Goldbergs Feb. 2017 Pre-Long Beach sale - Auction Commentary

The Goldbergs held their traditional pre-Long Beach copper auction on Sunday Feb. 12 at the Intercontinental Hotel in L.A. The ballroom was full, but not overcrowded, and the bidding was lively, even though the pace of the action was slow (about 40 lots / hour).

There were five coin collections to sell: 1. The Haig Koshkarian Red Book Large Cent Set. 2. Tom Reynolds Part-2 Large Cents. 3. The Chuck Heck 1794 Large Cent Set. 4. The Pierre Fricke Color Set of Large Cents. and 5. The Bruce Tucker Collection.

The question in my mind, going into this sale, was whether the copper market could shake off the doldrums that seemed to settle over the market last summer. This auction provided an affirmative answer, but with a few caveats. Allow me to elaborate a little:

The Koshkarian coins were carefully chosen coins of generally high quality. Many of the coins represented rare opportunities for bidders, which can often lead to runaway bidding. This happened from time-to-time during the Koshkarian sale, but not too often. Bidders were selective.

> The first upside surprise was provided by LOT 3, a 1793 Chain Cent (S-4) graded PCGS AU-50 (though only an EAC VF-30). This coin hammered for $140,000 vs. a $65,000 estimate.
> Just two lots later (LOT 5), a 1793 Wreath Cent, lettered edge (S-11c) graded PCGS AU-55 was hammered for $48,000 vs. a 75,000 estimate. A real bargain considering this very coin sold for $92,000 in 2011!
> Two lots later (LOT 7) a rather attractive 1794 Hd. of 93 Cent (S-20b / R5) hammered for just $20,000 vs. an estimate of $30,000. Here, the reason appears to be the PCGS "Genuine" holder. Almost every coin that PCGS did not deem gradeable was punished mercilessly by the bidders.
> The next upside surprise was LOT 21. A very attractive 1797 Draped Bust Cent with Rev. of 1795 (S-120a) graded PCGS AU-58 was bid to $70,000 vs. an estimate of only $18,000! I suspect PCGS registry set bidders in this case.
> The Koshkarian 1804 cent (LOT 50, S-266c) (PCGS AU-55) brought a winning bid of $165,000 vs. an estimate of $45,000. A strong price for the 2nd-finest PCGS-graded coin.
> LOT 58, a very nice 1807 S-276 graded PCGS MS-62 was bid all the way to $95,000 vs. the estimate of $10,000. The hammer price defies explanation.
> The Koshkarian 1826/5 N-8 cent, graded PCGS MS-64 went for a hammer of $23,000 vs. an estimate of $7500. A remarkable price for a really nice coin.
> LOT 127, an 1844/81 N-2 cent graded PCGS MS64 RB was hammered for $65,000 (estimate was $25,000). The result is not surprising for the finest-graded coin of a popular overdate variety.

The Reynolds coins were basically everything "left over" after Reynolds part-1, which was held at the same place a year earlier. Naturally, there were still a few nice coins in this sale; but the marquee coins were sold a year ago.

> LOT 174 provided the first upside surprise of the Reynolds coins. This beautiful 1798 S-167 cent graded PCGS AU-58 carried a pre-sale estimate of $5000 and hammered for $27,000! I will admit that the coin was indeed a beauty.
> The 1800 NC-4 cent in the Reynolds collection (LOT 197, graded G4 by PCGS) was bid to $11,000 vs. an estimate of $2000. A case of a very conservative estimate.
> LOT 225 in the Reynolds sale was an 1805 S-267 graded PCGS MS-65BN hammered at $44,000 vs. the estimate of just $15,000. I should note that this coin is also listed as CC#1 in the Noyes EAC census for the variety.

The Chuck Heck collection was an entirely different kind of sale from the previous two collections. The Heck coins were virtually all "raw" coins (no slab grades), and this auction was a collector-to-collector sale. The energy and enthusiasm that greeted the Heck coins was an encouraging sign to me. It convinced me that there are still people out there interested in owning nice coins (with or without the slab). The prices exceeded expectations nearly across the board. Notable coins included:

> LOT 273 was the famous Chuck Heck Sheldon-37, with a provenance extending back to 1910. This lot was bid with enthusiasm to $100,000 (estimate was $40,000).
> LOT 292 was a 1794 Starred Reverse Cent (S-48) graded PCGS G-6 (the holder needed more for authenticity than grade). The hammer fell at $25,000 (vs. estimate of $12,000).

The Pierre Fricke color set met my expectations. There were not too many surprises among these lots.

> LOT 384 was one exception. This beautiful 1821 N-1 cent graded AU58+ by PCGS got bid all the way to $12,500 (estimate was $4000). I admit I liked this coin a lot, and would have been happy to own it (just not at the price it ultimately realized).

The Bruce Tucker collection contained a lot of nice coins, but not a lot of outstanding rarities. The collection came up very late in the sale, but I do not believe the prices suffered much as a result. There were still many internet bidders on-line at this hour, and these folks might have been shut out by floor bidders on the earlier material. At any rate, the Tucker coins sold at very reasonable levels.