David Crenshaw

Coinweek.com recently posted its content partner Douglas Winter’s “CAC and the Appearance Rarity of Dahlonega and Charlotte Half Eagles” article about a new standard that Winter calls “appearance rarity”—coins that are choice enough for their assigned grade to be accepted by Certified Acceptance Corporation.

He analyzes for appearance rarity Dahlonega and Charlotte half eagles in this article.

These coins are expensive enough and are so avidly collected that a significant percentage of the total coins known in all grades have been submitted to CAC.

CLICK HERE to read this article.

Recently published The Legend of Jake Howell by Ravenwood Publishing is written by retired dentist Charles A. Reap Jr. is a novel that fictionalizes the North Carolina gold rush.

Here’s the publisher’s synopsis of the book:

When he picked up that shiny stone from the small stream, nine-year-old Jake Howell would not have believed that it would trigger America’s first gold rush and that he would become one of the world’s richest and most admired men.

Jacob Lipson, Heritage Auctions, was cataloging an upcoming sale and discovered a new 1843-C $2.50, small date, die pairing.

The December Beverly Hills Signature Sale #1282 lot number 3697 description reads:

A new and remarkable discovery for the specialist. It has long been believed that a single die pair was used to strike 2,988 Small Date 1843-C quarter eagles. We now know two sets were used, this one showing the date slightly lower with the 4 between two dentils and a Large C mintmark. The reverse die quickly fell apart, as evidenced by the extensive die breaks around the legends. Apparently, both the obverse and reverse were set aside in favor of new dies. This piece has been cleaned and shows severe scratches at the upper right obverse and on the eagle’s left wing. However, this coin sheds new light on the production process for the 1843-C Small Date two and a half dollar gold piece, the rarest Charlotte Mint quarter eagle in the series.

Professional numismatist and rare coin dealer Doug Winter recently posted his analysis of the Dr. Steven Duckor’s gold dollar collection that sold at the Heritage 2014 Platinum Night auction session, August 13, 2015, ANA U.S. Coins Auctions in Chicago, Illinois.

The collection contained two of the finest know Charlotte and Dahlonega one-dollar gold coins.

The Duckor collection contained just one coin from the Charlotte mint but it was a doozy: the finest known 1849-C Closed Wreath in PCGS/CAC MS64. I sold the coin to Steve for $31,500 in 2014. It brought $49,350, a price which I thought was aggressive but not out of line for a first-year-of-issue, population 1/0 Charlotte coin which was actually very choice for the grade.

Steve’s one Dahlonega gold dollar was another killer: the finest known 1855-D, graded MS64 by PCGS and approved by CAC. Given that this coin was being exposed for the first time in years to non-specialists (i.e., it was being offered as part of a non-Dahlonega collection) I thought it could be an absolute runaway. It sold for $164,500 which is a record auction price for the issue but which, to be honest, was a little less than the $175,000-185,000+ I thought it might bring.

To read Winter’s complete analysis of the collection and see pictures of these two branch mint coins: The Duckor Collection of Gold Dollars: A Post-Sale Analysis.