2016-07-02 Sat

The American Numismatic Association 2016 Anaheim World’s Fair of Money will be held from August 9th to 13th, 2016. A 46-coin set, known as the Horseneck Collection of Type I Double Eagle U.S. $20 gold coins would be a major highlight at the sale. It took 14 years to make this set and it has an estimate value of $8 million. The set is being offered by Monaco Rare Coins of Newport Beach, California and an anonymous East Coast owner.

The owner of the set loved collecting coins from his early days and was intrigued by 1830s and 1840s era quarters and half dollars which were collected by his grandfather who served as a bank teller in the 1890s. The collection has the finest known Type I Double Eagles that were struck from 1850 to 1866. Many were made from California Gold Rush ore, and some were discovered from shipwrecks like the 1857 Central America; the 1865 Republic; and the 1865 Brother Jonathan. A 1854-O recovered from the Republic in 2003 is graded NGC AU-58.

The entire set has a very strong historical significance. The California Gold Rush minted these coins in times when the American borders were getting defined, the country’s economy was flourishing and finally when it was hit by a four year Civil War.