Search articles

Auction Highlights

-

Welcome to this edition of Rare Coin Market Report Auction Highlights, where we showcase some significant coins that recently sold at auction. The three coins covered here took strong prices, proving that the coin market is still remarkably active and strong in many areas.

1937 Walking Liberty Half Dollar, PCGS PR68

The 1937 Walking Liberty Proof Half Dollar has a mintage of 5,728, making it the second-lowest mintage proof for the series. Its design is also one of the most iconic and popular in all of numismatics – so popular, that the American Silver Eagles from 1986 to date have a virtually identical obverse design. Any Proof Walking Liberty Half Dollar is scarce in PR68, and the 1937 Proof is no exception. At PCGS, we have graded only about a dozen or so examples at that level, with most specimens fetching an average of $7,500 on average. However, on October 16, 2020, an especially stunning PCGS PR68 example sold for an astonishing $60,000 at a Heritage Auctions sale. This particular example exhibits nice toning on both the obverse and reverse and, not to mention, has a phenomenal strike.

1937 Walking Liberty Half Dollar, PCGS MS65+. Image is courtesy of PCGS TrueView. Click image to enlarge.

1932 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle, PCGS MS65+

The 1932 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle has a large mintage of 1,101,750, making it appear as if it were a common issue. But this isn’t at all the case, as most examples were stored in government vaults and never issued for circulation. Following the government’s recall on gold coinage in 1933, most Double Eagles stored in government vaults were melted. At PCGS, we have graded a total of just 77 examples of this issue in all grades combined. Any time an example is available in the marketplace, it commands a great deal of collector interest and a strong premium. This is exactly what happened at a September 2020 GreatCollections auction, where a PCGS MS65+ example realized an outstanding $131,625.

1932 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle, PCGS MS65+. Image is courtesy of PCGS TrueView. Click image to enlarge.

1995-W American Silver Eagle, PCGS PR69DCAM

The 1995-W Proof Silver Eagle isn’t necessarily a coin that realizes large sums of money, but it is a key date of a popular series nonetheless. For many years, the 1995-W Proof Silver Eagle, with a mintage of 30,125, was the sole key-date coin in the entire American Silver Eagle series. That is, until the 2019-S Enhanced Reverse Proof Silver Eagle was released with its mintage of just 30,000 coins. However, for over 20 years, the 1995-W was also considered the “king of coins” by many American Silver Eagle collectors. So, whenever a 1995-W Proof Silver Eagle comes up at auction, it captures the attention of collectors, for it still holds a special place in their collections. In October 2020, Stack’s Bowers Galleries offered an example graded PCGS PR69DCAM that fetched $2,400.

1995-W American Silver Eagle, PCGS PR69DCAM. Image is courtesy of PCGS TrueView. Click image to enlarge.

Auction Results