Top price honors went to a 1787 Brasher gold doubloon which was sold for more than any other coin had brought up to that time: $725,000, a world's record that stood for nearly a decade. A memorable thing about the collection was that just before it was consigned to us, another leading firm had appraised it for $9 million. When all was said and done, the coins realized nearly three times the pre-sale expectation!

The Garrett Collection was an old-time holding, begun in the 1860s by T. Harrison Garrett, whose father was the main figure in the operation of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and continued into the 1930s by T. Harrison's son, John Work Garrett, who as a profession followed a distinguished diplomatic career. Time and time again bidders at the Garrett sale paid double, triple, or more in relation to current catalogue values.

In a front-page article in Coin World, David L. Ganz reported that "simply no superlatives are adequate" to describe the intense action, and that record after record was shattered. Not only were the bidders buying rare coins, but they were also buying selected specimens of rarities, for the Garretts were connoisseurs and purchased the best. One of my clients, a Georgia businessman, sent a letter of credit for $500,000 before the sale. "I don't know what I will be buying, but I want something, he commented. As it turned out, competition was so intense that he wasn't able to spend the full amount he had hoped to.

The success of the Garrett Collection sale was best summed up by a California client who attended and stated: "The coins were premium specimens from a premium collection described in a premium catalogue, so they brought premium prices."

The Eliasberg Collection

Louis Eliasberg is a name familiar to all students of American numismatic history. From the 1930s until 1950 this leading Baltimore banker and financier endeavored to accomplish what no one had ever done before: to build a collection containing an example of each and every major United States coin variety from the 1793 half cent to the 1933 double eagle, the alpha and omega of federal coinage. One by one such rarities as the 1913 Liberty Head nickel, 1873-CC No Arrows and 1894-S dimes, 1876-CC twenty-cent piece, 1827 and 1873-CC No Arrows quarter dollars, the 1838-O half dollar, silver dollars of 1804 and 1870-S, trade dollars of 1884 and 1885, the unique 1870-S $3 gold piece, the beautiful Flowing Hair and Coiled Hair $4 stellas of 1879 and 1880, the legendary 1822 $5, and other delicacies were acquired, until at long last the collection was complete!