A US coin of 1825 with only two copies known

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Heritage had issued a press release on its sale which runs from July 30 to August 2 on live and on the web, but they only described a coin that although sympathetic (this is a manufacturing error) is of minor interest.

So I went back on the site, which enables me to present you in extremis a coin that will be sold tomorrow on live, on July 31 in Baltimore under number 1955. The interest to stop for a moment on this subject is that all details are given to justify its rarity, and that the price of this specimen has been traced over all its recent transactions.

It is codified under the reference 1825/4 $5 AU50 NGC (NGC is apparently a normative service). It is a piece of $ 5 with a branched eagle on obverse and a rather ugly Liberty on reverse.

From a low mintage, the fate of this model was settled in the early years when the money producers observed that the value of its raw metals (ratio silver-gold 18 / 1) was more interesting than its currency value. Tens of thousands of coins of several models were then melted, and there are currently only two survivors of our model, including that which is for sale.

Sold $ 140 K in 1978, it came down at auction in two steps to $ 105 K (1992). The commerce sold it $ 275 K and it got $ 240 K at auction in 1999. Heritage auctions it now with a reserve price of 600 K $. If it is sold, it will mean that the market has changed considerably over the past decade, and that the scarcity tops over all other characteristics.

I find it hard to believe such a price, especially since the other known copy is in better condition. The buyer who would pay so expensive takes the risk of losing everything if one or more copies appear in any treasure. When I write, 9 hours before the close out on the Internet, there is still no bid.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The auction house had well targeted its estimate. This coin of 1825 was sold 690 K$ including fees.