Belle Collection of Carson City Coins Realizes Disappointing Results in Heritage Sale

Click on the link below to view the prices realized for the sale of the Belle collection of Carson City coins. Heritage conducted the auction in Baltimore on March 28 and 29, 2009.

Please note: after you click this link, you'll go to mediafire.com and you'll have to deal with a couple annoying pop-ups. Just select the Belle Collection link, the "Click here to start download" link, and then click on "Open file." You'll need an Adobe Acrobat reader (always free) to view these pdf files (you can easily close the advertizing pop-ups).

Belle Collection of CC Coins

Unfortunately, the owner of this collection didn't exercise discretion in the selection of many of the coins. Thus, many of the coins were sub-par for their grades. Moreover, the collector assembled the set in haste, over a short period of time, and for whatever reason, decided to sell after owning most of the coins for less than six months. This usually results in disappointing returns. It didn't help that the collection was sold in the midst of a severe recession.

As you'll see, most of the prices are low in comparison to the rarity and desirability of the coins. This provided a great buying opportunity in many cases for shrewd collectors.

Probably the most disappointing news to the owner of this 56-piece group of coins was that the two classic rarities in the collection, the 1876-CC 20-center in NGC MS-64, and the 1870-CC $20 gold piece in NGC XF-45, didn't sell (they failed to meet their reserves).

I'm sure that this whole experience was a bitter pill for the owner of the Belle collection to swallow: and hopefully was a valuable lesson as well.

1876-CC 20-CENTER REALIZES $264,500!

Collectors talked about it for weeks. Many stopped by Superior's table at the Baltimore ANA just to catch a glimpse of it. And now, it's history. An 1876-CC 20-cent piece graded MS-62 by PCGS cost its new owner $264,500 in Superior's Pre-Long Beach sale, held on Monday, September 15 in Beverly Hills, CA.

The bidding stalled momentarily at the $225,000 level (not including the 15% buyer's fee), before the final bid of $230,000 captured the coveted prize. Add in an additonal 15% ($34,500) and you've got a new record-shattering price (for this date in this grade).

During the spring of 1876, the Carson City Mint struck 10,000 twenty-cent pieces. None of them were released for circulation (at least none that were reported), however, as the Treasury Dept. subsequently removed this denomination from the nation's monetary system. The following spring, in 1877, the superintendent at the Carson Mint received an order to melt down all twenty-cent pieces in inventory.

It is believed that approximately 9,980 1876-CC twenty-cent pieces were destroyed. A handful of them had been sent to the Assay Commission back east to be tested for standard weights and measures. Presumably, another small group of these storied coins eventually fell into the hands of collectors or other interested parties, and today (2008), it is estimated that 18 to 20 examples survive.

Prices for examples of this date/denomination in all grades have risen dramatically. In 1999, a specimen similar in quality to the coin showcased in this posting, failed to meet the consignor's reserve in a Heritage summer ANA sale. Five months later, it realized $69,000 in Heritage's 2000 FUN sale. In March and October 2001, two examples, graded MS-66, brought $161,000 and $138,000, respectively, in Superior and Heritage auctions.