Auction Highlights

At PCGS, we are constantly keeping up with numismatic auction results, which serve as a sort of barometer for where the coin and banknote markets are heading. Granted, many times, these auction prices are outliers, but they provide the pricing team with insights into the nuances of the market, and they help collectors understand what some of the best coins and banknotes trade for. Here’s a look at three particularly stunning lots that recently crossed the block.

1888 Proof Set (13 Coins), All PCGS Graded

This set includes all 1888 proof coins ranging from the Indian Cent to the Liberty Head Double Eagle and has a provenance tracing all the way back to when it was originally purchased by John Robert Fletcher directly from the Philadelphia Mint. He paid $46 for the set before taking it to England. That’s where the set remained until earlier this year when it was consigned to GreatCollections. The set includes a terrific survey of proof coins from 1888, which include the Liberty Head Double Eagle (PCGS PR64+CAM), Liberty Head Eagle (PCGS PR64+CAM), Liberty Head Half Eagle (PCGS PR64CAM), Three-Dollar (PCGS PR65CAM), Liberty Head Quarter Eagle (PCGS PR65CAM), Gold Dollar (PCGS PR64CAM), Morgan Dollar (PCGS PR65), Liberty Seated Half Dollar (PCGS PR65), Liberty Seated Quarter (PCGS PR66), Liberty Seated Dime (PCGS PCGS PR65), Liberty Head Nickel (PCGS PR65), Three-Cent Nickel (PCGS PR64), Indian Cent (PCGS PR65RB). The set realized an astonishing $568,125 on May 21, 2023.

1841 Liberty Head Quarter Eagle, PCGS VF35 - Dubbed “Little Princess”

This is an intriguing, rare coin in any condition that seldom appears in the market. This issue, dubbed “Little Princess” since the 1950s, is an enigma. The 1841 Annual Report of the Director of the United States Mint makes no mention of the 1841 Quarter Eagles being struck at the Philadelphia Mint that year. However, examples have been known since the 1840s. What makes this issue even more puzzling is that a few proof examples are known, including several others with circulation-strike features believed to have been struck by the same proof dies. Regardless of the status of these coins, the 1841 Quarter Eagle is one of the most desirable and mysterious coins in numismatics. On July 20, 2023, Heritage Auctions offered a PCGS VF35 example that realized $150,000 at auction.

1934A $1,000 FR-2212G – Six Consecutive Banknotes

Six uncirculated $1,000 1934A notes from the Chicago District with consecutive serial numbers recently made a splash at auction. All banknotes have also been graded by PCGS with varying grades from Choice Uncirculated 63 to GEM Uncirculated 65PPQ. Not too often do collectors have an opportunity to find six different $1,000 banknotes offered in the same auction, much less the same lot and with consecutive serial numbers. This was definitely a special treat for collectors to see all these banknotes remain together for the better part of a century and be offered at auction as one lot. This group was offered at a Stack’s Bowers Galleries sale in August 2023, where the six-piece lot hammered for $66,000.