lots in the auction can be found at HA.com/1351.
About Heritage Auctions
Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world’s largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam, Brussels and Hong Kong.
Heritage also enjoys the highest Online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house on earth (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). The Internet’s most popular auction-house website, HA.com, has more than 1,500,000 registered bidder-members and searchable free archives of five million past auction records with prices realized, descriptions and enlargeable photos. Reproduction rights routinely granted to media for photo credit.
