Coin Collection Sells for $30 Million
By REBECCA SANTANA,AP
Posted: 2007-11-18 09:42:02
An anonymous buyer has paid more than $30 million for a collection
of rare U.S. proto type coins, some from the 1700s, that never went
into circulation, according to the dealer that brokered the deal.
The collection consists of about 1,000 coins that collectors refer to as
pattern coins - trial designs that never went into production because
the U.S. Mint chose other designs.
For example see (Click to View).
"This collection is an incredible collection. ... These were some of the
first coins ever, ever struck by the United States government," said
Laura Sperber, a partner in Legend Numismatics of Lincroft, N.J.,
which brokered the deal.
The seller wanted to remain anonymous, and the buyer, concerned
about security, agreed to be identified only as "Mr. Simpson, a
Western states collector," Sperber said.
"Both the buyer and the seller are very competitive people. And
they're very successful in their careers, and they both love the
romance and collectability of coins," Sperber said.
The coins span the period from 1792 to 1942. Highlights include test
designs for the first pennies made in 1792 and six coins from 1872
that are often referred to as "Amazonian" patterns because the
female figure portraying liberty is much stronger and regal looking
than earlier versions.
It took the seller about 10 years to assemble the collection, Sperber
said.
Gathering such a large collection of pattern coins is difficult because
so few were created in the first place. And they were usually
supposed to stay in the possession of the Mint - after all, these were
the rejects.
"To accumulate as many patterns as there are in this collection,
that's incredible," said Douglas A. Mudd, Curator of the American
Numismatic Association Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The coins could have made their way into private hands as gifts, or
as trades with collectors for other coins that the Mint wanted to
acquire, Sperber said.
Independent, third-party experts have verified the collection, Sperber
said.
Many of the coins bear depictions of a woman representing liberty
and not the profile of a former president, as displayed on coins
currently circulating.
Until 1909, when Abraham Lincoln's face was placed on the penny,
presidents weren't allowed on coins. At the time the first coins were
minted in 1792, putting the nation's leader on a coin seemed too
similar to the practice of kings being displayed on European coins.
That wasn't considered the best example for a country less than a
decade removed from the Revolutionary War.
"To put an individual on coinage was considered very unrepublican
because the people have the power in a republic," Mudd said.
Sperber would not say how much her company earned for brokering
the deal but said she hopes the magnitude of the sale will get more
people interested in collecting coins.
"They're historical. They're beautiful works of art," Sperber said.
"They're just plain neat."
By REBECCA SANTANA,AP
Posted: 2007-11-18 09:42:02
An anonymous buyer has paid more than $30 million for a collection
of rare U.S. proto type coins, some from the 1700s, that never went
into circulation, according to the dealer that brokered the deal.
The collection consists of about 1,000 coins that collectors refer to as
pattern coins - trial designs that never went into production because
the U.S. Mint chose other designs.
For example see (Click to View).
"This collection is an incredible collection. ... These were some of the
first coins ever, ever struck by the United States government," said
Laura Sperber, a partner in Legend Numismatics of Lincroft, N.J.,
which brokered the deal.
The seller wanted to remain anonymous, and the buyer, concerned
about security, agreed to be identified only as "Mr. Simpson, a
Western states collector," Sperber said.
"Both the buyer and the seller are very competitive people. And
they're very successful in their careers, and they both love the
romance and collectability of coins," Sperber said.
The coins span the period from 1792 to 1942. Highlights include test
designs for the first pennies made in 1792 and six coins from 1872
that are often referred to as "Amazonian" patterns because the
female figure portraying liberty is much stronger and regal looking
than earlier versions.
It took the seller about 10 years to assemble the collection, Sperber
said.
Gathering such a large collection of pattern coins is difficult because
so few were created in the first place. And they were usually
supposed to stay in the possession of the Mint - after all, these were
the rejects.
"To accumulate as many patterns as there are in this collection,
that's incredible," said Douglas A. Mudd, Curator of the American
Numismatic Association Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The coins could have made their way into private hands as gifts, or
as trades with collectors for other coins that the Mint wanted to
acquire, Sperber said.
Independent, third-party experts have verified the collection, Sperber
said.
Many of the coins bear depictions of a woman representing liberty
and not the profile of a former president, as displayed on coins
currently circulating.
Until 1909, when Abraham Lincoln's face was placed on the penny,
presidents weren't allowed on coins. At the time the first coins were
minted in 1792, putting the nation's leader on a coin seemed too
similar to the practice of kings being displayed on European coins.
That wasn't considered the best example for a country less than a
decade removed from the Revolutionary War.
"To put an individual on coinage was considered very unrepublican
because the people have the power in a republic," Mudd said.
Sperber would not say how much her company earned for brokering
the deal but said she hopes the magnitude of the sale will get more
people interested in collecting coins.
"They're historical. They're beautiful works of art," Sperber said.
"They're just plain neat."
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