Market Blog - Written by Doug Winter on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 13:14 - 7 Comments
The Garrett 1808 Quarter Eagle
I handled some very interesting coins at this year’s Boston ANA show. One of the ones that I thought was the most interesting was the Garrett specimen of the 1808 quarter eagle; a coin that was both very rare from a numismatic standpoint and historic from the standpoint of its pedigree.
The 1808 quarter eagle is a one-year type with a mintage of only 2,710. It is actually a less rare coin that other quarter eagles of this era but it is famous due to its status as a one-year type and, along with the 1796 No Stars, it is probably the most famous and desirable issue.
I would estimate that there are around 100-125 examples known in all grades. When available, the 1808 quarter eagle tends to be in lower grades and examples with nice, original coloration are really rare. There are a few very choice pieces known, the finest of which is the ex Dr. Judd coin owned by a Dallas family and graded MS65 by PCGS. The second finest is a PCGS MS63 that was most recently sold as Stack’s 11/08: 4176 (at $517,500). A few other Uncirculated pieces are known as well.
The Garrett 1808 quarter eagle has a great background. It was sold as Lot 742 in Bowers and Ruddy’s famous Garrett I auction, held in March 1980, where it was graded “Extremely Fine-40.” It sold for $30,000 which was a strong price for a circulated 1808 quarter eagle at the time. The Garrett family had obtained it from the collection of Dr. Edward Maris who was far more famous for his study of New Jersey copper coins than for his gold issues.
This coin next appears at auction as Bowers and Merena 10/04: 606 where it brought $80,500. It then sold for $94,875 as ANR 3/06: 1421. Two years later, it went for $103,500 as Lot 1894 in Heritage’s 2008 ANA sale. I purchased it at the ANA at a private sealed bid sale.
The Garrett 1808 quarter eagle is now owned by a specialist in early quarter eagles who appreciates its originality and pedigree. My thanks to him for allowing me to handle this wonderful coin and for being able to share it with you.
7 Comments
Doug,
Yes, great blog. You describe human nature, especially the part where a collector starts out tentative and then builds confidence to buy higher end coins. That pretty much sums up my relatively recent (six years) entry into the coin collecting hobby.
Another cost of churn is state sales/use tax. Yes, I live in one of those states and yes, I am a good citizen and pay the tax – 5%. That makes it hard to want to sell anything, and so I create duplicates when I have had the opportunity to make geniune upgrades, such as the one you describe with the AU55 1854-D quarter eagle. So, this behavior ends up developing a pretty interesting shadow set. What to do?
Another topic: how long does a coin have to be held to be considered “fresh” when it returns to the market? 10 years, 20 years? Longer? In other words, what should be a serious collector’s time horizon, assuming it is not forever? I don’t want to leave it to my heirs to sell my collection, as I think that would be irresponsible. They don’t know what I know about the collection and the market. On the other hand, I don’t have any need or desire to sell any time within the next decade. Hopefully, anyways.
I find it interesting that we collectors are always trying to build a “set”, that consists of all the dates of something. Why is that? I am certainly in that camp, and yet when you step back, you ask yourself, “why has it evolved that way?” Yes, there is a certain pride in becoming a specialist. Plus, this is what builds confidence. Hopefully, this element of human nature will still exist when it is time to sell. Otherwise, these little piece of metal have a whole lot less value. That also means that you need to live foreever, Doug. We are counting on you!
Final question, are all pedigrees pretty much already created? Or, are new pedigrees being created today, when we look back from the distant future? When will the next big pedigree collection come on the market in our rare, pre 20th century, gold coin space. How many are out there that are worthy of this distinction?
JL
Doug,
Another great reason to keep coming back to Rare Gold Coins! Recognized a number of familiar faces and really enjoyed meeting new ones!
What are your thoughts about including images of coins in client collections that you either previously sold @ RGC or bought as agent at auction? Perhaps you could put out a monthly call to your customers for a coin you previously handled, e.g. 1861-S $20, ask them to write to you describing the piece in their collection, then you select the one you’d like to image. Your description might include a backstory on where and how you and your client came to the piece.
Good luck!!
JR
Doug,
I have no concerns over the long term — there will always be a market. First of all: babyboomers will be around for another 20 or 30 years, so I am not too worried there. Second, there is the rest of the world. Folks in China and India love gold, and we have the most liquid, rational market in US gold coins. Third, there will also be more information while also greater scarcity in relation to demand. Fourth, these coins are getting older, and thus more exotic. Only issue is wealth – if there is no wealth creation, that could impact the market for any valued, scarce and non-renewable tangible asset (waterfront property, rare art, antiques and rare coins). So, if you have confidence in the global economy long term, then you are good to go in rare gold coins. Of course, you still have to follow Doug’s well-documented coin collecting rules.
JL
Doug,
Above all new technologies, and 2nd only to the internet sales, and websites with coins we can view, is the imaging available.
I wholeheartedly agree that the manner in which a coin can be imaged, and then produced on an internet/auction site is the best advance to date, for buying sight/unseen/seen by a great image.
I am a collector who, like many of my generation, collected coins in my youth but became inactive during my family and career-building years. When I returned to the endeavor a few years ago it was because of the internet. Local shows and dealers simply did not have the breadth of material that was easily found on the internet, even the internet of a few years ago. “I can get that for you” from a dealer was to me the same as buying sight unseen, so high quality online images were and are a must, as is dealer reputation. I’ve yet to be disappointed in a carefully researched purchase made via the internet.
Hi Doug,
These forgotten rare coins are the ones that I look for. They are truely rare coins that also offer in some cases even more history then the more valuable coins. What history does a 1911-D Quarter Eagle have? If one were to put this coin in the liberty head series, this piece would rank somewhere in the bottom third of overall rarity! If one were to put a 1920-S or 1930-s Eagle and put it in the liberty $10 series, these coins would not even rank in the top 20 rarest eagles! Both coins pops are 100 and 200 by both major grading services. I do believe the bubble will break with these coins!
Come to Georgia for the next big coin show….we miss ya here!
Larry Jackson
Several of the above comments hint at the globalization of numismatics. There almost assuredly will be more millionaires worldwide and all art, of which numismatics is just one form, should benefit over the long term. One possibly negative factor for the U.S. market is how relatively overvalued U.S. material is compared to numismatic material from many other countries. I suspect that non-U.S. material might have a relatively brighter future than U.S. material as the values balance. Coins, in fact all art forms, have been collected for thousands of years – beginning with ancient coins. There is no evidence that this is going to change. In fact, there is the possibility that global interest might accelerate as the population of the world becomes more affluent. When looked at globally, all of numismatics should have a long term bright future
Mark Kaplin
JL Riddell - Aug 17, 2010 06:22 pm