Market Movers and Shakers

M A R K E T M A T T E R S Demand for Rare Gold Coins Accelerates in 2022

B y M a r k F e r g u s o n

Th e 1841-O Liberty Head Eagle, 1870-CC Liberty Head Double Eagle, and 1893-O Liberty Head Half Eagle were all heavy hitters at the Stack’s Bowers Galleries April sale of the Hendricks Set from the Fairmont Collection. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView.

Whether circulated or Mint State, rare gold coins are being snapped up seemingly as fast as they hit the market. While common-date or “generic” issues can readily be found, a walk around a bourse fl oor at a major coin show reveals that dealer inventories of scarce to rare issues are depleted. Furthermore, accelerating demand is plainly evident in auctions, as evidenced by aggressive bidding and signifi cantly higher prices.

A great demonstration of market strength in this area was the Stack’s Bowers Galleries April sale of the Hendricks Set, an important part of the Fairmont Collection of rare gold coins. Similar results have been achieved by other auction fi rms, but the sale of the Hendricks Set best illustrates market strength because it consisted of a large amount of rare circulated and Mint State gold coins, including a large number of die varieties. Additionally, all the coins were graded by PCGS.

What’s more, besides top rarities, the Hendricks Set was chock full of condition-census coins, i.e. top pops. But this doesn’t mean that they were all high-grade Mint State coins such as MS66s or MS67s. Many of the condition census pieces were circulated, especially for the Liberty Head Half Eagles, Eagles, and Double Eagles. A great example was the collection's PCGS AU53 1841-O Liberty Head Eagle. According to PCGS CoinFacts and the PCGS Price Guide, just 50 to 75 pieces are estimated to have survived, and the 1841-O is unknown in Mint State. Highlights of the Fairmont Hendricks Set Sale

Another coin that is unknown in Mint State is the 1870CC Liberty Head Double Eagle. PCGS estimates that 40 to 50 examples have survived. Th e XF45 1870-CC Liberty Head $20 from the Hendricks Set brought the most amount of money in the sale – $810,000, which was signifi cantly higher than the $525,000 PCGS Price Guide value at the time.

Another highlight of the sale was the AU53 1875 Liberty Head Half Eagle. Just 200 pieces were coined for circulation and PCGS estimates that only 9 or 10 exist today. As the second-highest-priced coin in the sale, it brought $480,000, causing us to double the PCGS retail value of this coin issue to $500,000 for the AU53 grade. Values for surrounding grades have also been raised because of this sale.

Interestingly, the PCGS grades for the 1875 Liberty Half Eagle range from XF40 to AU58. Prior to the sale of the AU53 piece in April, only four previous auction sales have taken place for this coin issue since PCGS has been maintaining this data. Th e most recent was in 2006, for an AU50 example. Th e others took place between 1999 and 2003. Th is, or another AU53 (PCGS pop 5), was sold at auction back in 2000 at $35,650. Th is is a great example of why a price guide is just that: a guide. Because so few auction sales have taken place for this coin issue and much time has passed, maintaining current price guide values for such a coin can only be an educated and experienced estimate. Sales Results for More Common to Scarce Gold Coins from the Hendricks Set

In Mint State, the 1893-O Liberty Head $5 is the most common half eagle from the New Orleans Mint. An MS63 example from the Fairmont Hendricks Set brought $7,500 in the April sale, causing a “modest” PCGS Price Guide increase from $6,500 to $7,500. As a comparison, another MS63 example, but not from the Fairmont Collection, sold in a diff erent session of this sale for $6,000. In contrast, an AU58 1897-S Eagle brought $3,600. Th is is more than 2.5 times our price guide value and we view the sale of this coin as a high outlier price, which won’t be factored into our value for this coin.

Lastly, here’s an example that illustrates just how strong auction prices for the Fairmont coins were. A Fairmont 1878CC Liberty Head Half Eagle in VF35 brought $38,400 in the April sale, another high outlier price. Th is compares to the price brought by a non-Fairmont 1878-CC Liberty Head Half Eagle in AU50 that sold in another session of the same April auction at $34,800. Because of the extraordinary success of the Stack’s Bowers Galleries sale of the Fairmont gold coins, I urge you to use caution when using these prices as comparables in making buying decisions.

Mark Ferguson began buying and selling coins in 1969. He graded coins for PCGS between 1986 and 1990 and currently serves as the company's senior price guide consultant. He’s a numismatic researcher, writer, appraiser, and advisor, and he authored Th e Dollar of 1804: Th e U.S. Mint’s Hidden Secret.

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