Ultra-Rarities Smash Price Records in Sensational L. K. Rudolph Auction
Bruce Amspacher
- May 20, 2003
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A million-dollar (and more!) coin: the only known Mint State 1870-S Liberty Seated dollar.
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The finest known 1870-S silver dollar broke the million-dollar barrier and prices for ultra-rarities went wild at the just-completed sale of the L. K. Rudolph collection conducted by Stack's in New York City. The May 14 auction also saw an 1885 Trade dollar (NGC Proof 61) sell for $920,000 and a non-certified 1871-CC silver dollar hammered down for $218,500.
"Ultra-rarities continue to be red hot," said David Hall of David Hall Rare Coins in Newport Beach, California. "They don't come on the market very often, but when they do they consistently set new records. The outstanding prices from the Rudolph sale reconfirm this with an exclamation point!"
While the sale was extremely strong across the board the silver dollars were especially impressive. "It just shows what happens when people buy true quality and rarity," said Laura Sperber of Legend Numismatics in Lincroft, New Jersey. "There were multiple bidders in on these coins all the way to the top. It wasn't a case of one bidder against the book or two persons battling it out. The interest in these coins was tremendous."
The 1870-S silver dollar in the sale is believed to be the only Mint State example known. It sold for $1,092,500 to Heritage Rare Coin Galleries of Dallas, Texas. Heritage was also the winning bidder on the 1885 Trade dollar. "Both coins were purchased for a client who wishes to remain anonymous at this time," said Heritage President Greg Rohan. "This collector also plans to make future purchases of the great American rarities."
Here are some of the other highlights of the Rudolph sale:
| 1836 Gobrecht Silver Dollar (Judd 58) | PCGS PR63 | $66,125 |
| 1836 Gobrecht Silver Dollar (Judd 61) | PCGS PR63 | $195,500 |
| 1836 Gobrecht Silver Dollar (Judd 63) | PCGS PR63 | $149,500 |
| 1836 Gobrecht Silver Dollar (Judd 65) | NGC PR64 | $184,000 |
| 1838 Gobrecht Silver Dollar (Judd 88) | NGC PR64 | $201,250 |
| 1840 Liberty Seated Dollar | PCGS MS63 | $46,000 |
| 1846 Liberty Seated Dollar | PCGS MS65 | $51,750 |
| 1847 Liberty Seated Dollar | PCGS MS65 | $51,750 |
| 1852 Liberty Seated Dollar (restrike) | PCGS PR63 | $43,700 |
| 1855 Liberty Seated Dollar | PCGS PR64 | $32,200 |
| 1859-S Liberty Seated Dollar | PCGS MS62 | $27,600 |
| 1868 Liberty Seated Dollar | PCGS MS66 | $115,000 |
| 1870 Liberty Seated Dollar | PCGS PR65 | $29,900 |
| 1884 Trade Dollar | NGC PR63 | $258,750 |
| 1882 Morgan Dollar | PCGS PR67 | $51,750 |
| 1893-S Morgan Dollar | NGC MS65 | $189,750 |
Bruce Amspacher has been a professional writer since the 1950s and a professional numismatist since the 1960s. He won the OIPA sportswriting award in 1958 and again in 1959, then spent eight years in college studying American Literature. This background somehow led him to become a professional numismatist in 1968. Since then he has published hundreds of articles on rare coins in dozens of publications as well as publishing his own newsletter, the “Bruce Amspacher Investment Report,” for more than a decade. His areas of expertise include Liberty Seated dollars, Morgan and Peace dollars, United States gold coins, sports trivia, Western history, modern literature and the poetry of Emily Dickinson. In 1986 he was a co-founder of the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS).
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| Reverse of the 1870-S. |
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