NGC-certified Partrick Part I Realizes Nearly $26 Million

Numismatic Guaranty Corporation® (NGC®) has announced that the more than 350 NGC-certified Colonial and Early American coins in the Donald G. Partrick Collection Part I realized $25.93 million. The selections, which were entirely certified by NGC, were sold by Heritage Auctions on January 8, 2015, at the Florida United Numismatics (FUN) Convention in Orlando, FL.

Remarkably, five coins in the sale achieved more than $1 million and an additional 45 pieces sold for more than $100,000.

Donald G. Partrick is widely considered to have assembled the greatest collection of Colonial and Early American coins in history. Part I featured many extremely rare and finest known pieces including most notably a dozen varieties of 1792 Pattern Coins, 15 varieties of 1776 Continental Dollars, and a superb group of Massachusetts pieces from 1652 to 1788.

“Partrick Part I was an extraordinary group of coins. Among the many high rarity pieces were 10 unique coins—more than any sold in a single auction—making this the most challenging collection that I have graded in my entire career,” says Mark Salzberg, chairman of NGC. “I am honored and humbled by the exceptionally positive response to NGC’s certification of these coins and the record prices paid for them at auction.”

The top result in the sale came from the 1792 Judd-4 Pattern Birch Cent graded NGC MS 65 RB. It realized $2,585,000—a world record price for a United States cent.

1792 Birch 1C J-4 MS 65 RB Click images to enlarge.

A 1792 Judd-12 Pattern Quarter graded NGC MS 63 BN followed closely with a price of $2,232,500. Another 1792 Pattern achieved seven figures in the sale: the 1792 Judd-11 Pattern Copper Disme in NGC MS 64 RB sold for $1,057,500. Meanwhile, Partrick’s 1792 Judd-9 Silver Disme nearly topped the milestone million-dollar mark with a result of $998,750.

Partrick Part I included two highly coveted and very rare silver examples of the 1776 Continental Dollar. The first, one of only two known representatives of the Newman 1-C variety, was graded NGC XF 40 and sold for $1,527,500. The second-finest example of the Newman 3-B variety also realized $1,527,500, another world record price.

“The Partrick sale was an astounding success. NGC’s professional coin grading sets the standard for Early American coinage. For accuracy and consistency, no other service comes close,” says Maureen and Stuart Levine, well known professional numismatists and specialists in Colonial and Early American coins.

An 1861 Original Confederate Half Dollar, graded NGC PF 30 and pedigreed to Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States of America, sold for $881,250. Only four examples of this historically significant issue were struck.

Other important results came from the 1792 Judd-8 Pattern Half Disme, NGC AU 55, that sold for $824,850 and the 1792 Judd-5 Pattern Birch Cent, NGC MS 61 BN, that realized $564,000. The latter is the finer of only two known examples of the Judd-5 Pattern.

“Heritage was honored to be chosen to sell the Partrick Collection. Because of the diverse rarities, it was a very difficult collection to grade, but NGC hit the mark. Bidder response resulted in record prices at the first Partrick auction on January 8,” says Jim Halperin, Co-Chairman of Heritage Auctions.

Heritage Auctions has planned future sales of the Donald G. Partrick Collection for the American Numismatic Association (ANA) conventions in 2015 and 2016 as well as the FUN convention in 2016. To view the complete results of Partrick Part I visit the Heritage Auctions website, HA.com.