Santa Ana, CA – The ESM Collection is one of the most significant half cent cabinets offered by Stack’s Bowers Galleries in recent years. It is ranked #2 Current Finest on the PCGS Registry in categories Half Cents Basic Set, Circulation Strikes (179301857) and Half Cents with Major Varieties Circulation Strikes. This complete set of half cents by Guide Book variety was a magnet of interest when exhibited at major conventions over the last several months. That interest was on full display as the ESM Collection opened the Rarities Night Session of the Stack’s Bowers Galleries March 2020 Auction.
“We are always pleased to present high-quality cabinets such as the ESM Collection, and it is gratifying to see collectors’ enthusiasm playing out across our various bidding options,” stated Brian Kendrella, president. “Buyers have been eagerly awaiting this remarkable collection of half cents for months and showed up in force last night. Results continue to exceed presale estimates that were established prior to the catalog being printed.”
The session opened with lot 3001, a 1793 Liberty Cap Cohen-3 in MS-63 BN (PCGS) that sold for $84,000. The Liberty Cap half cents continued to perform as a 1794 Cohen-1a graded MS-62 BN (PCGS) realized $43,200 (lot 3002), a 1794 Cohen-9 in MS-63 BN (PCGS) was bid to $72,000 (lot 3003), and a 1795 Cohen-2a graded MS-62 BN (PCGS) brought $43,200 (lot 3005).
Highlights among the Draped Bust coins included an 1802/0 Cohen-2 in a PCGS old green holder and with a CAC sticker that garnered $16,800 (lot 3017), an 1803 Cohen-1 graded MS-63 BN (PCGS) CAC that realized $10,200 (lot 3018), and an 1805 Cohen-1 in MS-63 BN (PCGS) CAC that sold for $6,000 (lot 3024).
The Classic Head section saw multiple coins sell well into five figures, including lot 3035, an 1809/‘6’ in an old green PCGS holder at MS-65 BN and with CAC approval that fetched $36,000. Two lots later, an 1811 Cohen-2 in MS-63 BN (PCGS) CAC brought $84,000. In lot 3042 an 1829 half cent graded MS-66 RB (PCGS) CAC was bid to $31,200, while an 1835 Cohen-1 in MS-65 RD (PCGS) CAC sold for $19,800 in lot 3047.
Later Braided Hair half cents also attracted strong bidding as an 1849 Cohen-1 graded MS-65 BN (PCGS) CAC realized $6,600 (lot 3048) and a Gem Red 1857 Cohen-1 half cent went to a new home at $18,000 (lot 3055).
The Stack’s Bowers Galleries March 2020 Auction will continue with live auction sessions featuring United States coins and currency today, March 20, as well as Internet-Only sessions of exonumia, colonial and U.S. coins and paper money March 23-25. For more information visit StacksBowers.com or contact the firm at 800-566-2580 or Info@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.
