Santa Ana, CA (August 16, 2019) - Numismatic history was made in the Stack’s Bowers Galleries Official Auction at the 2019 ANA World’s Fair of Money, where an example of the legendary 1894-S Barber dime sold for over $1.3 million in lot 5178. Certified Branch Mint Proof-63 by PCGS and verified by CAC, this coin is one of just nine confirmed survivors from an original mintage of only 24 pieces.
The 1894-S Barber dime is among the most legendary rarities in all of United States numismatics. It has been well studied and publicized over the past century, since it was first noted in an article in the August 25, 1895 edition of The San Francisco Call. By the turn of the 20th century, its fame had grown through publicity surrounding major auction appearances and discussion in hobby publications. Today it remains among the most coveted United States coins, ranking as number six in the reference 100 Greatest U.S. Coins by Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth (4th Edition, 2014). The appearance of an example in any grade is a significant event.
This offering of an 1894-S Barber dime in the Stack’s Bowers Galleries ANA sale represents the first time an example has appeared at auction in over three years, and the first offering by the firm in nearly 12 years. This particular coin was sold by Stack’s in January 1953 as part of the F.S. Guggenheimer Collection. It eventually found its way to the collection of Los Angeles sports magnate Jerry Buss, whose name would become inseparable from this specimen.
It was presented in the Stack’s Bowers Galleries ANA sale as part of the Horatio E. Morgan Collection, an incredible cabinet of rarities assembled primarily in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Additional rarities from this collection sold by Stack’s Bowers Galleries in their ANA auction included an MS-65 (PCGS) 1876-CC twenty cent piece that earned $456,000 in lot 5182, and 110 different pattern coins from the United States Mint.
Further selections from the E. Horatio Morgan Collection will be featured in the firm’s November 2019 Official Auction of the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Baltimore Expo and other future sales. Upcoming sales will offer a comprehensive set of dimes from the cabinet that begins with the earliest issues, as well as a nearly-complete set of early half dollars by Overton variety.
For more information on this MS-63 (PCGS) CAC 1894-S Barber dime or other highlights of the E. Horatio Morgan Collection, please contact Stack’s Bowers Galleries at 800-458-4646 or visit StacksBowers.com.
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 D. Brent Pogue Collection, 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 Santa Ana, 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 Whitman Coin & Collectibles Spring, Summer and Winter Expos, and its April and August Hong Kong Auctions.
