Elite Collections of Double Eagles, Seated Dollars and Indian Head Cents Featured in Heritage’s Long Beach US Coins Auction

There are times when a collection is too vast and too impressive to fit into just one auction.

Such is the case with the Mississippi Collection of Double Eagles, which made its debut in Heritage’s January FUN US Coins Signature® Auction.

But the array of treasures in the collection is far too extensive to limit it to just one auction, making The Mississippi Collection of Double Eagles, Part II among the headline attractions in Heritage’s Long Beach Expo US Coins Signature® Auction February 27-March 2. The trove includes 239 lots comprised exclusively of Liberty Head and Saint-Gaudens twenty dollar gold.

"This auction is a harmony of ultra-rare gold, silver and bronze coinage," says Greg Rohan, President of Heritage Auctions, "and that elite tier certainly includes the magnificent coins from the Mississippi Collection of Double Eagles, which was built over seven decades of diligent searching and shrewd buying. It is a remarkable collection, featuring vintage pedigrees and remarkably consistent quality for the grades."

Top highlights in the Mississippi Collection include, but are not limited to:

• One of the highest-graded examples of an 1870-CC Liberty Double Eagle, AU53 NGC. Winter 1-A: the 1870-CC is a classic rarity in the Liberty double eagle series, from the first year of coinage operations at the famous Carson City Mint. It has the lowest mintage – 3,789 – in the Carson City series, and estimates of the surviving population range from 40 to 65.
• One of the finest examples of an 1854-O Liberty Double Eagle, AU55 PCGS. Winter 1: The 1854-O is a landmark rarity in the Liberty double eagle series and examples are especially elusive in high grade. Doug Winter has estimated that as few as 30-40 examples remain in all grades, while PCGS CoinFacts has a tighter estimate range of 35-40. No Mint State examples are known. Heritage experts have traced 27 examples, including one coin in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.

  

• An 1856-O Liberty Double Eagle, AU58 PCGS. Winter 1: Once a part of the prestigious collection of Louis E. Eliasberg, the coin offered here is the third-finest of the 1856-O, which is a premier rarity in the Liberty double eagle series, a group that boasts the smallest mintage – 2,250 – of any double eagle from the New Orleans Mint. This coin has not been offered publicly since its appearance in the Eliasberg sale, more than 42 years ago, making it completely fresh to market.

Another important featured collection represented in the auction is the Scott Manke Collection of Proof Seated Dollars, which brings to the collecting community a collection that started as a childhood hobby and morphed into a lifetime passion that became serious when he came across an 1845 Seated dollar. "That coin sparked my ambition to complete the entire Seated dollar series in proof format – a feat that only a select few collectors have achieved." Among the 35 lots from the collection in this auction are:

• The finest of six known examples of an 1841 Seated Dollar, PR64 PCGS CAC: Of the six known survivors, one is impounded in the Smithsonian’s National Numismatic Collection, and another is a recently discovered impaired proof, meaning the coin offered here is one of just four confirmed non-impaired proofs available to collectors.

  

• An 1848 Seated Dollar PR66 PCGS: Tied for the finest of 12 known examples, one of which is permanently housed at the Smithsonian. Only two of these coins fall in the Gem range, and they – the PCGS example offered in this auction and another certified by NGC – share the same PR66 grade. The example offered here has long been considered the finer of the two.

  

The auction boasts 79 lots from The Douglas Wright Collection of Indian Head Cents. Wright has built dozens of highly ranked PCGS Registry Sets for small cents, including numerous Lincoln cent and Flying Eagle sets. Most of the lots from his collection are CAC-endorsed, and accompanying proofs and patterns join the major varieties for a level of completeness that is unmatched among the finest Indian Head collections. Top choices from the collection include, but are not limited to:

• An 1888/7 Cent, MS64 Red and Brown PCGS. CAC: Tied for the finest certified example, it is a spectacular example of the most famous variety in the Indian Head cent series, and a coin that has held a place in some of the most esteemed specialized collections over the last quarter century.

  

• An 1864 With L Indian Cent, Snow-PR3, PR64 Red PCGS: The proof 1864 With L Indian cent is a legendary rarity, one that has been well-known and well-respected since shortly after its production. By 1869, demand was high enough that someone at the Mint produced restrikes, which bumped the population by 10 or more. Of the 20 known examples across three varieties, the coin offered in this auction is the lone PR3.

  

• A beautiful 1858/7 Flying Eagle Cent, Snow-1, MS65 PCGS: The coveted Die Stage A, represented by the example offered in this auction, shows the flag of the 7 bold, and the triangular lump in the field above the date (from the foot of a 1) is bold. The population of nine coins in MS65 and one finer for the Strong die states includes two Snow-7 coins.

  

The Ron L. Cates Collection is a 127-lot assemblage that includes a magnificent 1870-CC Double Eagle, XF40 PCGS. Winter 1-A. Congress authorized a branch Mint at Carson City in the Nevada Territory in 1863, but delays and rising costs bogged down the production of the first Seated dollars and double eagles until 1870. The 1870-CC is one of the most famous issues to originate at the historic facility, and also the first double eagle issue struck at the Carson City Mint and a spectacular rarity that is among the most widely acclaimed issues in the entire series of Liberty twenties. The 1870-CC, with a PCGS population of 10 graded in 40 and just 23 carrying better grades, is consistently listed among The 100 Greatest U.S. Coins including the most recent 2024 edition.

Other featured collections in the auction include The Burge Collection, which features an array of coins he bought up to three decades ago; the 151-lot Warrior Mountain Collection of U.S. gold, focusing on Liberty double eagles, half eagles and Indian eagles and the JK44 Collection, which includes a selection of Walking Liberty half dollars, Morgan and Peace silver dollars and the coveted Saint-Gaudens double eagles.
As impressive as the featured collections are, it would be shortsighted and inaccurate to suggest that all of the auction’s top selections are part of a named collection. For example:

• An 1851 Humbert Fifty Dollar, Lettered Edge, 887 Thous., 50 Reverse, MS62+ PCGS is a magnificent example of an icon of numismatics, a symbol of the California Gold Rush and Western frontier, and a coin of virtually unsurpassed historical, economic and social importance. While the Humbert fifties saw considerable use in Western commerce, their extraordinary size and face value made them inconvenient for the kinds of everyday transactions that demanded coins. They were subjected to heavy melting; most that survived are in degrees of circulated condition, generally VF to AU. Once a part of the Bob R. Simpson Collection, Part III, this example stands as one of the finest known representatives of this storied issue.

  

• An 1836 Gobrecht Dollar, Judd-63 Restrike, PR63 Cameo PCGS. CAC is the finest of three known examples. Any Judd-63 is an exceptional rarity, and that holds true for this beautiful example, which can be traced to 1884. Heritage sold another example for $149,500 in 2009; the example offered in this auction is superior on its technical merits and boasts solid provenance.

  

• An 1839 Gobrecht Dollar, Judd-104 Restrike, PR65 PCGS is tied for the second-finest certified example of this beautiful coin. Judd-104 Restrike Gobrecht dollars are another product directly attributable to Mint Director Henry Linderman. These were the final Gobrecht dollars struck after Linderman’s return as Mint Superintendent in 1873. High-grade 1839 Restrike dollars are rarely found, and just one, a PR66 at NGC, has earned a higher grade. Just three coins are tied with this piece at PCGS, and nine Gems have been certified at NGC.
• Among the most visually appealing lots in the entire auction is a 58.77-ounce Kellogg & Humbert Gold Ingot from the S.S. Central America. It comes from one of the most respected private assayers of California’s Gold Rush period, a firm that produced gold coinage alongside the early operations of the San Francisco Mint, supplying local miners and commerce with correctly assayed and valued gold pieces during the period when the San Francisco Mint’s gold coin production was hindered by a lack of parting acids. Gold bars produced by the Kellogg & Humbert firm eventually were absorbed into various mints and melted down for sovereign coinage, but a large number of bars survived via the S.S. Central America shipwreck, including the large ingot offered here.

  

Images and information about all lots in the auction can be found at HA.com/1381.

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