David Akers: An Appreciation

My interest in United States gold coins began early and, as a result, Dave Akers was one of my first numismatic heroes. I somehow managed to scam my way onto the Paramount mailing list back in the early-to-mid 1970's and I can remember being enthralled with Akers' style of cataloging. He clearly knew his coins inside and out and the information that he was willing to share was inspiring for an aspiring gold coin specialist like myself. In later years, as I began to catalog and write myself, I freely "borrowed" from Dave. The first time I saw Dave in action was at the Stack's 1976 ANA sale. I had a few thousand dollars to spend and this was my first big-time auction to attend in person. I remember Dave buying some of the high end, esoteric 18th and 19th century gold pieces and thinking, "Someday, I want to be a big shot dealer who walks into an ANA auction, buys the four or five ultra-cool coins he really wants, and then gets up and leaves."

I opened my own coin business in 1985 after working for another firm for my first three years in the business. Around a month before the beginning of Auction '85 (the four-firm sale he did every year with RARCOA, Stack's and Superior) I called all four firms trying to get credit established so I could bid in the sale. Two of the firms never bothered to call me back and one offered me something like $5,000 credit if I left a kidney on deposit. But Dave called me back personally, talked to me for about ten minutes (telling me about some of the more interesting lots in the sale) and gave me a credit line at the sale that was around triple what I had hoped for.

Then, in 1986, I started working on my first coin book: The Gold Coins of the Charlotte Mint, 1838-1861. I asked Dave if he would look at the manuscript, which he did, and he gave me a tremendous amount of input. This made the book better and it inspired me to write other books. As always, I "borrowed" freely from Dave, especially in the format that I adapted.

Dave's books on United States gold coins were a tremendous inspiration to me and they actually served as a template for the way I built my company. Dave understood "branding" before this term even existed in the sense that we know it today and his books helped him create one of the best rare coin businesses ever established. To many collectors and dealers, Dave Akers WAS rare date U.S. gold.

As I became more successful, I got to know Dave better. We never really did that much business but he would come to make table at nearly every show and either hand me an incredibly cool coin or pull a piece or two from my case and proceed to tell me its pedigree and give me some insight into the significance of the issue.

Dave Akers knew more about United States gold coins than anyone I have ever met. I would have loved for him to have written more books or to have recorded what he knew onto video or audio. Dave was one of the last of the great scholar-dealers from the 1960's and 1970's, and with his passing we lose a lot of very valuable information about coins and the history of the market.

Dave's greatest success in the coin business and what he is likely to be remembered for was the cataloging and sale of the Pittman collection in the 1990's. This was a staggering amount of work and the catalogs that he produced rank as some of the greatest work in the history of numismatics; if not in any collectibles field. I was able to actively participate in both of the Pittman sales of U.S. coins and these are some of the most memorable moments for me in my entire numismatic career.

During the last few years, I became friendlier with Dave through our mutual friendship with Steve Duckor. I think Dave gave Steve--and all the collectors he worked with--the sort of training that no amount of time or money could replicate today. He shared his knowledge and his passion and helped Steve--and other collectors--build some of the finest sets of U.S. coins ever assembled.

I will miss Dave. I will miss seeing his displays of outrageous coins, I will miss his stories of the "old days" in the coin business and I will miss the kindness he had shown me for close to three decades. Dave, you were one of the all-time greats.

1891-S $20.00 PCGS MS60 OGH

Old Green Label Holder. I grade this coin MS61 to MS62 by today's standards and it shows very attractive rich orange-gold color on the obverse and the reverse.

1889 $20.00 PCGS AU55 CAC OGH

Old Green Label Holder. I grade this coin MS60 by today's standards. Bright and very frosty with splashes of rich natural orange-gold color on both sides. The 1889 is a scarce and undervalued date. It gets little premium until MS62 but it is many, many times scarcer than a common Type Three issue, even in the lower Uncirculated grades. Good value.

This is the only 1889 double eagle to receive CAC approval in this grade; only thirteen higher have been approved as well.

1885-S $20.00 PCGS AU58 CAC OGH

Old Green Label holder. By today's standards, I grade this coin MS60 to MS61. Original and uncleaned with just a few scattered marks seen in the fields. Not a really common date but there is no premium for this issue until you get into the MS63 to MS64 range.

This is the only CAC example of this date in AU58; twenty-eight have been approved in grades higher than AU58.

1877-S $20.00 PCGS AU58 OGH

Old Green Holder. By today's standards, I grade this coin MS60 to MS61. A bit on the baggy side, as is typical for this issue, but original and very frosty with nice light yellow-gold color. This is the first Type Three double eagle from San Francisco and the 1877-S becomes scarce in MS62 and rare in MS63 or finer.

1872-S $20.00 PCGS EF45 CAC Gold Sticker OGH

Old Green Label Holder, CAC Gold Sticker. By today's standards, this coin grades AU53 to AU55. Lustrous with splashes of light yellow-gold color. It is pretty amazing that this coin was ever graded EF45 as it shows little in the way of wear! A pleasing example of this somewhat available Type Two san Francisco issue.

1870-S $20.00 PCGS EF45 OGH

Old Green Label Holder. By today's standards this coin grades AU50 to AU53 but there are a few noticeable mint-made grease stains on the right obverse. Light yellow-gold color covers very lustrous surfaces. This is a tougher date than many collectors realize although it sells for virtually no premium over a common Type Two issue in this grade.

1867 $20.00 PCGS AU50 CAC, OGH

Old Green Holder. By today's standards I grade this coin a solid AU55 with a shot to grade AU58. It has a nice medium to deep orange-gold and green "Euro" appearance but it is not overly dark. This date is usually seen with pronounced abrasions in the fields and this coin is cleaner than usual. A very nice Type Two double eagle.

CAC has approved one example in AU50 with eighteen finer than this.

1842 $2.50 PCGS EF45

This unheralded issue is actually one of the rarest Liberty Head quarter eagles of any date. Only 2,823 were struck and just four dozen or so are known with most in the VF to EF range and characterized by extremely poor eye appeal. This fresh-to-the-market example is one of just a handful of 1842 quarter eagles that I have seen with natural color and choice surfaces. Both the obverse and the reverse show deep green-gold color and there is a considerable amount of dirt within the recesses of the reverse lettering. The surfaces are clean and choice while the level of eye appeal is as high as for any EF example of this date that I have seen or handled. There are only five auction records for EF45 1842 quarter eagles since 1991 (three PCGS coins and two NGC coins) and the last record is Heritage 1/08: 3826 that sold for $4,888. If this were a Charlotte or Dahlonega quarter eagle in this grade of comparable rarity it would be a five figure coin or close to it. An exceptional piece for the savvy collector.