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.

'Twas the "CC" That Saved Christmas

'Twas the beginning of winter
And all through the land
All of the coin dealers
Wished bullion was banned.

No Panda Bears, no Maple leafs,
No Krugerrands or Eagles.
No Philharmonics or Kangaroos,
Because they’d be illegal.

The people would be saddened
And void of Christmas cheer
All searching for a replacement
For bullion held so dear.

But what could replace bullion
And hold their hearts anew?
Perhaps a little “CC” coin
Struck in silver, and gold, too!

Any humble collector knows
The Carson Mint provided much
With three separate silver dollars,
And a twenty-center as a nice touch!

In addition to those special ones,
There’s five, ten, and twenty dollar gold,
Then the quarter, dime, and half dollar
With strikes that are so bold.

Bullion lovers, do not despair
Your hobby is not quite dead
You just need a change of pace,
So why not buy a “CC” coin instead!

CLUB'S ANNUAL MEETING SCHEDULED FOR BALTIMORE ANA

Attention all C4OA members (and wannabe members):

The annual meeting of the Carson City Coin Collectors of America is scheduled for Thursday, July 31, at 1:00 p.m. in Room No. 319 on the Third floor of ANA's Worlds Fair of Money convention in Baltimore, MD.

Several members will be sharing about their experiences in collecting "CC" coins, and we will discuss club matters in general. As time permits (1 1/2 hour meeting) we will have a "show and tell" session which will allow members to show or describe their favorite "CC" coins.

We'll have good fellowship and a good time. Please try to attend if possible.

COIN WORLD ARTICLE ABOUT THE "CC" MINT

Greetings C4OA members. I just recieved my new issue of coin world today (July 7, 2008) and read with interest a nice article (page 77) written by CW staff member Cindy Brake. she makes many references to quotes by our own Rusty Goe. she also mentions his great book James Crawford Master of the Mint at Carson City - A Short Full Life. At the end of her 2nd paragraph in the article, Cindy mistakenly states that "In total 57 different coins would be issued" ( by the Carson mint). Of course we all know that 57 coins is the correct total for the three gold denominations but she was refering to the total gold and silver coin output which we also all know to be 111 coins. Other than that, Cindy wrote a nice article here and provided some nice pictures as well. those include: The "CC" mint circa 1879, weighing scales housed in the NV State Museum, obverse & reverse of an 1870-CC seated dollar - 1884-CC $20 - 1870-CC $20 - 1876-CC twenty center & the one and only (as in unique) 1873-CC without arrows dime. All in all, a nice article by Cindy.

1870-CC DOUBLE EAGLE IN NGC XF-40 BRINGS $299,000

On Wednesday evening June 25, 2008 in New York City, an 1870-CC $20 gold piece graded XF-40 by NGC sold for $299,000 ($260,000 hammer price). Pre-sale estimates suggested that this coin might bring in excess of $325,000. In fact, a poll conducted on C4OA's blogsite resulted in a majority opinion of a price realized of $350,000 or higher.

This specimen of the rarest date/denomination in the "CC" gold coin series was featured in Stack's Husky sale which included a fine assortment of U.S. gold pieces.

1870-CC DOUBLE EAGLE DIE VARIETY 1-A EXPLAINED

This posting is in response to several questions about the 1-A Die variety on 1870-CC $20 gold pieces.

There are two known die varieties for this date, the 1-A and 2-B. The purpose of these designations is to point out distinctive characteristics displayed on each variety.

The Die 1-A variety features a large date with bold details. As seen in the arrow in the image to the left, the "1" in "1870" is near Liberty's neck. The arrow to the right shows the location of the small mintmark in relation to the bottom of the eagle's tailfeathers and the letters NT in TWENTY.

The location of the date and mintmark on the Die 2-B variety is noticeably different.

It's unknown which die variety the Carson Mint first used, although my guess is the 1-A.

1870-CC $20 GOLD PIECE BRINGS QUARTER MILLION $$S

An 1870-CC gold double eagle graded XF-40 (non-certified) sold for $253,000 at Stack's Americana sale in New York City on January 16. This example of the key date in the "CC" $20 gold series is not visually attractive, and has not even been graded by a third-party service, which makes its price realized even more astonishing. 1870-CC $20 gold piece from Stack's Americana sale, 1-16-08.

This strong showing further illustrates the perpetually-increasing demand for rare "CC" issues. We can only imagine what this same coin would have fetched if it had been graded XF-40 or XF-45 by PCGS or NGC. It seems plausible that the winning bid would have cracked the $300,000 barrier. This is all so mind-bending, since it was only about seven or eight years ago that 1870-CC double eagles in any grade were just barely crossing the six-figure level. And, to add more perspective to the sale of this specific 70-CC $20 gold piece, the same coin sold for $20,900 back in 1987 at another Stack's January auction. If its consignor in 2008 is the same person who purchased it in 1987, he or she should be very pleased, don't you think?

The way this current auction season is shaping up, "CC" coins of all types, dates and grades, are sure to garner their share of attention. Stay tuned.