Is the Market for Dahlonega Varieties Starting to Heat Up?

For years, I've been commenting on the die varieties of Dahlonega coins. My take has usually been somewhere along the line of "they are neat and they are fun to collect but I'm not sure that I ever see the market for these coins taking off." From time to to time, I talk to a collector who dabbles in Dahlonega varieties and I've even dealt with one or two who have been pretty hard-core. But, with some exceptions, I've never seen prices for these coins reflect this interest. Until possibly now. I'll be the first to tell you that you can't make a declaration about a market based on one auction but, the recent Heritage 2013 FUN sale had a large and varied collection of Dahlonega half eagles by die variety and there seemed to be a trend towards some of the rarer, more obvious varieties selling for premiums. Let's take a look at a few examples and try to make sense of them.

Lot 7189 was an 1854-D Medium D in an NGC VF30 holder. It was a nice coin, solid for the grade and original. NGC doesn't designate this variety so my brilliant plan was to break it out and send it to PCGS where it would grade, I hoped, VF30 and be designated as a Medium D. I bid $1,600 for the coin which would have put me into it at $1,880 with the buyer's premium. The coin brought $1,998 . The price was around 10% more than I expected. Certainly not a huge price premium but enough to make me raise an eyebrow.

The next coins that I found interesting were Lots 7193 and 7194; the former was an 1855-D Large D in NGC AU53 while the latter was an 1855-D Medium D also graded AU53 by NGC. In my experience, the Large D is the scarcer of the two (despite the fact that there were two Large D examples in the sale).

The first coin, lot 7193, sold for $3,182 while the second, lot 7194, sold for $3,290 which sort of disproves my theory that the market for Dahlonega half eagle varieties might be picking up. I partially attribute this to the fact that the Medium D coins are always weakly struck at the centers which means most collectors don't "get" this variety. Had Lot 7193, the Large D, been more attractive, I'm guessing it might have sold for some sort of premium. Clearly, this market is not yet developed enough that collectors are saying "this is a rare variety and even though the coin is kind of ugly I still need to pay a premium for it."

The two coins which were really interesting to me were Lot 7213 and Lot 7214. Both were 1859-D Large D half eagles. These varieties are designated by PCGS, they have very low populations figures and they are clearly visible to the naked eye; sort of the perfect storm for D mint half eagle varieties, if you will.

The first 1859-D (Lot 7213) was graded EF40 by PCGS and I thought the coin was extremely nice for the grade; maybe an EF45/AU50 on a good day. I figured it at $2,100, which meant a shade under $2,500 all in. The coin sold for $4,700 with the buyer's premium which I thought was remarkable.

The second 1859-D (Lot 7214) was graded AU55 by PCGS and I liked the coin even though it had an odd area of light toning directly above the head of Liberty at 12:00. I figured the coin at $3,750 or $4,406 with the fees. The coin wound up selling for $5,875 including the premium.

Were these prices strong? Just as a point of reference, an NGC AU58 1859-D half eagle in the same sale (Lot 7212) sold for $3,819 including the premium. The coin was a bit over-graded, in my opinion, but actually pretty decent and certainly an AU55 all day long.

Now, I don't know who bought the two 1859-D half eagles. They could have been bought by break-out dealers or telemarketers who figured the low PCGS populations meant a potential big score. But assuming they were purchased by variety collectors, I think these prices were extremely significant and they could portend an oncoming wave of interest in varieties.

My guess is that if varieties are to become of interest to collectors, they are going to be just the ones that are designated by PCGS/NGC and the ones that are easily seen with the naked-eye. Will someone care about one of the six varieties of 1848-D half eagle because of the position of the date or the placement of the mintmark? I doubt it. But I think they will care about a coin like the 1848-D/D half eagle which is genuinely rare and which can be appreciated by beginning and advanced collectors alike.

Kudos to Heritage for doing a nice job of cataloging these coins and my hats off to the collector who assembled this variety set, especially the two 1859-D half eagles.

Undervalued U.S. Gold Coins in the $1,500-3,500 Range

 An article of mine was recently published by a content partner   and a reader left a comment about how my subject was elitist and  I am only concerned with selling $50,000+ coins. Hey, I LOVE selling $50,000 coins but I probably sell ten times more $1,500-3,500 coins every year than I do big ticket items. So to placate my angry reader, I thought I'd give some brief suggestions. Steven Mlaker, this one's for you!      1.  Type Three San Francisco Gold Dollars, EF45 to AU58

     There are only five San Francisco gold dollars of this type (1857-S, 1858-S, 1859-S, 1860-S and 1870-S) and all are of basically similar rarity. When available, these issues are seen in the EF45 to AU55 range and all can be had for $750 on the low end to $2,500+  for a nice AU58.

     What I like about these issues is that they are all low mintage and all are rare to very rare in Uncirculated. If I had to choose one date as the real "sleeper" it would probably be the 1870-S with a mintage of just 3,000.

     I like the concept of doing an evenly matched set of five coins, all grading AU55 to AU58. It can be done for around $10,000. To make the set a real challenge, make sure every coin is CAC quality with natural color and nice surfaces.

     2.  Properly Graded EF45 Dahlonega Quarter Eagles.

     Of the three main denominations from the Dahlonega mint, the quarter eagle is the hardest to find in choice, original Extremely Fine grades. Despite the rarity of these coins (and they are not easy to find with natural color and surfaces, no matter what the population reports say!) they are still priced in the $2,000-3,000 range.

     There are many dates in this series which are rare and expensive even in EF grades but I can think of at least ten (1843-D, 44-D, 45-D, 46-D, 47-D, 48-D, 49-D, 50-D, 51-D and 57-D) which can be bought for less than $3,000 in presentable grades.

     When buying these coins, look for pieces with deep, rich natural color and surfaces that are not overly abraded. Strike shouldn't be a major concern; if it is try idea #3, below.

    3.  Philadelphia and San Francisco Quarter Eagles, 1865-1876.

     Many of the quarter eagles made from 1865 through 1876 at the Philadelphia and San Francisco mint are scarcer than their southern counterparts at half the price.

     My favorite sleeper dates are the 1867, 1869, 1870, 1870-S, 1872 and 1876. Not a single one of these will cost you more than $2,000-3,000 in nice AU grades and the beauty of these dates is that, when available, they tend to be quite well made and reasonably attractive.

     Are these coins good "investments?" I doubt it, unless you move up the ladder and buy nice Uncirculated pieces (which, as Mr. Mlaker will remind me, is an elitist sentiment...) which seem like very good value to me.

     4.  Nice AU Classic Head Half Eagles.

     With the exception of the 1834 Crosslet 4, none of the Philadelphia half eagles made from 1834 through 1838 are scarce but they are extremely popular and when I have a nice, original AU55 to AU58 on my website, it typically sells within a few hours.

     What's not to like about these coins? They are very old, the design is cool and in the middle to higher AU grades, they look great; if original.

     A five coin 1834-1838 year set in AU55 to AU58 could be assembled for $10,000-15,000. For more of a challenge, you could add some of the major die varieties which are known.

     5.  Philadelphia No Motto Liberty Head Eagles

     After years of neglect, the Liberty Head eagle series became popular in 2008-2009 and, today, it is one of the more in-demand U.S. gold series. But collectors are mainly buying the key low mintage dates or the mintmarked coins and nice AU55 to AU58 Philadelphia coins from the 1840's and 1850's can still be bought in the $1,000-3,000 range.

     If your budget won't go higher than, say, $3,000 per coin, you can still come pretty close to completing a date run from 1840 through 1861.

    Sleepers? How about the 1840,  1842 Small Date, 1845, 1850 Small Date, 1857 and 1859. Collecting suggestions? Stick with coins which grade AU55 or better if possible and look for nice dark green-gold pieces with rich, frosty luster and light, even wear.

     6.  Mid-AU Grade Type One Philadelphia Double Eagles.

     The "play" with these coins is that they contain $1,500+ worth of gold (at current spot) but can be bought, in very presentable grades, for less than double melt. Are they rare? Not really. But they are popular as anything, they are a good "double play" hedge and they don't appear to have been adversely affected by shipwrecks like their San Francisco counterparts.

     I like nearly any 1850's Philadelphia double eagle in AU53 and better as long as it is choice, original and lesss marked thaan usual. The dates I like best are the 1855, 1856, 1857 and 1858 and $3,000 or so will get you a really presentable example of any of these four.

     7.  Early Type Three Double Eagles From San Francisco.

     My logic on these coins is the same as for the Philadelphia double eagles listed above but with one difference. These are "jump grade" coins in which a tiny difference in quality (say MS61 to MS62) can mean thousands of dollars.

     The dates I like are the 1877-S, 1878-S, 1880-S, 1881-S and 1882-S in MS60 to MS61. They aren't tremendously expensive and if you are very patient and very selective you might find an MS61 example of any of these that looks almost identical to an MS62 of the same date; at a greatly reduced price!

     Just so you know I'm not pay lip service to Mr. Mlaker, I have handled numerous examples of nearly every coin on this list during 2012 and will continue to make an active two way market in undervalued sub-$3,500 coins in 2013 and beyond.

     For more information on undervalued U.S. gold coins (in any price range, even over $50,000!) please feel free to call me at 214-675-9897 or email me at dwn@ont.com.

How I Blew My Free Appraisal

One of the oddest things about being a coin dealer are the almost daily phone calls I get from people who demand free information. Typically, these calls are from non-collectors who have found my name on the internet and have chosen me to help them determine the value of the coin they just found in the attic/coin they bought from on Ebay/coin they inherited from their Aunt Marge in Whitefish/etc.

So, what's "odd" about these calls?  It isn't the fact that I get them regularly; all coin dealers do. It's how unbelievably rude most of the callers are and how they feel that just because I'm listed on the internet, that I am obliged to help them.

(As an aside, the last time I tried to call Steve Cohen and ask him for stock picking advice for the upcoming year, I didn't get very far but, hey, maybe it was the way I asked....)

Let me run you through a typical call:

Phone rings.

Me: This is Doug Winter, how can I help you?

Caller: (Doesn't give me his name, just brusquely goes right into the question). I have an 1849 Pacific $5.00 gold piece, what's it worth?

Me: That's an exceedingly rare and often counterfeited coin.

Caller: No, its real gold. It's been in my family for XXX years. (More than 10 but less than 100...)

Me: That's great. Why don't you send me a photo?

Caller: I don't need to send you a photo because its real gold. What's it worth?

Me: *Sigh....* Since you already know what it's worth perhaps you should take it to a dealer who is smarter than me.

Caller hangs up. Calls back thirty seconds later. I don't take the call, recognizing his number on Caller ID. He leaves a message. I listen to it. Its not pretty. After he curses me out, tells me that not only is he never going to do business with me, he's going to "tell everyone on the Internet" not to do business with me. I'm crook. I'm rude. I "blew it" because I missed the chance to buy his coin.

What caused this phone conversation to go so horribly wrong? I'd like to think it was because he was surly, self-absorbed and arrogant, but perhaps the reason was simpler than than this.

I was brought up by Mom who taught me to be polite. I say please and thank you, I hold doors open for women, I help old people cross the street. Maybe I'm old-fashioned but I believe that when you are calling someone you don't know for a potential favor on the phone there is a certain basic etiquette that you follow. Some suggestions for a fruitful call, as follows:

1. Introduce yourself. Tell me your your name. And not just your first name, unless you are Madonna, Prince or Ichiro. You don't have to tell me your life story but can I at least know who I'm talking to?
2. Politely tell me the intent of your call. Tell me that you inherited some silver dollars and that you are interested in selling them.
3. Show me enough respect to do five minutes of background checking on your coin(s). I can't tell you the number of times someone calls me and tells me that they have a coin for sale but they don't know or forgot the date. I haven't yet mastered the art of seeing through your phone (or computer screen) and manually retrieving the date of the coin that you "forgot."
4. As your family doctor will happily remind you, no professional is obligated to spend five minutes with an anonymous, rude jerk.

OK, I know that I'm sounding like your grandma here but I'm kind of wondering how people suddenly became so rude. I'm guessing it's a function of email and social media where all sorts of formerly face-to-face interactions are now done anonymously. I get the fact that a guy calling me with a coin doesn't want to tell me his name and home address for security reasons. I also get the fact that if I don't treat this guy like he's Mrs. Norweb, he is going to write a review of DWN on Yelp or a message board and tell everyone how rude, insensitive and jerky I am. At some point, the proverbial twain must meet...

So, Mr. Pacific $5.00, I'm sorry I didn't offer you $250,000 sight-unseen for your amazing rarity, even though you wouldn't tell me your name and you already knew that the coin was real. I blew it.

The Second Annual DWN Art Basel "I Was There" Blog

For the second year in a row, I went to the incredible Art Basel show in Miami Beach. For those of you who are not familiar with this show, it has become quite possibly the leading art show in the world and it turns Miami into the Epicenter of the Art World for a week or two every year in early December. This year's edition of the fair was probably better for me than last year's (which I loved) because of the fact that I knew what to expect, was better prepared and was less overwhelmed. As I did last year, I'm going to share with you a couple of thoughts, using my vast experience in attending coin shows as a basis of comparison. 1.  Your money goes a lot (and I mean A LOT) further at a coin show then at a high end art show. Good art (I'm not even going to approach the subject of great art since it is so far out of my league pricewise) is fabulously expensive and it makes good to very good quality coins seem astonishingly cheap. I think my eye is pretty good when it comes to art and nearly every painting I priced at Art Basel was $100,000 and up. These were for artists that I thought I actually had a chance to buy. For great artists that I recognized (like the stunning Mark Rothko that hung, in its fiery orange glory, in the very first booth on the left as you entered the fair...) I didn't have the nerve to even ask what it was priced at. I know these great museum-quality works of art were going to run in the $5 million to $50 million and, tire-kicker that I was, I didn't want to waste the dealer's time.

2.  Coin dealers are much, much more approachable at shows than art dealers are at fairs. Unless you exude wealth or are known by the dealer, you don't get so much as a nod of recognition at Art Basel. At one booth, I was passed onto the most junior member of the firm when I asked the price of a painting. Sigh... (The real laugh here is that after I was told the painting was sold, the 23 year old junior dealer tried to upsell me to a $350,000 painting that was so large I would have had to hire a semi truck to get it to my house in Portland even if I had the 10,000 square foot house it would have required to show it!) I'm as guilty as any coin dealer of pre-judging someone approaching my table at a show but even if you are dressed in cheap jeans or a t-shirt, you are going to get my attention if you are a) polite b) interested in coins and/or c) knowledgeable about the types of coins I specialize in.

3.  Just like at a coin show, a little knowledge goes a long way at an art fair. Quick story: my fiance Irma saw a painting by an American woman artist named Edna Reindel that she loved at a ritzy New York dealer's booth. She was quoted $95,000. If I had that sort of art budget, I would have given it real consideration. That night, we went back to the room and on my computer, I searched for information about Edna. Within thirty seconds, I found an image of the painting. It had just sold, less than three weeks ago, in an auction for $28,500. Let's say you gave your interior designer a budget of $100,000 to buy "something special" at the show. Then let's say she bought this painting for $80,000, marked it up to $90,000 and hung it over your sofa. Looks great in your living room but how are you going to feel when (or if) you learn it just sold for less than 30 clams? Ouch!!

4.  Ethnic profiling is so fun and easy at these shows. The Italians are all wear bright red pants. The Germans have crazy architectural eyeglasses. The Brazilians (men and woman) are gorgeous. The Russians seem desperate. The American woman all have fake boobs and botoxed lips. Have you ever people-watched at Heathrow Airport in London or JFK in New York? Art Basel is ten times better with the added advantage that almost everyone is either rich or an artist. (Or a rich artist...)

5.  The art market for dead artists makes sense. A painting sells at auction for, say, $50,000 and this sets a level for comparable works by the artist. There are variables: is it a major work or a minor work? Was he in the middle of a glorious love affair with his mistress or had he just broken up with her and was clearly depressed? Is the condition nice or is it ratty?  But the market for living artists--especially emerging ones--is so fraught with variables. I saw one drawing at the show that was priced at $65,000 but I thought it was a great deal given the fact that it took the artist eight months to make (!) and it was staggeringly gorgeous and cerebral. Even without any auction comparables, I saw the value. On the other hand, I saw paintings for $100,000, $200,000 and up that I thought were hokey and derivative. Here's a thought: every generation produces maybe a half dozen truly great artists. Isn't it scary that artists are selling for $1 million and up today are almost guaranteed to be afterthoughts in thirty years (see Schnabel, Julian)? Give me a Dahlonega quarter eagle any day; at least I can figure values in that market.

6.  As with coins, freshness is absolutely essential in the high end art market. If you are a rich newbie at Art Basel, it is a virtual certainty you will be offered stale, overpriced secondary market pieces or B quality works by new artists. This is true even if you have a "consultant" who, in all likelihood, has his or her own agenda. It was interesting how often I heard obviously savvy collectors ask a gallerist at Art Basel about the provenance of a work of art or who it had been offered to already. If a painting had appeared at auction in the last few years and it failed to sell...instant kiss of death. Which is not the case, by the way, in the coin market where an auction dud can still attract interest.

7.  The level of passion for art at Art Basel is amazing. Sure, it's a see-and-be-seen atmosphere and more and more of the attendees are there for the parties. But I'm pretty impressed by the fact that in a single night out in Miami Beach, I ate dinner with a group of people ranging in age from around 30 to around 80 from all over the world wearing clothes that ranged from The Gap to Prada talking passionately about art and the art market. The demographic at a coin show tends to be, how shall I say it, a bit "different" and certainly far less diverse.

8.  Because of its proximity to Latin America and South America, the fairs in Miami tend to have a Hispanic orientation that I find fascinating. There is clearly a rapidly emerging upper middle class in countries like Colombia, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela. Not only were there a number of dealers from these countries, there were a number of collectors at the fairs buying up a storm. This wealth is almost certain to touch the coin market and if I were a betting man (wink, wink...) I would start buying selected high end coins from these four countries.

9.  Art Basel dealers, I feel your "pain."  Up at 9am. Walk or jog on the beach. Interesting clients to schmooze with all day. Brazilian women. Talk about art. See art. Sell art. Eat great food in Miami Beach. Brazilian woman. Stay at Art Deco hotels. Party 'til dawn at exclusive boites. And then there's my life... delayed flights on glamorous domestic carriers, botched reservations at Westins and Sheratons, crappy convention food, hot spots like Long Beach, Baltimore and Rosemont, fascinating conversation about die breaks on early half eagles. Not a Brazilian woman in sight. SIGH....

10. I had a great time at Art Basel 2012 and hope to be back next year. Its a fascinating week and I think it not only makes me a better connoisseur but a better coin dealer. I'm refreshed, excited and ready for the 2013 FUN show in Orlando in a few weeks.

Buying the Jump Grade

A few recent  coin sales that were made by my firm have given me an idea for a blog that I think is interesting. I've written about this before so I'll try to approach what I think is an important concept from a new perspective. The concept of value is extremely important to me when I buy a coin for my inventory and I try and share this with clients of DWN. In a nutshell, my core belief in coin buying is that, with most coins, there is a point at which you can "overbuy" . There are obvious examples of this and not so obvious ones.

The basis of my concept is what I refer to as the "jump" grade for a coin. The jump grade is the point at which the value spread for a coin becomes out of whack and the higher grade(s) for a coin no longer make sense.

 Let's look at a hypothetical pricing structure for a coin in higher grades:

     MS63:  $2500

     MS64:  $5000

     MS65:  $90000

This seems far-fetched, right? In truth, this is the exact value spread chart for a 1920 St. Gaudens double eagle, an issue that I consider to be the poster child for buying the jump grade which is MS64.

In this case, an MS64 example at $5,000 seems to make alot more sense than an MS65 at $90,000, especially given the fact that the single PCGS MS65 1920 Saint that has ever been graded isn't all that much nicer than a number of the 64's that I've seen or sold. So why would anyone buy a $90,000 version of a coin that can be represented in a set by a nice $5,000 version?

The answer is more complicated than you think. Obviously, part of it is vanity. Very high end collectors demand the finest coins and if a finest known coin jumps nearly 20x in value over the next grade down, that's just the reality of the market. If you are putting together a set of Saints that is competing for the finest in the set registry, the opportunity to add a finest known population one/none better coin (and the huge number of "points" that come with such a coin) is far and few between.

But what about the rest of us; we coin buyers without unlimited funds?

I'd like to share a few of my personal philosophies about value in numismatics.

     1.  Most collectors overbuy common coins and underbuy key coins. This is especially true for gold collectors who focus on 20th century issues. Let me give you an example. If you are collecting high grade Indian Head half eagles by date, why spend $25,000-30,000 on a common date in MS66 when you can buy a perfectly acceptable MS65 for half that amount? I think I'd rather pocket the $12,500-15,000 difference and apply it to a truly rare coin like a 1911-D. Conversely, the same collector who is working on the killer set of Indian half eagles would be foolish to scrimp on a classic issue like a 1929 and buy a "details grade" cleaned example so he could save money.

     2.  Issues with large underlying populations are dangerous purchases. Let me give you an example, along with a chart:

     1879-S Double Eagle

     Grade          PCGS Population          Value Range

     MS61                        225                        4000-5000+

     MS62                         59                          11000-13000+

     MS63                           3                           40000++

This issue actually has not one but two jump grades. For many collectors, the choice will be clear: buy an MS61 because in MS62 the price of this issue jumps almost threefold. An important point to consider is how many of the 225 coins graded MS61 (the actual number factoring in resubmissions is probably still 125-150) could become MS62 someday? Even if the number is just 10-20% percent of the total, that's still potentially as many as 15-30 new MS62 coins. Is the market deep enough to handle that high an influx and still maintain current value levels?

But for collectors with deeper pockets, MS62 is the jump grade for this issue, especially given the fact that they are unlkely to have the chance to buy an MS63 ( considering that the PCGS population is just three  and none have traded at auction since 2006). My personal choice would be a nice MS61 but I would buy a high end MS62 at, say, $15,000 if it were an obvious "just miss" coin.

3.  "Boring" coins deserve "boring" grades in most sets.  To me, a coin like a Dahlonega quarter eagle is interesting. That's why I don't think you can really "overbuy" in this series. There are very, very few D mint quarter eagles graded MS65 (or even MS64) and just about any coin graded as such, unless its horribly overgraded, is worthy of consideration for an advanced Dahlonega specialist.

But a coin like an 1898-S half eagle is boring. There were nearly 1.4 million struck, thousands and thousands exist and most range from nice to very nice. I have a hard time getting excited about a nice 1898-S half eagle; even the direct-from-the-mint to-John Clapp piece, now graded MS68 by PCGS. This coin last sold for $81,600 and I can think of alot of U.S. gold coins at this price point that I'd rather own. The only real "function" that this MS68 example might properly serve is as a type representative in a knock-your-socks off set.

4.  Type collecting looks at jump grades differently than date collecting.  Type collectors just buy one example of a specific design unlike date collectors who buy numerous. So a type collector will look at a jump grade differently. Going back to our earlier example of the Indian Head half eagle, for type purposes an MS66 might make sense and this becomes the jump grade; given that the next grade up (MS67) is likely to cost $70,000 or more.

5. You can throw the book away when it comes to dual rarities.  There are coins that are rare because of their grade and there are coins that are rare because few are known. Then there is the "rarest of the rare." These are coins that I refer to as "dual rarities" because they check boxes on both sides. An example of a dual rarity is a coin like the Byron Reed 1864 quarter eagle, which is graded MS67 by NGC. This is a coin that is not only very rare in any grade, it is an amazing piece from a condition and appearance standpoint.

I'm going to write an article on dual rarities and it should appear in the next few days on my website www.raregoldcoins.com.

Whether you have a coin budget of $1,000 or $1,000,000, you want to get the best value you can every time you make a purchase. Understanding the concept of the jump grade can help you as you mull decisions for your collection.

The Vasquez Rocks Collection: Dahlonega Gold Dollars

In the last blog in this multi-part series, I talked about the Philadelphia gold dollars in the Vasquez Rocks Collection. In this second installment, I'm going to focus on a group of coins that are near and dear to me: the Dahlonega gold dollars. The Dahlonega mint began production of gold dollars in 1849. They produced six Type One issues (from 1849 to 1854), a single Type Two (in 1855) and six issues that featured the Type Three design (from 1856 to the closing of the mint in 1861). For all three types, the estimated total mintage is fewer than 75,000 coins.

The individual who formed the Vasquez Rocks collection did something amazing: he formed a complete Uncirculated set of gold dollars from this mint. To the best of my knowledge, the only other collections that had a complete set of Dahlonega gold dollars in PCGS/NGC holders were Duke's Creek (sold by Heritage in April 2006) and Green Pond (sold by Heritage in January 2004 and assembled by me). This statement, of course, doesn't take into account older specialized gold dollar collections such as Ullmer, McNally, Miles and Pierce which were also complete in Uncirculated but which were formed before the days or third-party grading.

Before I get into specifics about the gold dollars in the Vasquez Rocks collection, here are a few interesting facts to ponder:

• Of the 13 coins in the set, ten have been graded by PCGS and three have been graded by NGC.
• The highest graded Dahlonega gold dollar in the set is an NGC MS64 (1853-D) and the lowest grade is a PCGS MS60 (1856-D).
• Two coins (the 1851-D and the 1858-D) have been awarded "plus" grade designations by PCGS.
• The average grade of a Dahlonega dollar in this set is 61.92; this figure is arrived at by giving the plus coins an extra half a point (i.e, 63+ is figured as 63.5)
• Coins in this set have pedigrees from such famous collections as Chestatee, Green Pond, and Pittman.

Now, let's get a bit more specific and discuss the coins, type by type.

I.  Type One

There are some outstanding Type One Dahlonega gold dollars in the Vasquez Rocks collection. A complete list is as follows:

• 1849-D, PCGS MS62
• 1850-D, NGC MS63
• 1851-D, PCGS MS63+
• 1852-D, PCGS MS61
• 1853-D, NGC MS64
• 1854-D, PCGS MS62, ex Pittman Collection

It's hard for me to pick a favorite coin from this group, but the piece that I like the best is the 1851-D in PCGS MS63+.

The 1851-D is the second most common Type One gold dollar (after the 1849-D) and there are as many as 20 known in Uncirculated. However, it is very rare in MS63 as evidenced by the PCGS population of four (with only two better). The Vasquez Rocks coin is the only MS63+ currently graded by PCGS and it is a magnificent coin with a bold strike, rich yellow-gold color and delightful frosty luster. It would make a perfect type coin for the collector who is seeking a single higher grade Type One gold dollar from Dahlonega for his collection.

II.  Type Two

The Dahlonega mint produced Type Two gold dollars for just one year. The 1855-D had an original mintage of just 1,811 and there are fewer than 100 known, mostly in lower grades. This is the single rarest gold dollar from this mint in higher grades and there are exactly four known in Uncirculated.

The coin in the Vasquez Rocks collection is graded MS61 by PCGS and it is the fourth finest known 1855-D dollar. It is one of two Uncirculated 1855-D dollars that were once in the Green Pond collection and it has been off the market since early 2004 when it was acquired from the auction by the owner of the Vasquez Rocks collection for $46,000.

Only a small number of 1855-D dollars are known with sharp strikes and an even smaller number have a full date. The Vasquez Rocks coin is exceptionally well struck; so well struck, in fact, that PCGS has designated on the holder that it is a Full Date. Of the four Uncirculated 1855-D dollars, only one other (ex Duke's Creek/Bass) has a Full Date.

In addition to its exceptional strike, this 1855-D has great eye appeal for the issue with a good deal of luster seen on choice surfaces. Both sides have pleasing color and if you have seen many examples of this date, you'll know that it is seldom found with this degree of good looks!

III.  Type Three

The Type Three design was introduced in 1856 and the Dahlonega mint produced six issues before it was closed in 1861.

The Type Three D mint dollars in this collection are as follows:

• 1856-D, PCGS MS60, ex Chestatee collection
• 1857-D, PCGS MS61
• 1858-D, PCGS MS62+
• 1859-D, NGC MS62
• 1860-D, PCGS MS62, CAC approved
• 1861-D, PCGS MS61

Again, it is hard to focus on one coin, given how many outstanding pieces are in this set. I'm sure you expect me to focus on the 1861-D but I'm actually going to discuss the 1860-D, a coin that, to me, is clearly a highlight of this set.

Only 1,566 gold dollars were struck at the Dahlonega mint in 1860 and this is a rare issue in all grades. A dubious distinction held by this date is the fact that it is the worst struck gold dollar from this mint. The coin in the Vasquez Rocks collection, while showing the familiar weak U in UNITED, is among the best made examples of this date that I have seen. It is of just two graded MS62 by PCGS with a single coin better (an MS63 that should be deleted from the population report as it now appears as an NGC MS64). It is nice enough for the grade that it was approved by CAC and it is one of just two examples of this date in MS62 to have received a CAC sticker.

I am hoping that I will be able to keep the Dahlonega dollars from the Vasquez Rocks collection intact and they will be offered, at first, as a set. If no one purchases them intact, the coins will be broken up and, I assume, they will sell quickly.

For more information on the coins in this collection, please feel free to contact me by email at dwn@ont.com. I expect the full Vasquez Rocks collection to be available for sale in a few weeks.

The Vasquez Rocks Collection: Philadelphia Gold Dollars

I am proud to announce that I will soon begin selling the exceptional Vasquez Rocks Collection of gold dollars. This is one of the finest collection of these coins ever formed with virtually every piece grading MS60 or better and many Condition Census examples included. To get you ready for this epic sale, I'm going to produce a series of blogs that deal with the coins on a mint-by-mint basis and which discuss the highlights of the collection. First, let's look at the gold dollars made at the Philadelphia mint. Philadelphia gold dollars were struck without interruption from 1849 through 1889. Three distinct types are known and these are as follows:

• Type One, 1849-1854
• Type Two, 1854-1855
• Type Three, 1856-1889

Let's look take a brief overview of each of these three types and then discuss them relative to the Vasquez Rocks collection.

Type One gold dollars were made at the Philadelphia from the introduction of this denomination in 1849 until the changeover to the Type Two design in 1854 (in 1854, both the Type One and Type Two designs were produced). Type One Philadelphia gold dollars were made in great amounts and they tend to be common, even in higher grades. These issues are popular with type collectors as they tend to come very well struck and nicely produced. Some dates, notably the 1852 and 1853, exist in grades as high as MS68 or MS69(!) and only one, the 1850, is considered to be scarce in Gem.

The highlight of the Philadelphia Type One gold dollars in the Vasquez Rocks collection is a superb PCGS MS66 example of the 1849 Closed Wreath. It has a population of just three in this grade with one finer and the best graded at this service is an MS66+. The Vasquez Rocks coin, shown below, has a razor sharp strike and amazingly clean surfaces with nary a mark visible to the naked eye.

In 1854, the Mint made the decision to change to the Type Two or Small Indian Head design. This proved to be a disaster from a quality standpoint as the design was hard to strike. Many Type Two gold dollars are seen with poor design details at the centers and this is one of the hardest post-1838 United States gold types to locate in MS65 and above.

1854 and 1855 Type Two dollars from the Philadelphia mint are known. These are very common in circulated grades and available without much of a problem in the lower Uncirculated grades.

The 1854-P Type Two dollar in the Vasquez Rocks Collection grades MS61 while the 1855-P Type Two grades MS62. Both have been encapsulated by PCGS.

The Type Three coins begin in 1856 and extend through the end of this denomination in 1889. The Type Three dollars are a fascinating series to collect. While there are no real rarities, many dates are very scarce to rare in higher grades. The key dates are the 1863 and the 1875.

There are a number of highlights among the Philadelphia Type Three dollars in the Vasquez Rocks Collection. A few of the coins that I especially like are as follows:

• 1856 Slanting 5 PCGS MS66+. One of six graded in MS66 (with two in MS66+) and only four finer.
• 1857 PCGS MS67.  One of six graded in MS67 with just a single coin finer.
• 1859 PCGS MS66+. One of seven graded in MS66 (and the only one in 66+) with five finer.
• 1863 PCGS MS65. One of five graded as such with just two finer. The rarest gold dollar from this mint.
• 1867 PCGS MS66.  One of three graded as such with one better.
• 1868 PCGS MS68.  One of two graded as such with one better.
• 1875 PCGS MS65. One of seven graded with three finer. Only 400 business strikes produced.
• 1886 PCGS MS67.  One of five graded as such with none finer.

The Type Three coin I'd like to focus on for a minute is the 1875, graded MS65 by PCGS. This is a legendary date for US gold collectors with many of the Philadelphia issues having absurdly low mintages. The 1875-P gold dollar has a tiny mintage of just 400 business strikes and it has been recognized as a key issue for well over a century.

The Vasquez Rocks coin is housed in an old green label PCGS holder and it has dazzling fully Prooflike fields on the obverse and reverse that make it resemble a Proof. It shows the diagnostic thorn-like projection extending down from Liberty's chin that is seen only on business strikes. The coin in this set, which is shown below, is one of the few true Gems that I have seen and it is clearly the nicest that has come onto the market since the  Heritage 2/10: 1427 coin, graded MS66 by PCGS, that brought  $109,250 in furious bidding.

The Vasquez Rocks Collection includes many coins that are fresh to the market and it was begun back in the 1980's when superb quality Philadelphia gold dollars were more available than they are today. There are numerous wonderful Gems included and the selection of Type One, Type two and Type Three Philadelphia issues should prove very tempting for the date or type collector.

For more information on the Vasquez Rocks Collection, please contact me via email at dwn@ont.com. I will be sending out notices by email to preferred DWN clients by email, and I anticipate that the collection will become available in around three weeks.

A Neat Dahlonega Knick-Knack

As you become a more passionate collector, "oddball" items become more appealing. I refer to these as knick-knacks and, as you can guess, this is a pretty broad term. For the coin collector, knick-knacks become more appealing as they become more relevant to your collecting specialty. As an example, a collector of Morgan Dollars will be more excited by a canvas silver dollar bag from the Philadelphia mint dated 1885 then I would. To me, this is a neat item but not one that gets my numismatic juices really flowing. I probably shouldn't admit this but there is one area in numismatics that I love above all else: the coinage of the Dahlonega mint. There is something about the coinage from this southern branch mint that appeals to me a little more than any of the other mints. And as someone who loves Dahlonega gold coins, I am always on the lookout for interesting Dahlonega-related knick-knacks.

The problem is that there just aren't many interesting contemporary items from this mint. Sadly, while the Dahlonega mint has left a fascinating legacy of coins for collectors, there are very few items like patterns or mint records or drawings or items from the original mint left for collectors. Around ten years ago I was able to purchase a bullion receipt dated 1856 from the mint (a very rare item and, until a small group of these was found a few years back, one of just two that I had ever seen) but my Dahlonega knick-knack collection was pretty slim.

Until recently, that is.

At the Dallas ANA show, I purchased an item that I think is extremely cool  and probably very rare: a contemporary counterfeit 1842-D Small Date half eagle (shown below) that is the first counterfeit gold coin from this mint that I have ever seen:

The coin was made in brass and later gilt plated. It shows extremely good work, especially on the reverse. It is the proper size and weight (22 mm in diameter and a bit over 8.2 grams) and, as you can see, it appears to have seen a small amount of circulation.

If you think about it, a contemporary counterfeit Dahlonega half eagle makes sense, especially in 1842 which was just the third year in which the new Liberty Head half eagle was produced. For many people, especially those who didn't live that close to Dahlonega, there was not much familiarity with the new coins from this mint and a reasonable facsimile stood a decent chance of entering circulation and staying there.

But, there were other reasons why a coin like this is an amazing anomaly. It was die struck, and someone with real artistic sensibility took the time to create the obverse and reverse dies. A goodly amount of artistic and technological sophistication was required and this doesn't seem to be something that was found in excess in North Georgia in the early 1840's. Also (and I don't know this for sure) the penalties for counterfeiting in the South during this time period had to be excessively harsh. Someone was taking a huge risk to produce counterfeit gold coins in Georgia in the early 1840's, and you have to wonder how many were actually made let alone how many entered circulation.

So, why is this item special to me and why does it now hold a place high in my personal collection of knick-knacks? As someone who is a major dealer in Dahlonega gold, I won't collect the coins from this mint because I don't want to compete against my clients. So this is the closest thing to a "real" piece of D mint gold that I can hope to own. But beyond that, I love the rarity and the history of this piece.

How rare is it? I have never seen another and I'd like to think I've got the inside track on any pieces that would have come onto the market in the past two+ decades. How historic is it? A contemporary counterfeit 1842-D half eagle that is well-designed and which still retains much of its original gilt finish clearly has an incredible story to tell, although I may never know exactly what it is.

Getting back to the original point of this blog, items like this are what make collecting really fun. Regular issue coins are great and there is certainly a huge amount of pride-of-ownership to have a great 1842-D half eagle in your set. But the really esoteric items in the Dahlonega market--or in any other market--really appeal to me. Be they catalogs, original papers, plaster molds...anything that gives me deeper insight into the coins that I love add a lot of value to my personal holdings.

Why Are Nice Coins So Hard to Find?

When I'm at shows or talking to collectors and dealers over the phone, I hear a common refrain: nice coins are very hard to find. This appears to be the case in nearly all strongly collected series, be it Indian Cents, Civil War era gold or Morgan Dollars. I have a few theories about this which I'd like to share. The first is simple: not everyone has the same concept of what is a "nice" coin. I like dirty, original 18th and 19th century gold and a coin with the aesthetics that I find appealing is clearly not going to be the same for someone who likes coins that are bright and shiny.

I don't think the moaning about a lack of nice coins is new and I'm guessing that collectors in 1912 were complaining in some of the same ways that collectors in 2012 are.

Let me share a theory with you that is basically speculative but which I think has some real merit. As I have stated many times, grading is a continuum. A "grade" is actually a range which can be expansive. As an example, let's look at the MS63 grade.

Assuming that you agree that grading is a continuum, you'll agree with me that MS63 is actually a series of grades that begins with MS63.0 and ends with MS63.9. I would further describe these ranges as follows:

63.0-63.3: coins that are low end or which barely qualify as this grade. I estimate that for the typical series, around 40-45% of the MS63's fall into this range.

63.4-63.5: coins that are decent and which would easily re-grade as a 63 if resubmitted to PCGS or NGC. I estimate that for the typical series around 30-35% of the MS63's fall into this range.

63.6-63.8:  coins that are high end for the grade and which are now (sometimes) designated as "+" or "*" coins by the services. I estimate that for the typical series maybe 10-15% of the MS63's fall into this range.

63.9:  coins that are exceptional for the grade and which are almost assuredly going to upgrade to MS64 at some point. I estimate that for the typical series maybe 5% (and probably less) of the MS63's fall into this range.

If my theory is correct, this mean that at least 70-80% of all MS63 coins are below-average to average in quality. The best of these "average" coins (a coin that I regard as being a solid, commercial example) is likely to get strong consideration for approval at CAC but the majority of them will not be stickered. These not-so-great or just-OK coins are the ones that are generally seen on E-Bay or in Heritage sales, and these are what many collectors are exposed to on a regular basis.

So what about the 20-30% of the MS63's that range from being really nice to exceptional? Where are they and why are they so hard to find? I think the answer(s) are simple.

In many series, there is huge financial motivation to upgrade an MS63 to an MS64. As an example, an 1812 half eagle in MS63 is worth around $22,500-25,000; the same coin in an MS64 holder is worth $35,000-45,000. If I own an 1812 half eagle that I regard as a 63.7 or a 63.8, doesn't it seem obvious that I'm going to go to great lengths to get the coin in a 64 holder and possibly have a $10,000 to $20,000 pay day?

Which brings me to this point: virtually all the high end MS63 coins are in MS64 holders or trying to get there. The MS63+ coins (which translate to the 63.6 to 63.8 pieces described above) are therefore the best available coins and they are typically sold by good retail dealers to their best clients. The typical collector either never gets to see these PQ coins or if he does, often in an auction environment, he has to compete with sophisticated buyers of high end coins.

Another point: I think there are more high end coins around than most collectors (and dealers) realize. It's just that we don't see them as often and much of what we do see on a day-by-day or show-by-show basis is uninspiring.

Now that you've mulled over that theory, I have another one to share with you. Next time you wonder "where are all the nice coins" consider the following fuzzy math.

If a coin is 150 or so years old, it has been collectible for 100 or so years. If the typical coin is owned around five years (and yes I am aware that there are many coins that are in "strong hands" and don't trade until they are held for fifteen or twenty years) that means that the coin you just bought may have had as many as twenty previous owners.

Think about this: that means some or maybe even all of these twenty owners have shipped the coins through the mail in flimsy holders/cleaned the coins/mishandled the coins/stored the coins in PVC flips/stored them loose in cabinets/dipped them and forgot to rinse them/etc. For a coin in nearly any grade to have survived generations of overzealous collectors without having had something bad done to them...well, that just about boggles my mind. And that, in a nutshell, is another very good reason why nice coins are so hard to find.

Are you in the market for nice coins? Send me an email at dwn@ont.com and I will try to hook you up with some very nice coins for your collection!