The Goldberg's Pre-Long Beach Copper Sale

I just made it home from the Goldberg's auction of Early American Copper in Beverly Hills (Feb. 10, 2008) and I thought I would post some of the highlights while they are still fresh.
This sale did not offer much for colonial or half cent experts, but there were over 750 lots of Large Cents up for grabs.
Attendance was very good, with every seat in the large ballroom at the Crown Plaza taken when the 1st lot of the session was called. Many copper devotees came out, in addition to the "usual suspects". I suppose this happened because there are actually two large copper events in Southern Cal. this week - the Goldberg sale, and the Walt Husak sale (this Friday in Long Beach).
While the Husak collection features many condition-census pieces (the top 6 coins for any variety), the Goldberg auction was rich in scarce varieties, with most of the coins in low grades. The affordable nature of the material made it popular with both collectors & dealers, and bidding was active.
Some of the highlights (and surprises, for me) include:
+ A high-grade 1793 wreath cent with lettered edge (S-11C) discovered only last year in England was hammered for $42,500, which failed to meet the pre-sale estimate of 50,000-75,000.
+ A low-grade example of the famous Starred Reverse cent (1794 S-48) went to an absentee bidder for $16,500. Although the coin is dark & corroded, the "stars" are plainly visible.
+ A beautiful 1794 S-61 (PCGS AU55) was hammered for $17,000 (vs. a high estimate of $12,500), after a furious round of bidding.
+ A very rare 1794 NC-9 (the 2nd finest of just 4 known) was hammered to one of the "Boys of '94" for $32,000. He will now have something to show off at EAC'08!
+ A remarkable run of six 1799 cents in a row were sold, with the lowest grade coin (just FR2) bringing a wininng bid of $1400. 1799's are popular!
+ For middle-date enthusiasts, there was an EF45 example of 1817 N-7 (with full "mouse top") that was hammered for $2800 (vs. a high estimate of $1500). I loved this coin, but I dropped out long before the end!
+ The sale featured two key-date 1823's in VF (one N-1 and one N-2), and they both cracked the $1000 mark.
+ An 1822 N-6 in AU58, with a pedigree that includes both Floyd Starr and Herman Halpern brought a winning bid of $3100. It is a very nice cent!
+ The late-date cents (1840-1857) featured a number of coins that were pedigreed to the famous Robbie Brown. My personal favorite among these was LOT 1590 - an 1846 N-1 in MS-60+ with shimmering iridescent overtones. This cent received lots of bids from lots of us, but the winner got it for $825 (plus buyer's fee))! What an awesome cent!
All-in-all, It was a memorable sale, and a nice prelude to the sale of Walt's magnificent collection.