Search articles

PCGS Collectors Corner: Reed Hawn

-

Draped Bust Dollar, 1804 $1 Original - Class I BB-304, PCGS PR62, Mickley-Hawn-Queller Specimen. Click image to enlarge.

Few collectors have the privilege of seeing their name listed among legendary pedigrees on a PCGS holder, yet Reed Hawn has done just that. A legendary collector whose numismatic background stretches back to the 1950s, Hawn began collecting coins from pocket change at the age of nine. His knack for spotting grade, quality, and eye appeal helped him build among the finest collections ever. Now 71, Hawn reminisces on a colorful numismatic journey that saw him claim some of the rarest coins ever minted.

He sold his first collection at the age of 24 in 1973, bringing record prices and standing-room-only crowds. Then, in January 1974 and still only in his mid-20s, Hawn achieved one of his biggest numismatic dreams in scoring “The King of American Coins,” the Class I 1804 Dollar. He bought it for $150,000, which was then the highest price ever paid for an individual coin sold at auction. His specimen once belonged in the United States Mint Cabinet and later went to pioneering 19th-century collector Joseph Mickley.

Hawn sold his 1804 Draped Bust Dollar in October 1993, when it was sold to collector David Queller for $475,000. Graded PCGS PR62, that specimen sold again in 2018 for $2,640,000 and now bears a most prestigious pedigree of “Mickley-Hawn-Queller.” It’s an honor humbly embraced by Hawn, who remains a top numismatic luminary and willingly offers his wisdom to collectors today. He is keen of the old numismatic mantra “buy the book before the coin” and often cites a particular quote from the 1980 blockbuster film Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, in which Yoda says “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

Legendary collector Reed Hawn. Image is courtesy of Reed Hawn.

He admits there were times he should’ve taken a leap on a few rarities – ones that he felt then were not quite up to his grade requirements but that have only rarely ever been offered. “Some coins are rare in that the opportunities to buy them are rarer than the coins themselves.” Yet, his eye for buying the best coins kept him at the forefront during a particularly competitive collector environment in the 1970s and ‘80s. His prime collecting days long predated third-party grading, and thus he bought and sold most of his collection raw. “I’ve seen quite a few of the coins I owned now in PCGS slabs,” he remarks. Among them, of course, is that Mickley-Hawn-Queller Class I 1804 Draped Bust Dollar. “The 1804 Dollar is right on the money,” he remarks of the coin’s PCGS PR62 grade.

A stickler for quality who laughingly recalls sending back countless coins with which he was dissatisfied regarding grade or eye appeal upon receiving them, Hawn wishes third-party grading and encapsulation was around 40 or 50 years ago. “It would have saved me a lot in shipping fees if they were slabbed!” He says third-party grading makes the trading process easy. “The graders took the guesswork out of buying and selling coins.” But he still tells collectors and dealers they should learn how to grade coins anyway – something he regards as an essential part of numismatic education.

“Collectors need to know something about coins, learn something about what they want, and find somebody who they trust to advise them 100%.” For Hawn, mentorship was a key part of his development as a collector and investor. “I dealt with Art Kagin, who became a dear friend of mine.” Hawn also credits Harvey Stack and Abe Kosoff as both friends and critical advisors. “If you don’t understand something, ask for advice. I learned from my father a long time ago you have to get advice from the best people.”

Great Collectors and Collections