Table Of ContentLiberty Seated
The E-Gobrecht Collectors Club
2011 Volume7,Issue4
TheElectronicNewsletteroftheLIBERTYSEATEDCOLLECTORSCLUB
April2011(Whole#75)
BBoossttoonn BBaayy SSttaattee SShhooww -- AuctionNews 2
byJimGray
LLSSCCCC MMeeeettiinngg WWrraapp--uupp!! UpcomingSeated
Events 2
by Dennis Fortier, LSCC # 2016 TheE-GobrechtChat
RoomandSocial 3-6
Club
I’m just backfrom theMarch26,2011 BostonBayStateshow as Iwritethis. byPaulKluth
Wow! JohnFrost,ToddMazzola,and Ihad a great time. First, Ihavetothank
RegionalNews 7
JohnandToddforall theirhelpandsupport. The LSCC effort wouldnot have byGerryFortin
beenanywherenearas successful or as muchfun without them. Next Ihaveto
TheBudgetCollec-
thankEdAleoofthe BayStateCoinShowforall his helpandsupport. He gave
tor: 8,
us all thetools weneededtohaveasuccessful exhibit andmeeting. TwelfthinaSeries 10
byLenAugsburger
Toddand Igot together andhadaniceselectionof LibertySeatedhalf
QuarteroftheMonth 9,
dollars forattendees toadmire,as well as the collectivevolumes ofTheGo- byGregJohnson 10
brecht Journal toshowjust howmuchknowledgeis sharedwithintheclub.
PCGSnowattribut-
Johnjoinedus onSaturdayandbrought some great selections ofall the Liberty
ingLibertySeated 11
Seateddenominations. From aGobrecht Dollarto manykeyCarson Cityis- HalfDollarsbyWB-
sues; Johnalso brought his recent acquisitionthe1844Proof-40 LibertySeated 100seriesnumbers
Dollar(only12known)that was writtenuprecentlyintheE-Gobrecht. LSCCBayState 11
Showmeetingexhibit
Duringthetwodayexhibit wesignedup fivenew clubmembers, a great
LibertySeatedCoin-
success andtheclubowes it all toJohn,Todd,andGerryforall helpandsup-
ageByTheNumbers 12
port. Oneofthenewmembers runs theManchester,NewHampshire coin show byDennisFortier
(July28-31)andhas invitedthe LSCC toexhibit andhavearegional meeting.
LibertySeatedDimes
JohnFrost has graciouslyvolunteeredtotake chargeoftheManchester effort as InvestmentPerform- 13–
Iwill not beabletobethere. Thanks John. ance,1973- 2010 16
byGerryFortin
Wehadatotal ofeleven guests andmembers at themeeting. Gerryput
LSCCRegionalMeet-
togethera great presentationon LibertySeatedDimes Investment Performance ing:Baltimore,MD, 17
1973-2010which Ipresentedinhis stead[featuredonpages 13-16inthis issue April1,2011
for all toenjoy,Ed]. It was well receivedbythemembers and guests at the SubscriberCorre- 18
meeting. Thanks Gerry. spondence
Advertisements 19
I’m reallylookingforwardtoPhiladelphiainthefall, Ihopetosee you
all there. [SeeBaySateexhibit photos onpage11,Ed.] Clubinformation 20
TheE-GobrechtisatwiceawardwinningelectronicpublicationoftheLibertySeatedCollectorsClub(LSCC). The
LSCCisanon-profitorganizationdedicatedtotheattributionsoftheLibertySeatedCoinseries. TheLSCCprovides
theinformationcontainedinthisemailnewsletterfromvarioussourcesfreeofchargeasageneralservicetothe
membershipandotherswiththisnumismaticinterest. YoudonothavetobeaLSCCmembertobenefitfromthis
newsletter;subscriptiontotheE-Gobrechtisavailabletoanyone. Alldisclaimersareineffectasthecompleteness
and/oraccuracyoftheinformationcontainedhereincannotbecompletelyverified. Contactinformationisincludedat
theend.
Page2 The E-Gobrecht
Auction News
by Jim Gray, LSCC #664
TheHeritage SacramentoSale 1873-CC withVFdetails, but cleaned,still managed
featuredanoriginal 1846 half $6,900.
dimeinVF25for$1,725. Anatural gray1870-CC halfinVF30went
Anoriginal 1846dime forastrong$8,338. An 1872-CC inF15andan
inVF30soldfor$1,380. Anice 1878-CC inVG8andchoiceforthe grade realized
1864-S dimeinMS62went for $633and$1,265,respectively.
$1,955. An1866dimeinMS63andasplendid1867 Alight gray1855dollarinAU50sold
dimeinMS67hammeredfor$1,610and$5,319,re- for$4,025,whilea cleaned1871-CC inF12still sold
spectively. Awell struck,lightlytoned1871-CC in for$4,600.
AU50soaredto$21,850, whilean1885-S inVG8 Anatural gray1878-CC tradedollarinXF45
andniceforthe gradehit $1,035. went toahappybuyerfor$4,025.
Two1842-Osmall datequarters inG4 and Most ofthesecoins hada notetomakean
F15realized$690and$2,520,respectively. An offertotheownerso apparentlysomeoneis buying
1851-OinF12andniceforthegradewent for$920. betterdateSeatedcoins withthepurposeofselling
An1862-S inMS61thatwas well struck andlightly them forahigherprice.
tonedsoldfor$4,600. An1867withdarktoningin
XF45hammeredfor$1,840,whileanoriginal gray [Note: TheStack’s Bowers BaltimoreSaleresults
1869-S inXF40hit $1,265. Abeautiful 1872-S in will beincludedinnext month’s AuctionNews.]
XF45withalbum toningsoaredto$9,200,whilean
Upcoming Seated Events
LSCC meetings
Central States NumismaticSocietyConvention,Rosemont, IL,April 29,9:00A.M., Room 402.
Exhibit featuringthecomplete LibertySeatedDollarCollectionofMark andStevePetty. Pleasecontact
[email protected]
LongBeach Coin,Stamps, and Collectibles Expo, LongBeach,CA,June4, Details TBD. Please
contact CraigEberhart [email protected]
Summer FUN,Orlando, FL,July8,2011,details TBD. Contact Jason Feldmanformoredetails at
[email protected].
9th Annual Coin Expo,Manchester, NH,July30,2011, Details TBD.
LSCCAnnual Meeting,World's Fairof Money,ANAConvention,Chicago IL,August 19,9:00
A.M., Room TBD. Pleasecontact JohnMcCloskeyformoreinformationat
[email protected]
Whitman Coin and Collectibles Expo,Philadelphia,PA,September16,9:00A.M., Room TBD.
Pleasecontact Dennis Fortierformoreinformationat [email protected]
2011 Volume 7,Issue 4 (April 2011) Page3
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Page4 The E-Gobrecht
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2011 Volume 7,Issue 4 (April 2011) Page5
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Page6 The E-Gobrecht
2011 Volume 7,Issue 4 (April 2011) Page7
Regional News
by Gerry Fortin, LSCC #1054
Dear fellow LSCC members, regionandtheearlyJune LongBeachshow. Ac-
cordingtoCraigEberhart,an LSCC regional meet-
PriortowritingtheApril Re- ingis plannedforJune4but pleasecheckthe LSCC
gional News column, Iwas for- websiteforlast minuteupdates includingtimeand
tunatelytobevacationingin meetingroom information.
Floridawhich allowedmuch
neededdowntime. Oneactivityduringthequiet Summermonths brings clubmembers back
days was toreflect upon recent LSCC regional meet- toFloridafortheSummerFUNshowandaplanned
ingsuccesses and also tostudythelonglist of regional meetinginOrlandoonJuly8. Jason
plannedmeetings forthe balanceof2011. Feldmanwill becoordinatingmeetingdetails and a
potential displaytablewithYNfocus. LaterinJuly,
Clearlyour LSCC regional meetingprogram the LSCC is invitedtoholdaregional meetingat the
is gainingmomentum as weenterthesecondquarter 9thannual Manchester,NHCoinExpoheldonJuly
of2011. Ourclubstarted2011withawell attended 30. The LSCC meetingis apartnership effort with
TampaFUNregional meetingthanks toJason theBarberCollectorSocietywhichhas longhistory
Feldmanthen gainedmorepositivemomentum from at Manchestershow. PresentlyGerryFortinis
theefforts ofCraigEberhart andDick Osburnat the workingwithJohnFrost andshowpromoters for dis-
FebruaryLongBeachregional meeting. Just two playspace andfacilities foraclubmeeting. Imagine
weeks ago,theclubdemonstratedasolidlypositive havingasummervacationinMaineorNew Hamp-
outcomeat theBoston BayStateshowduetoprepa- shireandbeingabletoattendan LSCC regional
rations byDennis Fortier. Weareenrollingnew meetingonJuly30th? Wehopethenewvenue will
members again at regional meetings and Ifirmlybe- attract existingandnewclub members.
lievethat 2011endingLSCC membershiptotal will
behigherthanthat of2010. Oursuccess is tiedto August brings the annual LSCC meetingat
thecommitment andefforts oftheregional directors theANAConventiontobeheldinRosemont, ILon
(CraigEberhart,Dennis Forties, Jason Feldmanand August 19th. Ourclubpresident,JohnMcCloskey,
StevePetty)andtheongoingsupport from the club will againbehostingthis event. Alongwithan
officers. Idowish toexpress asincerethank you to LSCC annual clubupdate,theagendaincludes Hall
all responsiblefortransitioningaregional meeting ofFameinductee(s)announcements andpresentation
visionintoreality. oftheKam Ahwash awardforbest Gobrecht Journal
articleinlast threeissues. Wesincerelyhopethat
Nowlet’s examinewhat is instorefor LSCC clubmembers canattend this important meeting.
members duringthebalanceof2011. As this report
is beingwritten, LenAugsburgerand Bill Bugert are
at theWhitmanBaltimoreshowandpreparingfor
another LSCC trademark meeting. [Seemeetingre-
port onpage17,Ed.] AfterWhitmanis theCentral
States NumismaticSocietyregional meetingonApril
29whichwill behostedbyJohnMcCloskeyfol-
lowedbyaSeateddollar presentationbyStevePetty.
There areno LSCC meetings planned forMaybut
onceJunearrives, ourattentionshifts toCalifornia
Page8 The E-Gobrecht
The Budget Collector:
Seated Deals & Steals
Under a Hundred Dollars
TwelfthinaSeries
by Len Augsburger, LSCC #1271
DavidSklow’s auctionofnumismaticliteratureheld ity,whichis tosaytypicallynot verygood,andthese
inFebruaryincluded anitem ofgreat interest to areless valuablefrom aresearchpoint ofview.
seatedcollectors. Lot 972featuredKam Ahwash’s Thus, mycatalogcollectionis focusedontheperiod
personal copyofthe1975ANAauctionsalecatalog, from about 1980-2000,witholdercatalogs selec-
containingannotations inAhwash’s ownhand. Ah- tivelyacquiredas needed. Forthis period Ihave
wash, ofcourse,was the catalyst forthe foundingof fairlycompleteruns ofStack’s, Bowers, Superior,
the LSCC inthemid-1970s. We’ll get backtothat andotherauctionhouses.
inaminute,but first adigressionabout auctioncata-
logs in general. Alongwiththestandardreferences Backtothe Ahwash copyofthe1975ANA
(Gobrecht Journalcollectivevolumes, etc.),certain catalog. This catalogis most famouslyknownforits
auctioncatalogs arequite useful forcollectors of presentationof FlowingHair& Bust dollars, about
seatedcoinage. 250specimens collected byBolendervariety. In-
deed,26plates aloneare dedicatedtothese earlydol-
TheEliasbergcatalogs (Bowers &Merena, lars. Kam seems tohave not takenpaidmuchatten-
1996and1997)inparticulararethefirst Irecom- tiontothem,evenignoringthetwo1794s, andfo-
mend. Youmaynot collect theuber-highpowered cusingratheronseated coinagefrom halfdimes
seatedcoinagefeaturedtherein,but that’s not the throughhalfdollars. Iam sorrytosaythat healso
important thingabout this catalog. Bowers made a tookquiteafewnotes on theMorgans as well. Mor-
special effort tocarefullyresearcheverythinginthe gans boreme,but Iguess when youareacoindealer
collection,andthecomments onseatedcoinage youhavetodowhat coin dealers do.
foundintheEliasbergcatalogs areavaluabledistil-
lationofinformationfrom theGobrecht Journaland Thecataloggives us someviewofcoinde-
othersources. scriptions inuseat thetime. Forthemost part only
three grades areassigned bythe cataloguer –55,60,
Beginningaround2000, most auctions or65. Kam’s annotations gradedseveral ofthelots
houses beganputtingcatalogs onthe Internet, and by “60+,”or “60++,” givingsomehint oftheintermedi-
andlargethesecanbeaccessedviavarious websites. ateMS grades tocomein thefuture. Formarks,
Thus, I’vedonatedmanyofmymorerecent catalogs Kam usedtheword “dings,”hardlyadiplomatic
totherecyclingbin,as mybasement is alreadytoo term. Iguess that all depends onwhether you are a
full ofnumismaticliterature. Anothersolutioncame buyeroraseller. Aseller’s “fieldmark”or “tiny
from thelateJim O’Donnell,wholivedformany nick”oftenturns intoa“gouge”or“deeppit”when
years inastudioapartment inNewYork. Jim re- youarethebuyer! Kam describedtoningas
latedthat hewouldsimplytearout thepages which “tarnish,”whichtome comes offas abit pejorative,
listedcoins ofinterest,forfuturereference. perhaps anodtothepreferenceforblast-whitecoin-
agewhichwas invogue at thetime.
Oldercatalogs haveplates ofvaryingqual-
(Continuedonpage10)
2011 Volume 7,Issue 4 (April 2011) Page9
Quarter of the Month
by Greg Johnson, LSCC #1460
Thepast twomonths’columns havefocusedonthetransitionfrom Type ItoType II
LibertySeatedquarterdies duringthe1859 –1865timeperiod. This month’s discus-
sionwill concludethat topicwithafocus onthetworarest issues from the Philadelphia
mint duringthat period; thefirst Type II/IIquartermintedin1859andthelast Philadel-
phiaquartertousetheType Ireversein1861.
The1859Type II/IIis ararecointhat is seldom available. SinceHeritagebeganarchivingphotos
ontheirwebsiteatotal of 74business strike1859quarters havebeenofferedforsale. Thesingle Type II/II
exampleamongthem was acleanedF12inaSEGS holdersoldduring1999. Thirteenexamples werere-
portedinthe1993 LSCC surveyandsevenwerereportedin2007,out ofa total of57and51examples of
1859quarters that were reportedin1993and2007,respectively. Personally, insearchingall the1859quar-
ters Icouldfindforover four years Ihaveseenthreeexamples oftheType II/II –one XF,oneAU,andone
MS62. Ifoundtwo examples within6months during2007 andthenwent morethanthree years before
findingathird example.
(1859Type IIObversequarterdollar) (1859Type IIReversequarterdollar)
The1861Type II/Iquarteris averyrarecoin,whichonenotedexpert has comparedtothe1853No
Arrows interms ofoverall rarityinall grades. It is evenmoreinterestingas averyrarevarietyof a very
commondate. SinceHeritagebegan archivingphotos ontheirwebsiteatotal of195business strike1861
quarters havebeenofferedforsale. Thesingle confirmedType II/Iexamplewas soldin1999andresides
inaSEGS XF40holder. Sevenofthe81examples ofthe1861reportedinthe1993surveywereType II/I;
fiveofthe57examples reportedinthe2007surveywereType II/I. Morethanfive years ofdiligent search-
inghas ledmeto estimatethat,contrarytowhat thesurveynumbers appeartoindicate,theType II/Irepre-
sents less thanonehalfofonepercent ofthe1861 quarters currentlyavailableinthemarketplace. The
(Continuedonpage10)
Page10 The E-Gobrecht
BudgetCollector(Continuedfrompage8) PCGS MS63holder,latelyresellinginJim Gray’s
collectionin2004for$80,500.
Kam’s technical eyeshines throughout. He
notes oftheuncirculated 1873-CC dime,“ClosedCC Finishingtherarities amongtheseatedcoin-
withdiebreakthrough‘CC’toright wreath. Full ageis an1859transition halfdime,ofwhichKam
headbut appears tobepolisheddiecrack(obv)from wrote“Dingbetween arm andhead. Striations on
last ‘S’in‘STATES’toleft shoulder.” This coin reverseandobverse.” This coingathered$7,250.
hammeredat $13,000, an extraordinarybargainin
today’s terms. It reappearedinthe Lovejoysale Kam seems not tohave useda“secret price
(Stack’s, 1990)and was donatedshortlythereafterto code”torecordhis plannedbids. Rather,hewrote
theAmerican NumismaticSocietywhereit resides thedollaramount directlynext totheauctionlot,
today,oneofthreeUncs known. Elsewhere,Kam probablynot thebest strategyif youhavea competi-
notes weakstrikes, dateandmintmarkplacement, torlookingover yourshoulder! The catalogincludes
diebreaks, striation,and polish, recut dates, etc. The aprices realizedlist,addressedtoAhwash inWal-
bulkofthecomments are foundforhalfdimes and lingford,PA. Inevermet Ahwash, but wehavehere
dimes, less so forlaterdenominations. Notable somewonderful insights intohowheapproached
amongthelatteris an1878-S halfdollar,ofwhich auctions, all transmittedthrough anoldauctioncata-
Kam wrote“Dings onhead,right field,arm &cheek. logthat for whateverreasonnevermadeit tothere-
60+.” Soldhere for$8,750,thecointodayis ina cyclingbin.
QuarteroftheMonth(Continuedfrompage9)
searchbeganwith18months offutility, followed byone exampleeach yearforthree years. Then,during
early2010,five examples appearedinthespaceofabout 3months, followedby9months before a single
additional examplewas offered. Thesearchhas includedEBaylistings, several majorshows per year,and
morethanadozendealer websites over aperiodcoveringmorethan5 years. Atotal of9examples were
locatedduringthat period. [This is] Aparticularlylownumberconsideringjust howubiquitous the1861is
as adate.
(1861Type IIObversequarterdollar) (1861Type IReversequarterdollar)
