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Please name, and give a brief history, of great coin hoards...

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Those are some wierd marks dooly. Wonder if they are anything like those marks on those peace dollars that was talked about in an earlier post caused by the dies? confused-smiley-013.gif

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maybe the uk BU is different to the US as we class the BU as UNC with no marks on a MS non proof coin is this the same in the USA ? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

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You mean like the Mohawk Valley hoard of Busties?

 

http://www.keshequacoins.com/MVHStory.html

This is one of my favorite stories. I live about 45 minutes from the location of the find. It's too bad the coins were Hallmarked. I'm not sure of the exact farm the coins were found on, but a little history on the area. Most of the farms (about 95%) folded in the 1950's. The farmland on the vacant farms has grown to woods. I am a logging contractor, and I do a lot of timber stand improvements on these old farms. Sometimes you have to look hard to make out what happened 100 to 150 years ago. There's a vast amount of old stone walls and wells. The wells are circular about 30 feet deep with a stone shell. Most are uncovered so, extreme caution is necessary. It's amazing the amount of work the farmers did back then with no machinery.

 

I always keep my eyes open for a hoard of old coins.

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Coins can have marks and be UNC as for BU you usally do not want many if any noticable marks. Usally translates into MS64 and up. Not all MS 64 coins are BU.

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What do you guys think about moving this to the WYNK folder? It can still be replied to there.

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Although this might not fit the specturm of true hoards, it does however historically fit into great collections.

 

The Garrett Collection

 

Short for the Garrett family. The two main collectors, Thomas H. Garrett and John W. Garrett, formed this extensive collection from the late 1800s through the early 1900s. Later, it was given to Johns Hopkins University and was sold in five auction sales. This provenance on a numismatic item is as coveted as an Eliasberg pedigree.

 

johnworkgarrett.jpg

Born July 31, 1820

Baltimore, Maryland

Died September 26, 1884

Deer Park, Maryland

(in a carriage accident)

 

The Garrett Collection was an old-time holding collection of Gold, Silver, Copper Nickel Pattern coins which was begun in the 1860s by T. Harrison Garrett, whose father was the main figure in the operation of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and continued into the 1930s by T. Harrison's son, John Work Garrett, who as a profession followed a distinguished diplomatic career.

 

Among many exceptional rare coins in this collection were all three varieties of the Brasher Doubloon, long considered the most desirable American coin by many authorities. The Garrett collection was the only collection to ever include all three varieties of the Brasher Doubloon. Top price honors went to a 1787 Brasher gold doubloon which was sold for more than any other coin had brought up to that time: $725,000, a world's record that stood for nearly a decade.

 

brasherlo.gifbrasherlr.gif

 

Coin-Gallery.com Brasher

 

The History of U.S. Coinage as Illustrated by the Garrett Collection, including four auction catalogues with spectacular sales during 1979-81 and a lot of publicity, it all added up to a realization of $25 million when the coins finally crossed the block in auction sales which were held in New York City and in Los Angeles, California.

 

also note worthy:

 

Posted at 2/16/2005 1:42:52 PM

 

Numismatic Guaranty Corporation is pleased to announce that it has recently graded and encapsulated the famous Garrett specimen of the 1804 silver dollar.

Dubbed the “King of American Coins,” the coin has resided in the Laura Sommer Collection for many years.

 

Graded PF-55 by NGC, this coin’s last public appearance was a quarter century ago. It was featured as Lot 698 in Bowers & Ruddy Galleries’ auction sale of the Garrett/Johns Hopkins University Collection in March 1980. An example of the Class III 1804 dollar, it is a U. S. Mint-made restrike from the mid-19th Century and one of only six examples known.

 

With an impressive pedigree, this 1804 silver dollar first surfaced in 1875 in the possession of John Haseltine, who is believed to have discreetly placed it with an Austrian auction house to mask its recent Mint origin. It was acquired by O. H. Berg at that time, and for many years it was known as the Berg Specimen. George W. Cogan purchased the 1804 dollar in Haseltine’s 1883 auction of the Berg Collection for placement with his client, railroad baron T. Harrison Garrett. Upon Garrett’s untimely death in 1888, the coin passed to his son, Robert, who later traded it to brother John in 1919. It was included in the estate of John Work Garrett as willed to the Johns Hopkins University in 1942. The coin remained with the university until the entire coin collection was sold in four spectacular sales during 1979-81.

 

Class III - New reverse, lettered edge

10. The Berg - Garrett Specimen, called "EF" by Breen

11. The Adams - Carter Specimen, called "EF, cleaned" by Breen

12. The Davis - Wolfson Specimen, called "EF, cleaned" by Breen

13. The Linderman - DuPont Specimen, now on display at the headquarters of the American Numismatic Association

14. The Rosenthal - ANS Specimen, called "VF, nicked" by Breen

15. The Idler - Bebee Specimen, called "EF, rubbed and scratched" by Breen, now on display at the headquarters of the American Numismatic Association

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A very small sort of hoard.

 

A co-worker told me a story today about his father who used to run a general stroe in Alabama years ago. Back in the 60's a gentleman came in to pay off his bill and placed a bag on the counter to cover the $88.00 bill. The bag contained all Mercury Dimes. His father was a semi-coin collecter, silver only so he immediately said sure, took the bag and put $88.00 in the till out of his wallet.

 

The bag of coins is now in my co-workers hall closet. I am trying to see if he will consider parting with it. Who knows, there may be some surprises in there. With 880 dimes there should be.

 

Rey

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I was hired last year as an expert witness (for the plaintiff) in a civil case regarding a stolen rare coin collection. Long story short: collector passes away after collecting for 70 years. Out of 6 surviving children, 1 supposedly stole all of the good coins. The plaintiff was trying to establish a value, based on the fact that the collector pulled most of the coins from circulation. The defense claimed that it would not have been possible to find key date coins in the 30s, 40s, etc. I used the famous "New York Subway Hoard" as an example of how rare coins in nice condition could have been found during that era.

 

The New York Subway Hoard was purchased by Littleton from 1991-1996. Two guys (also collectors) worked at the New York subway collecting tolls from the 1940s through the 1960s. They pulled all of the old silver out that they could. There were dozens of complete sets of Barber Halves, Quarters and Dimes. I think they even had half a roll of 1916 quarters (some in high grade) that came out of the hoard, and many rolls of 1916-D dimes and 42/1 dimes. Also other key dates, like the 1918/7 quarter. Tens of thousands of coins! This proved the case that key date coins were not saved heavily when we were on the silver standard and a collector who knew what he was doing would have pulled as many key dates out of circulation as possible, especially high grade examples. In the case that I was involved in, the judge awarded the plaintiff (the other 5 siblings) $3,000,000 in damages.

 

On another note, I have always been disgusted by the fact that Littleton publicly announced that they purchased the NY Subway Hoard for $250,000. If you do a quick calculation, that's a TINY FRACTION of what the hoard was really worth. The 1916 quarters alone would have been worth over $100,000. Together, the 16-D dimes and 16 quarters would have been $250,000. That means that Littleton was egregiously low in their buying price. I think it was worth WELL OVER $1,000,000. There were also several 01-S and 13-S quarters, but I don't remember how many. Also several 1918/7 quarters. Just the melt value would have been $250,000. Do the math.

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I heard on the radio the other night while driving home that $500M worth of gold and silver coins along with antiquities were recovered from a shipwreck somewhere in the Atlantic...no details yet but I'm certain this will be quite the "hoard".

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I heard on the radio the other night while driving home that $500M worth of gold and silver coins along with antiquities were recovered from a shipwreck somewhere in the Atlantic...no details yet but I'm certain this will be quite the "hoard".
the_Thing started a thread about it in the ancient coins section. For some reason, my computor won't allow me to provide a link.

 

Odyssey located and salvaged the shipwreck in an undisclosed site in the Atlantic beyond territorial waters. Odyssey chartered a jet which landed in the U.S. with 100's of plastic containers brimming with coins (more than 500,000) expecting to average $1000 a coin.

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Yes.. keep us informed when that hoard is auctioned !

 

Hoping to find Portuguese 12800 Reis aka the Gold Johanna.. 1732 would be perfect wink.gif

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Has anyone heard about something called the "Omaha Bank Hoard."

 

This is just what it sounds like. It was a hoard of coins found in a bank vault. There were tons of coins. They are all over the place right now.

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Over two thousand rolls of coins from a bank vault in Omaha that were sold to Heritage and that have been making it through PCGS processing.

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Am I the only one who remembers the Haversham Hoard? The story is that Miss Haversham collected 55-gallon barrels of Buffalo nickels and buried them in her backyard.

 

She must have been one strong lady!

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Can I assume that everybody knows about Q. David Bowers book titled: "American Coin Treasures and Hoards" which is out-of-print but still can be found?

 

It is a large book with 8 1/2 x 11 pages and there are 456 pages, many with illustrations.

 

It was published in 1997 by Bowers and Merena Galleries. There was a 2nd printing in 1998. My book is the 3rd printing which was in March 2002.

 

I quickly searched my normal rare and out-of-print book supplier on the internet:

 

www.abebooks.com

 

I found 5 copies available. ...but unfortunately the book does not come cheap. Prices range from $125 to $318. (Hey! That's only 27.4 to 69.7 cents a page!)

 

This book will give you hours and hours of great reading. For months I kept it on my bedstand for late night reading. ...and judging by the resale price of the book, it should even be a good investment. (Keep the Grandkids and their crayons away from it.)

 

SIDE NOTE TO MYSELF: The wife knows what to do with my coins should I suddenly "have the big one" and go off into the Happy Other World. ...but perhaps I should remind her not to throw my numismatic library into the recycle bin!

 

Regards,

 

Ed R.

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Addendum to: Garrett Collection

 

1836pr.jpg

1836prrev.jpg

 

1836 Capped Bust Half Dollar

 

Proof-65 CAM (PCGS)

 

The Incomparable Garrett Proof

 

Overton 109: Sharp spike on outer point of star 7.

Reverse with olive stem ending at right edge of C.

 

Sold in 1979 auction for 35k

(note: add 100K to auction price for current value)

 

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Can I assume that everybody knows about Q. David Bowers book titled: "American Coin Treasures and Hoards" which is out-of-print but still can be found?

 

It is a large book with 8 1/2 x 11 pages and there are 456 pages, many with illustrations.

 

It was published in 1997 by Bowers and Merena Galleries. There was a 2nd printing in 1998. My book is the 3rd printing which was in March 2002.

 

I quickly searched my normal rare and out-of-print book supplier on the internet:

 

www.abebooks.com

 

I found 5 copies available. ...but unfortunately the book does not come cheap. Prices range from $125 to $318. (Hey! That's only 27.4 to 69.7 cents a page!)

 

 

Thanks for the info! I've been wanting this book for along time and had no idea that it is out of print.

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As a result of this successful dispersal strategy, the entire silver dollar market grew for the next five years. From 1982 to 1985, for example, Morgan Silver Dollars in MS 65 increased in average value by 450%! Collectors and investors alike were happy, and the hobby enjoyed a wonderful resurgence.

I find this fascinating. I can almost grasp this possibility, but then...

 

I have avoided any further purchases in Morgans for fear that new hoard finds like this would drop the bottom out of the coins' values. For instance, I have an 1885-CC NGC MS65 that I simply list as my poorest investment to date.

 

At the very least, I have suspended any further collecting of Morgans until I know a lot more about them. I'm learning...slowly!

 

I always assumed that rarity was the driving factor in a coins value. I suppose that demand is another. I would be interested if any of you know how the two offset each other. For instance, how can the release of a Morgan hoard increase interest to such an extent that the increased supply (higher census count) is offset by increased demand?

 

Are there other examples of this happening? Are common-date St. Gaudens coins experiencing appreciation due to increased demand pressure (I wish I could find a good hoard of them right now! ;) )?

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Wanted to share this here for those non EAC'ers: :) Worth joining if all's you want is to read "Penny-Wise"

 

Enjoy!!!!!!

 

 

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