An 1880 Coiled Hair Stella in NGC PF67 CAC sold for $2.28 million to lead Heritage’s August 26-31 ANA U.S. Coins Signature® Auction to $51,171,731. That total, combined with the $16,954,975 ANA World & Ancient Coins Platinum Session and Signature® Auction August 27-29, raised the combined total for the events, in which numerous auction records were set, to $68,126,706.
“As we continue deeper into this bullish market for numismatics, there is often doubt about the collecting community’s capacity to absorb these amazing, expensive rarities,” says Todd Imhof, Executive Vice President of Heritage Auctions. “But auction after auction, Heritage is delivering new and/or emboldened bidders, which results in highly satisfying prices for our consignors.”
This magnificent 1880 Coiled Hair is one of just nine examples traced of the rarest of the four gold Stella varieties. The result represents the second-highest price ever realized at auction for an 1880 Coiled Hair Stella, and was one of three coins in the auction that eclipsed the $2 million plateau.
1879 $20 Liberty Head Quintuple Stella, Judd-1643, Pollock-1843, Low R.7, PCG PR64 Deep Cameo
Also topping $2 million was an 1879 Liberty Head Quintuple Stella, Judd-1643, Pollock-1843, Low R.7, PCGS PR64 Deep Cameo – a coin that broke its own record when it sold for $2,160,000, surpassing the previous record of $1.88 million when it was sold in 2016. Only five examples are known to collectors, and one of them is included in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution, forever out of reach to the collecting community.
The third coin in the auction to reach at least $2 million was an 1874 Bickford Ten Dollar, Judd-1373, Pollock-1518, R.8, PCGS PR65 Deep Cameo that drew a winning bid of $2,040,000, topping the previous record of $1.98 million set at Heritage in 2022. This beautiful rarity is one of just two examples known of one of the most celebrated issues in the U.S. pattern series.
All three came to Heritage as part of Costa Family Collection, a trove that landed 94 lots in new collections. Other highlights from the collection included, but were not limited to:
1879 Coiled Hair Stella, PCGS PR65 CAC: $1.44 million – surpassing the previous auction record of $1.05 million that was set at Heritage in 2019. 1852 Assay Office Fifty Dollar, 900 Thous. PCGS MS64 CAC. K-14, R.5: $690,000, racing past the previous auction record of $411,250 that was set at Heritage in 2014; 1880 Flowing Hair Stella, NGC PR66 Cameo: $492,000.
Tops among the 16 lots sold in the auction from the Alymaya Collection was the Duckor-Godard specimen of the 1921 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle, PCGS MS66 (learn more about the 1921 Double Eagle with CoinWeek Notes) that established an auction record at $1,560,000. Three other 1921 Saint-Gaudens double eagles, including the one Heritage sold in November 2005 for $1,092,500, have brought seven-figure results.
Other highlights from The Alymaya Collection included a pair of exceptional Saint-Gaudens double eagles: a CAC-approved 1927-S Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle PCGS MS67 CAC. that closed at $690,000 to double the previous auction record that was set in 2005 at Heritage, and a 1931-D PCGS MS66 CAC that brought $504,000, eclipsing the previous record of $360,000 set at Heritage in 2024.
The sixth lot in the auction to reach seven figures was a San Francisco Mint Type Two Hallmark Vertical Gold Ingot. 398.55 Ounces that struck gold at $1,326,000. The first known auction appearance of a San Francisco Mint gold ingot of at least 400 ounces is even more remarkable because it was manufactured in 1951. It was believed previously that production of ingots of this type and size was stopped in 1950, a theory debunked by the oval hallmark and vertical layout of this ingot. Stamped No. 98, it is the highest-numbered example known of this type and class.
Among the highlights from the 33-lot Colorado Collection was an 1800 Capped Bust Right Eagle BD-1, High R.3, NGC SP66 that prompted 58 bids before it ended at $576,000, a result that blew past the previous record of $310,500 that was set at Heritage in 2008.
Other top attractions from the Colorado Collection included, but were not limited to:
- 1831 Quarter Eagle BD-1, JD-1, R.7 as a Proof: $312,000
- 1802 BD-3 Quarter Eagle, NGC MS65 – the finest known example of the date: $228,000
- 1808 Quarter Eagle, BD-1, NGC MS62: $228,000
Another collection featured in the auction was The Desert Find of 1889-CC Morgan Dollars, a 35-lot assemblage that is among the greatest Morgan dollar finds of modern times. Each of the collection’s lots, many of which are Prooflike to Deep Prooflike, is in Brilliant Uncirculated condition. This trove boasts magnificent coins that were set aside for more than half a century by a family in Nevada.
Top results for the collection include, but were not limited to:
- 1889-CC Dollar PCGS MS64 Deep Mirror Prooflike. VAM-3: $180,000
- 1889-CC Morgan Dollar PCGS MS64+: $168,000
- 1889-CC Dollar PCGS MS64. VAM-5: $105,000
Other top results in the auction included, but were not limited to:
- 1897 Double Eagle JD-1, R.5, PCGS PR66 Deep Cameo. CAC: $432,000 – surpassed previous record of $300,000 set at Heritage in 2022
- 1887 Double Eagle, PCGS PR66 Deep Cameo: $396,000
- 1793 Wreath, Vine and Bars Edge Cent, S-8, B-13, R.3, PCGS MS67 Brown: $396,000
- 1906 Double Eagle JD-1, High R.4, PCGS PR66 Cameo. CAC from The Cleveland Lake Collection: $312,000, topping the 2024 auction record set at Heritage of $264,000
The post 1880 Coiled Hair Stella, 1879 Liberty Head Quintuple Stella and 1874 Bickford Ten Each Exceed $2 Million in Heritage’s $68 Million ANA Coin Auctions appeared first on CoinWeek: Rare Coin, Currency, and Bullion News for Collectors.
