September Long Beach auction

Several CC coins from the bob simpson collection were auctioned at the Heritage sale during the last week of September. There were a few very important pieces sold as well as a bunch that were substandard.

Unfortunately, the Heritage auction catalog greatly downplayed the weaknesses on many of the CC minted coins, especially the dimes. For instance, an 1871-Cc dime in an AU-55 NGC holder was characterized with "some minor rim marks and surface abrasions", yet it only sold for $27,500!

Also, an 1872-CC dime in an AU-55 NGC holder sold for a meager $17,250 yet the catalogers stated the coin only had minor planchet anomalies and surface imperfections characteristic of all Carson City silver coins.

In reality, both of these coins have serious problems. Knowledgeable sources viewing the coins shared with me that both were place-holder caliber, at best. Anyone buying these coins based on the catalogers description only will regret their actions.

The really great buy of the year occurred on lot 3691, an AU-50 PCGS, 1874-CC dime. I expected the coin to sell north of $70k but some very lucky buyer picked up this key rarity for $50,312.50!!

The pop 1, 1891-CC $10 Eagle, graded MS 65 by NGC, required 74,750 greenbacks to take home.

On the other end of the cost spectrum, two 1892-CC $10 Eagles , both graded AU-58 PCGS-Secure offered a perfect lesson of why coin grading remains totally subjective. The newest supposedly high standard "PCGS secure" grading systems employed by PCGS found both coins identical in grade. Yet, one sold for $1,725 while the other sold for $2,070. That's a whopping 20% difference my friends!
This is one of the best examples I've seen in some time of why knowledge based, hands-on, coin selection is so important.

Belay Off

Great info Belay, I am scanning auction results on the Carson City series and trying to see where the market is heading. Not an easy task I am sure but it gives me research and data skills.


Loosechange