Sold by Douglas Winter Numismatics: Condition Census AU58 1860-O Double Eagle

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Sold by Douglas Winter Numismatics: Condition Census AU58 1860-O Double Eagle

This regular DWN blog feature looks at some of the rare and interesting coins which we have sold in recent months. Most of these coins never made it to our website, and were quietly sold to collectors who we knew needed specific issues and who we had close personal relationships with.

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Sold by Douglas Winter Numismatics: Very Rare Uncirculated 1862-S Half Eagle

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Sold by Douglas Winter Numismatics: Very Rare Uncirculated 1862-S Half Eagle

The 1862-S is the second rarest Civil War era half eagle from the San Francisco mint, trailing only the 1864-S. Of the 9,500 struck, only 45-55 are known with most in lower grades. The reasons for this low survival rate include heavy use in commerce, pervasive meltings, and a lack of local collectors or dealers to save any pieces, as occurred with certain Philadelphia issues from this period.

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The Newest Level of Rarity: The Appearance, or Eye Appeal, Rarity

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The Newest Level of Rarity: The Appearance, or Eye Appeal, Rarity

If you’ve been around the coin market for a while, you know that there are many different types of rarity. In this blog, I’m going to discuss the types of rarity you might already be familiar with, and one which you might not: the eye appeal or “appearance” rarity.

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How Consistent Does Your Set Need to Be?

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I had an interesting email exchange with collector M.N. who asked me, in a nutshell, if his technique was “wrong” because the set which he was building had a broad range of grades. After I gave him my answer (which was basically “there is no wrong way to build your specific set since the coins you are searching for are all rare to very rare”) it got me thinking about the consistency of a set of coins when it comes to grade and appearance.

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Vertical Coin Collections

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Vertical Coin Collections

I was having a conversation with client JF, and he told me about a way he collects coins which I thought was novel and neat enough to share with you. If you are familiar with wine collecting (and drinking) you know about verticals. A vertical wine collection is when an individual pursues different vintages of the same wine type (Bordeaux, Burgundy, etc.) from the same winery. An example of this would be a vertical set of Bordeaux from Chateau Lafite Rothschild bottled between 1985 and 2015.

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How I Became a Coin Collector (...Again)

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How I Became a Coin Collector (...Again)

Around six months ago, a client and friend emailed me a photo of a very pretty 1838 quarter. He wasn’t soliciting an offer; he knew that I liked the series and would no doubt appreciate the originality of said coin. Without really thinking, I answered him with an inquiry asking if the coin was for sale and if so how much it was. He quoted me a price; I said yes and didn’t give the transaction a second thought.

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Sold by Douglas Winter Numismatics: Extremely Rare 1821 Half Eagle

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Sold by Douglas Winter Numismatics: Extremely Rare 1821 Half Eagle

Around a year ago, I was outbid on an amazing PCGS MS63+ 1821 half eagle. I was pretty bummed at the time as this was a coin which I truly wanted to own. But the final price realized was just too much and I walked away from the coin.

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Sold by Douglas Winter Numismatics: Very Rare Proof 1872 Double Eagle

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Sold by Douglas Winter Numismatics: Very Rare Proof 1872 Double Eagle

I have handled some really amazing Proof gold coins in 2014, and one of the rarest and most interesting is this PCGS PR64 1872 double eagle. I’d like to share some information about this specific coin and about Proof Type Two double eagles in general.

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