Goldbergs Pre-Long Beach sale of the GREEN TREE half cents

The Green Tree half cents comprised the first 236 lots of the Goldberg's pre-Long Beach auction, held Sunday Feb. 18 in Los Angeles. These are my post-auction impressions from the sale.
The majority of the coins stayed relatively close to pre-sale estimates, and met expectations. However, as usual there were both upside surprises and also some coins that fell far short of their estimates. The general theme that emerged was that scarce & rare varieties that were in mid-to-low grades did not do very well (price-wise). Here are a few of the most notable examples:

LOT 15 was a 1794 C-7 (R5+) graded EAC F12 (PCGS F15). It was hammered for $2650 vs. an estimate of $5000.

LOT 21 was a 1795 C-3 (R5+) graded EAC F15 (PCGS VF25). It was hammered for $4250 vs. an estimate of $8000.

LOT 90 was a 1805 C-2 (R5) graded EAC VG10 (PCGS F12). It was hammered for $3750 vs. an estimate of $8000.

LOT 100 was a 1806 C-3 (R6) graded EAC G4+ (PCGS G4). It was hammered for $3000 vs. an estimate of $6000.

It was apparently a good day to be bargain hunting among rare half cent varieties!
As I mentioned above, there were also some surprises on the upside of prices. A few of these include:

LOT 125 was a 1809 C-2 (R3) graded EAC VF35 (PCGS AU53). It was hammered for $2100 vs. an estimate of only $600!

LOT 172 was a 1825 C-3 (R1) graded EAC MS64 (PCGS MS65RB). It was hammered for $4000 vs. an estimate of only $2000.

LOT 201 was a 1849 C-1 (R2-) graded EAC MS63 (PCGS MS64RB). It was hammered for $3000 vs. an estimate of only $1000!

LOT 205 was a 1851 C-1 (R1) graded EAC MS65 (PCGS MS66BN). It was hammered for $4000 vs. an estimate of only $2000.

Note that all these coins rank very high in the condition census. The trend that emerges from these high-side surprises is that Quality is still King!
I will try to share some impressions from the large cent portion of the sale a little later.

The Goldbergs FEB 2018 Pre-Long Beach auction preview

It is that time of year again. Time to shake off the snow from winter, and head to sunny Southern California for a week of coin activity. The Long Beach coin convention begins Thur. Feb. 22. In addition to the huge bourse floor (over 400 dealers attending), Heritage will hold a big coin auction. But, the Sunday before Long Beach, copper collectors will have a chance to participate in the Goldberg's pre-Long Beach sale.
Goldbergs have a great lineup of more than 600 lots of U.S. copper coins (and hundreds of coins in other U.S. series as well) up for sale. The headline collection for the sale is a large high-quality collection of half cents, called the Green Tree Collection.
The Green Tree Collection comprises 236 lots of half cents (1793-1857), and an additional 16 lots of U.S. cents. Many of the Green Tree coins are in stellar condition, but there are also a number of mid-grade and collector level coins that should entice a lot of online bidding action.

LOT-1 is a choice 1793 C-1 (PCGS AU50 / EAC 40+). A real beauty.

LOT-18 is a choice AU 1795 C-1 (Lettered Edge / PCGS AU58 / EAC 55)

LOT-144 is a nice looking 1811 C-1 with the famous 4-star break (PCGS F12 / EAC 10)

While the Green Tree Collection lacks a 1796 half cent, there are two opportunities to obtain a 1796 C-2 (with-pole) in the session that follows.

LOT-267 is a 1796 C-2 (PCGS F15 / EAC 12).

This would make a welcome addition to any half cent collection.

LOT-287 is an example of the ultra-rare 1811 C-1 half cent with a 2-star die-break

Moving to large cents:

LOT-303 is a high-grade 1794 Head-of-93 S-11b (NGC MS61 / EAC 50+)

LOT-404 is a beautiful 1817 N-16 (The famous 15-star variety) that is an obverse brockage. This is a real conversation-starter!

LOT-470 is a high-grade 1839/6 N-1 (PCGS XF45 / EAC 35)

LOT-488 is a well-preserved PROOF 1843 N-12 (PCGS PF65 BN)

LOT-490 is a nice PROOF 1844 N-1 (PCGS PF63 BN)

There are three 1799 cents (S-189) to choose from in the sale, and a single 1804 (S-266a). Opportunities abound for half cent and large cent collectors in this sale. Unfortunately, the selection of colonial coins is very limited (only 11 lots).

I plan to attend the Goldberg sale. I will be very interested in seeing how well the coins do with regard to price realized. The market for copper has been fairly quiet for the last 6 months. The last large copper auction was the Heritage Padula sale (SEP 2017). That sale featured a full Sheldon set of large cents. However, many of the coins were in low grade, and they sold at modest prices. This Goldberg sale should have a different character, since there are a number of high-grade coins that have appeal to both copper addicts and type collectors. Check out the sale on-line at the Goldberg web site, and have fun bidding in the sale!