It’s a given that I’m going to purchase a few ultra-macho coins at the ANA convention. It’s the biggest and best show of the year, and I always spend seven figures+ including a few six figure rarities.

2023 was no exception and it is difficult for me to limit the list to just three given that I purchased some really exceptional pieces.

And away we go…

1. 1806/4 $2.50 PCGS MS63

Two varieties of 1806 quarter eagles exist and both are overdates. The 1806/4 is the more available of the pair and it is characterized by the obverse stars showing an 8x5 arrangement. There were 1,136 struck, and an estimated 75-85 exist with the majority in the lower to middle AU range. Uncirculated 1806/4 quarter eagles are very rare with perhaps three to five known.

This example was pedigreed to the Andrew Hain Collection and it is the single finest graded by PCGS. The only comparable coin I am aware of is the Pogue I: 1125 coin, graded MS62 by PCGS, which brought $94,000 in May, 2015. That coin had beautiful deep reddish-gold color, but it had a detracting patch of scratches in the right obverse field and extremely detracting adjustment marks at the central reverse. In September, 2022, Heritage offered the Bass Core Collection example in PCGS MS61 and it brought $60,000. I graded this coin AU55 to AU58 and there were scratches which had been removed in the right obverse field.

The Hain PCGS MS63 was the single finest 1806/4 which I have ever seen. It is likely the coin which sold for $85,100 as an NGC MS63 in the Bowers and Merena August 2006 sale. This piece had a really fresh appearance and it was the sole Uncirculated 1806/4 quarter eagle I have seen which lacked any major issues. The strike was somewhat weak at the centers as on every known example but the surfaces lacked significant adjustment marks. There were some splashes of reddish toning on the obverse while the reverse was deeply toned in attractive rich reddish-gold.

I paid $114,000 for this coin which is an all-time price record for an 1806/4 quarter eagle, but which I believe was a reasonable number for a coin which is almost certainly the finest known example of a scarce and important early quarter eagle. Had this been a half eagle or an eagle of comparable rarity, I would expect that the price realized would have been at least double what it brought.

2. 1859 $10.00 PCGS/CAC PR64 DEEP CAMEO

I’ve always been skeptical about the mintage figures for pre-Civil War Proof gold coins and I have a hard time believing that there were actually 80 Proof 1859 eagles made. Even if this number is accurate, it is clear that most were melted due to not selling to collectors, and there are an estimated nine or 10 known today. This includes one in the Smithsonian and another in the ANS.

This example was very choice for the grade and, in my opinion, it might grade PR64+DCAM if it was resubmitted. It had a dramatic black and white appearance with deeply frosted devices and highly reflective fields. There were very faint minor hairlines in the left obverse field (from handling), plus a mint-made lintmark at Liberty’s lips which served as ready identification.

There have not been many APRs for Proof 1859 eagles which is obviously not surprising given its rarity. In May 2023, the Bass Core Collection: 4581 coin, graded PR65 DCAM by PCGS/CAC, brought a record-setting $456,000; it is now in the DL Hansen Collection. In March 2013, a PCGS PR65 which was part of an original Proof set dated 1859 brought $257,342 in an English sale. The example which I purchased—for $264,000—had not been sold at auction since January, 1984, when it brought $32,000 in the Amon Carter Jr. Collection. It was later in the Trompeter Collection, and after this it had been in the holdings of a Pittsburgh collector.

This was probably my single favorite 2023 ANA purchase.

3. 1883-O $10.00 PCGS/CAC AU53

The 1883-O is the rarest eagle from New Orleans; not an unexpected outcome given its tiny original mintage of 800 coins. I believe that a dozen or so are known in About Uncirculated plus another two or three in Uncirculated. There are probably not more than a half dozen of these higher-grade examples which are choice and original, and it appears that all of the coins which meet this criteria are from overseas bank repatriations.

The example I purchased was almost certainly from Europe, and it had a pleasing crusty appearance. The olive-gold and russet color was 100% original, the surfaces were minimally abraded, and there was a good deal of luster seen on both sides.

I paid $102,000 for this coin which was about exactly what I figured the coin for when I viewed it before the auction. A nice PCGS/Gold CAC had sold for $90,000 in 2018, while a PCGS/CAC AU53 sold for $126,563 in a Great Collections May 2023 auction. In March 2023, an all-time price record for this date was set by a nice PCG/CAC AU58 which brought a very strong $182,813.

DWN is a major buyer of important US gold coins at auctions. We charge 5% for expert auction representation and are available for most upcoming sales in 2023 and beyond. For more information contact us via email at dwn@ont.com.