On January 20th, Heritage Auctions sold Part Three of the Bob Simpson Collection. As with the first two sales, the majority of the coins were non-gold but what few gold coins which were available tended to be spectacular. By analyzing the prices realized, we can get a better grasp of what is going on with the high-end segment of the US gold coin market.

1. 1850, 1853-D and 1856 Slanting 5 Gold Dollars.

Bob Simpson had a terrific collection of gold dollars and, little by little, these have been selling at the various auctions which contain his coins. There were three important coins in Session 3.

The first coin was an 1850 graded MS68 by PCGS. Offered as Lot 3034, it brought $55,200. The coin was last sold (as a PCGS/CAC MS67) as Lot 4240 in the Heritage 2015 ANA sale as part of the Steve Duckor Collection of gold dollars where it brought $32,900. This was a nice upgrade for Simpson and he made good money on the coin, but it should be pointed out that another 1850 gold dollar graded MS68 by PCGS—but approved by CAC—realized a strong $88,125 as Legend 5/2020: 275. My guess is that if the Duckor/Simpson coin had stickered at CAC it would have brought $20,000+ more.

The second coin was a PCGS/CAC MS65+ 1853-D gold dollar. As you can well imagine, any gold dollar from Dahlonega is extremely rare in Gem, and this coin realized $78,000. Ironically, it last sold (as an NGC MS66) for $74,750 in the Heritage 2/2010 auction. While I agree with the strategy to down-cross the coin, I would say this was a somewhat disappointing result.

*Lot 3037; 1856 Slanting 5 $1.00 PCGS MS68+ CAC*

The third coin was a personal favorite of mine: a scintillating PCGS/CAC MS68+ 1856 Slanting 5 that was previously owned by Steve Duckor and was earlier in the personal collection of David Akers. It was offered as Lot 3037 in Simpson III and it brought $43,200. In the 2015 ANA sale, it brought a nearly identical $42,300. I thought this coin had a very real shot to upgrade to MS69 as it was essentially perfect and I think it was good value.

2. 1796 Stars $2.50 PCGS/CAC MS65

I can remember the first time I saw this coin during lot viewing for the Byron Reed auction back in 1996. It blew my mind then and I don’t think any less of it today. It is by far the finest known and it is a coin which I still don’t think gets all the love it deserves.

*Lot 3039; 1796 Stars $2.50 PCGS MS65 CAC*

This coin was acquired by Bob Simpson in the Heritage 2008 FUN sale for a then-strong $1,006,250.
Heritage sold the coin in 2021 for $1,380,000. This is a strong price but if this issue were better appreciated for the true rarity it is, I think it would have brought at least 15-20%+ more.

3. Indian Head Half Eagles

I’m not really certain how seriously Bob Simpson took this set. He was clearly very serious about his Indian Head eagles and his Saints, but I wonder if he obsessed about this very difficult to assemble design.

There were two significant Indian Head half eagles in the Simpson III auction. The first was the conditionally rare 1909-O which was graded MS64+ by PCGS and approved by CAC. Offered as Lot 3045, it sold for $240,000 which I regard as a very strong price. The coin was last sold as Lot 2331 in Bowers and Merena’s 3/2006 auction where it brought $175,375.

The other notable Indian Head half eagle was a PCGS MS65+ example of the 1914-S. This date is an absolute stopper in the set in Gem. PCGS has graded just one in MS65 and one in MS65+ with none finer. I liked the Simpson coin but I didn’t love it, but it still sold for $180,000 which is a record for the date.

Interestingly, the one 1914-S that I have seen which I liked more, a PCGS/CAC MS65, brought $146,875 as Goldberg 6/16: 1603. My guess is that if the Simpson coin had a CAC sticker, it would have sailed past the $200,000 mark.

4. 1804 $10.00 PCGS/CAC PR65+ Deep Cameo

The unquestioned highlight of the Simpson III sale was his Gem Proof 1804 $10.00. One of just three known (and one of only four struck) this coin was most likely included in the Simpson Collection because it appears as a Pattern issue in the Judd book (it is most definitely not a pattern).

*Lot 3049; 1804 $10.00 PCGS PR65+ Deep Cameo CAC*

This coin had traded at a reported $5 million via private treaty almost a decade ago which, in my opinion, was way too much at the time.

But time has a way of healing (most) numismatic wounds and in the weeks leading up to the sale, this was among the most-discussed lots in the auction. I expected it to bring in the area of $3,250,000-3,750,000 but before the sale went live, it was already up to close to $4 million hammer. The coin wound-up selling to a prominent overseas collector for $5,280,000 all in. I consider this an extremely strong price.

My overall take on the Simpson III sale was that prices were extremely strong. Clearly, the upper-end of the coin market is very strong right now, and my fears of the glut of six and seven figure coins being unable to be absorbed were most certainly unfounded.

I look forward to the next Simpson sale and I will report on the coins which are relevant to DWN’s collectors.