August 2012 | Vol. 1, No. 29

Famous 1796 No Stars $2.50 "Stars" At Our Philadelphia
ANA Sale. A Hard-Fought $402,500 Price Realized

By Frank Van Valen, Numismatist and Cataloger, U.S. Coins

It's difficult to be a stand-out in a star-studded auction sale such as our recent ANA World's Fair of Money event in Philadelphia, but lot 11174 from our ANA Rarities Night session, a Mint State 1796 No Stars quarter eagle, shined with a brilliance to match any of the other stars. Offered as part of the Werner Family Collection of 1796 Coinage, this PCGS-certified MS-61 quarter eagle left a memorable impression on the bidding audience.

Struck in two separate batches (one in September and one in December of 1796), the first of the quarter eagles appeared a year after the other two gold denominations of the era -- the 1795 $5 half eagle and $10 eagle -- were produced. Designed and engraved by Robert Scot, the 1796 quarter eagle with no stars on the obverse was produced in a very limited number of just 963 pieces; its appearance represents the first use of the Heraldic Eagle reverse in U.S. coinage. Later in December of 1796, after the production of No Stars quarter eagles had run its course, a new design type was produced, the famous and rare 1796 With Stars type, a design which remained in production through 1807. Both types of 1796 quarter eagle feature 16 reverse stars, one for every state of the Union at the time, including the newly admitted state of Tennessee. Read More

Asian Coins And Paper Money Score
Big Results In Hong Kong Auction!

By Todd McKenna, Numismatist

The Stack's Bowers and Ponterio August 2012 Hong Kong Auction has come to a close! Over four days of the past weekend we presented four sessions of the finest Asian coins and paper money to collectors of all types and interests. Here I would like to highlight some lots which garnered excellent bids, some of which I had written about previously but many standing out on their own merit.

First up is a "Birds Over Junk" Dollar (Lot 50201) tied for finest certified with a grade of NGC MS-66 which sold with a final bid at $16,730. The term interesting is not normally associated with the 1934 Sun Yat-sen Dollars, but Lot 50237 was an interesting pair of uniface copper trial strikings of such a dollar which brought a final bid of $7,170. Lot 50262 was a stunningly clear and beautiful 1916 Dollar graded PCGS MS-66 and to no surprise its beauty brought the bid up to $33,460. At the end of the Republic section under an unassuming listing was Lot 50271, a 1927 Chu Yu-pu Pattern Dollar graded PCGS SP-55 which shot up to $47,800. Read More

The Stacks Bowers Galleries Official Currency Sale
Of The ANA World's Fair Of Money A Hit

PCGS Grading Week In Paris, France

By Q. David Bowers, Chairman Emeritus

Very nice new entries into the field of silver art medals are the two issued by our company under the auspices of the Wildlife Conservation Society. This non-profit organization, based at the world famous Bronx Zoo, is deeply involved in the Bison Restoration Project. The two medals, each of .9999 silver, one weighing an ounce and the other a half-ounce, are a tribute to what we hope Congress will designate as the official United States mammal. Certainly the bison, popularly called the buffalo, is a pure American symbol. Show an image of one to a European, Asian, African, or anyone else, and the United States of America comes to mind. The medals are in beautiful deep mirror Proof finish. As soon as I complete this commentary I am going to order one each for my own collection.

In recent times I have been busy with Whitman Publishing Company in the writing of The American Bison: A National Treasure. Except for Buffalo nickels, minted from 1913 to 1938, the $10 1901 "Bison" note, and seeing a few animals at zoos, I did not know much about this creature – the largest wild mammal in North America. After delving into the subject I found they have a rich and illustrious history. Read More

By Jeff Lubinski

There's a reason that the United States started coining its own money early in its infancy. In the front of your Red Book you can read all about the history of early colonial trade, highlighted by the use of wampum as a medium of exchange. As the English recovered from civil war and disregarded the American colonies, the need for colonially coined money became evident.

The Massachusetts General Court authorized coinage in 1652 which led to the production of so-called New England (or NE, as it was stamped on to the coins) coinage, and later to Willow, Oak and Pine Tree coinage in a combination of efforts to battle counterfeiters and keep colonial coinage in line with similar circulating pieces from England. The General Assembly of New Jersey authorized the St. Patrick coppers (which Mark Newby, an immigrant from Dublin, Ireland in 1681) as legal tender in the colony. These coins featured a "decorative brass insert" which, according to the Red Book, was to help prevent counterfeiting. Read More