Weekly Market Report: Bowers & Merena LaRiviere Auction Realizes $3,441,230 as Medals, Collector Coins Star

By Bruce Amspacher - March 20, 2001

1795 $10 Gold PCGS AU55 realizes $28,750 in Bowers sale

Bowers & Merena Galleries sale of the "Cabinet of Lucien M. LaRiviere" proved to be a resounding success last week as price records were set on many significant collector coins and medals. The 3,716-lot auction realized $3,441,230 (and ten cents!) and one major dealer said that the prices were "off the map" in at least one area of the market. Highlights included:

1865 Two Cent Piece PCGS MS67RD $9,775
1949-S Franklin Half Dollar PCGS MS67FBL $8,050
1953-S Franklin Half Dollar PCGS MS65FBL $10,350
1839-O Classic Head $2½ PCGS MS64 $24,150
1866 $3 Gold PCGS MS65 $19,550
1861-C $5 Gold PCGS MS61 $18,975
1795 $10 Gold PCGS AU55 $28,750
1891-CC $20 Gold PCGS MS61 $12,650

The sale, held in conjunction with the Suburban Washington/Baltimore Coin Convention, attracted a huge bidding audience from the floor and through the Internet. "The sale was well received in all areas of the market," said Gordon Wrubel, Director of Numismatic Operations for Bowers & Merena Galleries.

Prices for medals are extremely strong in B&M sale.

Medals are considered by many to be an esoteric area of the coin market, but it's a market segment that is definitely coming into its own. "The prices for medals in the LaRiviere sale were completely off the map," said Anthony Terranova, a specialist in early US coins and medals from New York City. "It's good to see them bringing such strong prices."

Terranova cited the Thomas Jefferson Indian Peace Medal from the sale as an example. "A few weeks ago a nice example traded through private treaty at $80,000. In the B&M sale a similar specimen realized $115,000. There were other medals that brought similar ratios to what was perceived to be the market. It was a remarkable sale."

PCGS certifies unique Eisenhower Proof dollar.

A unique 1976 Proof Eisenhower silver dollar has been certified by PCGS. This spectacular item features the obverse die of the 1976 bicentennial dollar, the reverse die of the Type II bicentennial dollar, and no mintmark! The coin is listed in numismatic references as Pollock-2088 and Breen-5768. It is struck on an 80% silver/20% copper planchet from Proof dies. PCGS certified the coin as PR66 [Proof 66].

Three examples of this coin were struck in 1974 with the Type I reverse. One was given to then-President Gerald Ford, one to Ford's appointment secretary, and the third was displayed at the 1974 ANA Convention before being destroyed at the Mint. The example certified by PCGS is the only piece with the Type II reverse.

"I bought the coin from an auction many years ago," said Martin Paul of The Rarities Group in Sudbury, Massachusetts. "I believe the price was $7,700. It was going to be for sale for less than $10,000 until I noticed it was a Type II reverse. That changed things, of course, and the coin sold for $20,000. About a decade later I ran into the dealer I sold it to and we got to talking about the coin and I made a deal to buy it back."

Is the coin for sale today? "It's not for sale," Paul said. "The coin is in the company pension fund. It's one of the few truly unique coins in all of American numismatics."

The coin will reportedly be listed in the 2002 Red Book [A Guide Book of United States Coins] as "unique."

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).