2018-02-02 Fri

To create a memorable offering, the Long Beach Expo is following the footsteps of the recent Heritage Auctions Fun Show that depicted specialized high-quality collections.

This year, the February 22-26 Long Beach Signature Heritage Auctions of US coins has no fewer than 11 featured collections. Combined with important coins from more than 200 individual consignors, our Long Beach plate is full — in fact, the large number of high-value coins expands our February 22 Premier floor session by two hours to accommodate 800 lots.

This is the most robust February Long Beach auction in recent years. While all 11 featured collections form the backbone of this event, three especially noteworthy collections are profiled here.

The Admiral Collection is one of the finest early eagle and Liberty Head ten collections ever assembled. It ranked among all-time great eagle collections including Eliasberg, Warren Miller, Harry W. Bass, and Dallas Bank.

The set is complete for all Guide Book varieties, excluding the rare 1798/7 variety with seven stars left, six stars right and the extremely rare 1804 restrike proof novodel Plain 4. Many coins from this important consignment derive from populations of 75 coins or fewer. Some pieces represent the absolute finest examples extant or the highest-graded coins ever offered at public auction.

Formed in the 1960s, the Property of a Lady is a stunning collection. The collection mainly focuses on silver coinage and includes early halves, early dollars, Bust, Seated, and Barber coinage, as well as Morgan dollars at the forefront. Most of the coins are wonderfully toned and original, and all have been absent from the market for 50+ years.

Proofs are included in the later series, including some dazzling Seated halves and Seated dollars, as well as Morgan dollar proofs.

From the circulation strikes, there is a Choice Fine 1796 half and an elusive high-grade 1921-S Walking Liberty half certified MS65 PCGS. Even some beautiful copper pieces are included. Gold is represented by key commemorative issues, including a resplendent five-piece Panama-Pacific set with original box that will be sold as separate lots during the Premier Session. The two $50 Pan-Pac gold pieces, each grade MS64 PCGS.

Over the last 25 years, Bust half enthusiast Chris Merrill and his son Jacob have assembled the Merrill Collection of U.S. half dollars.

Their PCGS Registry Set of Everyman Early Half Dollars (1794 – 1839) received recognition by PCGS in 2015 as a Platinum Award-Winning Set. The collection included all but five of the total 450 Bust Half die varieties by Overton number.

Merrill’s Complete Variety Set of Circulating Liberty Seated Half Dollars (1839 – 1891) is now the most complete PCGS Registry set, lacking only the prohibitively rare 1853-O No Arrows variety. Also, the Merrill U.S. Half dollar set from 1794 to 2017 is the most complete PCGS Registry Set in that challenging category. Most of Merrill’s half dollars were collected and certified by PCGS back in the 1990s, with hundreds of coins still housed in their original PCGS green label holders.