... to own part of a great collection of early copper

This Sunday, January 30, 2011, starting at noon Pacific time, Goldbergs will be auctioning off the fourth and final installment of the Dan Holmes collection of U.S. Large Cents, his "late dates".

The collection has at least one example of every die variety of late date large cent from 1840 to 1857, except the unique 1851 N-42, whose owner apparently has no intention to sell (see the catalog for a story...). So it is more complete than the Naftzger late dates were. Many varieties are represented by more than one die state. Many are condition census pieces - among the finest known of their varieties (or of die state if not in the overall variety census). For the most part, these coins are not as nice as the Naftzger coins, but they're still pretty good! There are also a few patterns and contemporary counterfeits. In all, there are 687 coin lots, plus a "super deluxe" copy of the catalog.

The average low estimate is $718. Only 89 lots have low estimates of $1000 or more. 443 lots have low estimates of $250 or less. Some are as low as $20 and are not awful coins. My point here is that collectors of every economic level have a chance to own part of this great collection.

Be advised that ~90% of these coins are not in slabs. In fact, many have been removed from slabs, which is not uncommon among nice coppers owned by members of Early American Coppers, of which Dan is a past president. But all the proofs are in PCGS holders, as are some of the mint state pieces.

Check out http://www.goldbergcoins.com/ to see the catalog. It is another wonderful bit of numismatic work put together by Bob Grellman. The descriptions are more informative than those in most other auction catalogs. They are also more trustworthy when it comes to describing the coins' flaws.

To all - Enjoy this and the other auction sessions associated with the upcoming Long Beach show, and good luck.

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