1880-CC $10 PCGS AU50 Picture (maybe ex-Norweb?)

Just like many of the other prominent collectors in history, the Norweb's kept meticulous notes about their coin purchases. Because of this, we can browse through the Norweb's inventory ledger and see when, from whom, and how much they paid for most of the coins in their collection.

On October 11, 1935 the Norwebs bought the following three Carson City gold coins from a New York firm called J. C. Morgenthau (where Wayte Raymond and James Macallister cataloged auctions in the 1930s and '40s):


These coins were part of Morgenthau's Richard Santos, Jr. et al auction sale.

The Norwebs paid $35 for the 1880-CC eagle ($20 for the '91-CC eagle, and $60 for the '92-CC double eagle).

When you do the math, using the 1935 $35 purchase price for the 1880-CC eagle compared to the 1988 $715 price it realized, you get an approximate 5.6% annualized rate of appreciation over the 53-year period.

The Norwebs described the 1880-CC eagle as a Very Fine. Interestingly, Bowers and Merena listed the piece as an XF-30, which is probably a typo, because there is no such grade.

Knowing that the Norwebs used very conservative grading standards, and that even in the late 1980s, Bowers and Merena—as well as some other auction companies—adhered to a stricter standard when cataloging coins, the Norweb specimen 1880-CC eagle would probably rate at least XF-45, if not AU-50, today. The value of it is probably in the $2,000 to $2,700 range; but of course we would need to examine it first.

Rusty

Thank you Belay and Carsonite for your valued knowledge pertaining to the Norweb collection.
If it were'nt for this C4OA blog site, where else might we learn this info?:ohmy:

the drummer

Carsonite,

Records indicate the original Norweb family member began collecting in the early 1890's. Heck, he could have walked into the local Wells Fargo Bank branch in Carson City, or perhaps the mint itself and bought one brand spankin new off the shelf!

I wondered whether Bass had purchased the coin at the 1988 auction. But I was able to find a list of the Bass collection coins which showed that none of the eight, 1880-CC Eagles he owned fit the description.

Belay Off

Nowhere else, Drummer!

Belay Off

Was the coin plated, Belay? I would think it is otherwise not the same coin.

Garryn,

That's a great question for which I do not have an answer. However, I will have an answer in less than a week as I searched around on the internet and found used copies of the Norweb sale catalogs as well as the book about the collection written by Michael J. Hodder. I bought the catalogs and the book!

I'll get back to everyone with whatever additional info I can find about the 1880-CC Eagle in Norweb's collection.

Belay Off