Press Releases

In the firms third collaboration with the United States Mint, Stacks Bowers Galleries has again made numismatic history with their sale of the Historic 230th Anniversary Flowing Hair High Relief Gold Coins featuring the 230 Privy Mark. The entire mintage of 230 pieces was consigned to the December 12, 2024 sale, and after several hours of intense bidding action, the prices realized totaled $8,230,000.

Stacks Bowers Galleries presented its highly anticipated November 2024 Showcase Auction, in which incredibly fresh anchor collections saw intense bidding as many rarities set new price records. The offerings ranged from the earliest years of the colonial era to the most recent U.S. Mint issues, as well as United States currency and physical cryptocurrencies something for every taste and budget. Across ten live and internet-only sessions, the November Showcase Auction realized an impressive total in excess of $30 million; the Rarities Night session alone realized an astonishing $15,334,140 (all prices include the buyers fee). Record prices were led by the newly discovered New England Threepence, unique in private hands, which realized $2,520,000, the finest PCGS-graded 1870-CC double eagle that sold for $1,440,000 and one of the finest known Baldwin Horseman $10s that brought $1,260,000.

In January 1986, a brand new Cadillac El Dorado cost $24,251, or $1,150 more than coin collector Bernard Richards paid for an 1870-CC $20 gold coin in a Stacks Rare Coins auction that month. Today, successor firm Stacks Bowers Galleries sold the same coin for $1,440,000, a robust annualized return on his investment of 11.49%. The Cadillac coupe is worth about $3,600 today.

The Spanish word vaquero, meaning cowboy, inspired the English slang buckaroo. A very rare coin whose design was inspired by a famous depiction of cowboys in Mexican California just sold for more than one million buckaroos in a California auction presented by specialty rare coin firm Stacks Bowers Galleries of Costa Mesa.

In what can be considered one of this centurys most exciting discoveries in Canadian numismatics, a previously unknown Dominion of Canada 1870 $2 banknote issued in Victoria, British Columbia, has surfaced. Long thought to not exist, this note is an extraordinary rarity. Only 24,000 $2 notes were printed for Victoriaa fraction of the 764,000 issued in Montreal and the 728,000 produced in Toronto. The other denomination issued in Victoria, the $1, is also extremely rare, with just three examples known, one of which is permanently impounded in the National Currency Collection of the Bank of Canada. Even the National Currency Collection lacks an example of the 1870 $2 issued in Victoria; none has ever been seen or even rumored to exist, until now. Stacks Bowers Galleries is proud to present this world-class rarity in their first exclusive Canadian Collectors Choice Online Auction, to be held on January 28, 2025.

Stacks Bowers Galleries is proud to announce the results of its November 2024 Rarities Night Auction. Incredible collections that had been off the market for decades anchored the sale, and bidders responded with enthusiasm, showing the continued strength of the rare coin market. Featuring 301 lots, the session realized an astonishing $15,334,140 (all prices include the buyers premium).

A small silver coin about the size of a nickel, struck in Boston in 1652, set a world record today in an auction conducted by Stacks Bowers Galleries, the world leader in auctions of rare early American coins and currency. Selling for $2,520,000 (with all included fees), the piece surpassed the previous world record price of $646,250 for an American coin struck before the American Revolution by nearly $2 million. The 1652 Massachusetts threepence also set a record for any non-gold U.S. coin struck before the founding of the United States Mint. Weighing just 1.1 grams, its silver value is $1.03 based on todays market.

Stacks Bowers Galleries is honored to announce that they have once again been awarded a contract from the United States Mint to auction an exciting selection of modern rarities. Presented in a stand-alone auction on Thursday, December 12, 2024, will be a special offering of 2024 Flowing Hair High Relief Gold coins struck to commemorate the 230th anniversary of Americas first silver dollarthe 1794 Flowing Hair dollar. These exciting gold coins serve as a faithful homage to the original dollar, featuring obverse and reverse designs re-sculpted by Mint medallic artists.

Stacks Bowers Galleries is thrilled to announce the Physical Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency session of their November 2024 Showcase Auction. Presented on Friday, November 22 will be more than 100 exciting crypto lots that span from the classic Casascius and Lealana rarities of the early 2011-2014 period, to more modern collector favorites from the BTCC, Kialara, Alpen Coin, Denarium,1HoDLCLUB, Satori, Polymerbit, Caribbean Treasures, and other series. In total, this offering represents a current face value of nearly $1 million.

Stacks Bowers Galleries will once again make numismatic history when they present a newly discovered 1881-O Branch Mint Proof Morgan dollar in their November 2024 Showcase Auction. Featured as part of the incredible Darrel O. Neidigh, Jr. Collection, this piece, long off the market and previously unknown to the modern numismatic community, was just recently graded by PCGS as Proof-64 and verified by both CAC and CMQ. It represents an incredible prize for advanced collectors of key-date Morgan dollars and 19th century Proof coinage.