NEW YORK (May 28, 2015) No fewer than 16 major price records were breached during the first offering of coins from the D. Brent Pogue Collection, sold in New York City on May 19 by Stack’s Bowers Galleries in partnership with Sotheby’s. While the majority of coins brought record prices for their PCGS grade designation and variety, more than a dozen set new standards for any example of the date or major variety.
Leading the way was the final lot in the sale, the legendary D. Brent Pogue 1808 quarter eagle, certified as MS-65 by PCGS and boasting an august provenance dating to the Parmelee sale of 1890. Selling for $2,350,000, the coin’s price more than quadrupled the previous record for the rare one-year type coin. The old record of $517,500 had been set by Stack’s offering of a MS-63 (PCGS) in November 2008. It likewise set new records for any quarter eagle of any date, any 19th century regular issue gold coin, and any 19th century coin dated during its year of manufacture.
The new world record for most valuable half dollar belongs to the D. Brent Pogue 1797 half dollar, whose final price of $1,527,500 eclipsed another record previously held by Stack’s. Another 1797 half dollar, graded MS-66 (NGC) sold for $1,380,000 in Stack’s sale of July 2008. Two other half dollars topped previous record prices, with the Pogue 1796 15 Star half selling for more than $200,000 over the record price paid when the coin was acquired in 2008 ($587,500 vs. $373,750) and the 1796 16 Star variety bringing $822,500, almost doubling the old record of $470,000.
The bar for the most valuable quarter dollar has been set at the same high level as the most valuable half. The D. Brent Pogue 1796 quarter dollar, graded PCGS MS-66, brought $1,527,500, tying a previous record for the date and denomination. The 1827 quarter, a famed Proof-only issue, also found a place in the record books. Its final price of $705,000 vastly surpassed the old record for the date, $411,250, set in 2014.
Of the 13 quarter eagles in the sale, the final prices of 10 set new world records. Aside from the marquee 1808, the leader was the beautiful gem 1798, whose final tally of $763,750 blew past the old record for the date of $291,500, one that had stood for nearly 25 years. The D. Brent Pogue 1804 13 Star quarter eagle broke its own record, bringing $499,375, surpassing the world record price Pogue paid for the coin, $322,000, in July 2008. The primary Pogue 1805 quarter eagle also broke its own record of $253,000, set when it was purchased in the Catherine Bullowa sale of December 2005, with a new level of $381,875. Other new world record prices for quarter eagles include the 1802 date (set at $211,000, surpassing a 2011 price record of $172,500), the 1804 14 Star variety (set at $164,500, breaking the $97,750 threshold set in the American Numismatic Rarities sale of the Oliver Jung sale of July 2004), the 1806/4 variety ($94,000 against the old record of $85,100), the 1806/5 variety ($199,750, topping the old mark of $195,500), and the 1807 date, whose old record of $276,000 from the Pogue coin’s last offering in 2008 was made obsolete by a new level of $587,500.
Half dimes and dimes also saw new records, including the astounding $411,250 record for the D. Brent Pogue 1796 LIKERTY half dime, graded MS-67+ (PCGS) and known as the finest half dime of the 1790s. The coin was acquired at the height of the market in May 1989 at a cost of $198,000, itself a record. Before the Pogue coin broke its own record, the second highest price ever recorded for a 1796 LIKERTY half dime was just $58,750 for an NGC MS-65 sold in May 2015. That price now ranks fourth highest, after the Pogue duplicate brought $94,000. The highest price ever paid for a 1798/7 13 Star dime is now $199,750, nearly double the old record of $103,500, set when the Pogue coin was acquired in 2008.
About Stack’s Bowers Galleries
Stack’s Bowers Galleries conducts live, Internet and specialized auctions of rare U.S. and world coins and currency and ancient coins, as well as direct sales through retail and wholesale channels. The company’s 80-year legacy includes the cataloging and sale of many of the most valuable United States coin and currency collections to ever cross an auction block — The John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, The Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection, The Norweb Collection, The Cardinal Collection and The Battle Born Collection — to name just a few. World coin and currency collections include The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection of World Gold Coins, The Kroisos Collection, The Alicia and Sidney Belzberg Collection, The Wa She Wong Collection, The Guia Collection, The Thos. H. Law Collection, and The Robert O. Ebert Collection.
Topping off this amazing numismatic history is the inclusion of the world record for the highest price ever realized at auction for a rare coin, the 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar graded Specimen-66 (PCGS) that realized over $10 million, part of their sale of the famed Cardinal Collection. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, with offices in New York, Wolfeboro, Hong Kong, and Paris. Stack’s Bowers Galleries is an Official Auctioneer for several important numismatic conventions, including American Numismatic Association events, the New York International Numismatic Convention, the Professional Numismatists Guild New York Invitational, the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Spring, Summer and Winter Expos, and its April and August Hong Kong Auctions.
About Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since 1744. Sotheby’s became the first international auction house when it expanded from London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973), India (1992) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Today, Sotheby’s presents auctions in 10 different salesrooms, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris, and Sotheby’s BidNow program allows visitors to view all auctions live online and place bids from anywhere in the world. Sotheby’s offers collectors the resources of Sotheby’s Financial Services, the world’s only full-service art financing company, as well as private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including S|2, the gallery arm of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art department, and two retail businesses, Sotheby’s Diamonds and Sotheby’s Wine. Sotheby’s has a global network of 90 offices in 40 countries and is the oldest company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (BID).
