NumisMedia Market Report: Battle Born CC Collection to Highlight Stack’s Bowers ANA Sale

The acquisition of many of the coins out of the Battle Born Collection will be akin to buying an 1804 Dollar, at least very close. It almost does not matter whether the coin is the highest grade for the date, the importance will be that it is part of the pedigreed Battle Born Collection. Granted, there are at least 50 finest known or tied for finest known coins in this fantastic sale, but the allure goes far beyond rarity. Carson City coins represent the history of how the West was developed in the mid to late 1800’s. This is the type of sale that will attract all types of collectors, not just numismatists.

Rusty Goe, the preeminent authority on Carson City coins, assembled the collection for an anonymous collector. This is only the second time in history that all 111 Carson City coins, both Gold and Silver, have appeared in a single collection. The first time was from the collection of the legendary Louis E. Eliasberg Sr. Nonetheless, the Battle Born Collection is the finest of the two which include 20 finest known coins and 30 coins that are tied for the finest known. This will surely create some price records for many of these special coins. The following is a list of some of the more formidable coins in this sale along with the current FMV where available. In some cases, a current price is not available (N/A) for specific grades due to a lack of legitimate trading information.

As you can see there are six coins listed above without an FMV. There are many others in this sale also without a current FMV. Many of these coins are so rare that they have not traded in the last several decades. The populations for the most part are just one at NGC or PCGS with none higher. The 1870 CC $5 Gold in MS61 is one of only three coins certified in Mint State. NGC has certified one coin in MS62. The sale of this MS61 could attract the MS62 into the market. The 1871 CC $20 Gold in MS64 is an NGC and the only one certified at either service in this grade. There are a total of only five other Mint State coins certified in MS60 and MS61, all by NGC. When you consider that the original mintage of this coin was only 17,387 and most were either circulated or melted, it is almost unthinkable that there could be one grading any higher. The current FMV is a result of a very old sale and dealers expect it to command lots of attention.

As for the 1873 CC Seated Dime No Arrows in MS65, while many of the other coins are unique by grade, this coin is simply unique. It is the only known survivor of an original mintage of 12,400 coins minted. The long history behind it took many turns in the road. From its initial public sale in 1878 until now, much of the history is hearsay with several different owners that can only be speculated upon. Rusty Goe has documented much of the pedigree for this coin and recent fact shows that it came out of the Louis E Eliasberg Sr. Collection and will soon be housed in another great collection. The FMV of $1,125,000 for this coin is well over ten years old and any serious collector of Carson City coins will certainly have to pay a very strong price if they want to add it to their collection.

Normally we don’t get too excited about the prices realized from an auction, but this sale will provide us with many updates and some new prices for these Carson City coins. In addition, some of these coins are likely to set records that will astound the numismatic community.

This article is a guest article written by:

The thoughts and opinions in the piece are those of their author and are not necessarily the thoughts of the Certified Collectibles Group.