HARVEY STACK'S NUMISMATIC FAMILY, PART 17

With the sale of the Davis Graves cabinet successfully concluded, the firm went "full speed ahead" to catalog the Anderson Dupont Collection.

The Anderson Dupont Collection of United States copper, nickel and silver coins was one of the most comprehensive collections of U.S. silver and copper coins to be offered on the auction market for years. At first, the U.S. gold in the Anderson Dupont Collection was not scheduled to be in the sale (this will be explained later).

The collection was of extreme size and reflected an attempt by the collector to encompass the earliest dates of our Mint until the mid 1930s. It contained varieties and rare dates, in nice circulated condition, Mint State and Proof.

The first part of the Anderson Dupont Collection contained United States large cents. The collection presented 1,000 dates and varieties from 1793 to 1857. It contained many high quality and rare examples, explaining why Dr. William Sheldon was willing to catalog it. This collection alone provided much information as to rarity and quality. To me, working directly with Dr. Sheldon and his helper C. Douglas Smith was a college course on grading cents and identifying varieties. The Anderson Dupont Collection contained coins that were acquired from collections that had been sold over the previous 50 years or more. These coins had not previously been available for study.

To give an idea as to the scope of the collection there were 19 cents of the 1793 Chain and Wreath types, 75 cents dated 1794, and a total of 344 dates and varieties from 1795 to 1814 and followed by 784 later dates of the 1816 through 1857 range. Many were of Condition Census quality and others were among the best known of certain varieties with a large number in Mint State or Proof.

The large cent portion of the Anderson Dupont Collection was sold in September 1954. Dr. Sheldon did a fine job of cataloging the coins, and our photographer Sam Andre did a great job in capturing the details of the coins. We had a large group illustrated on full page photo plates within the catalog. Once Dr. Sheldon revealed in detail what was forthcoming in the offering, excitement developed rapidly within the huge community of cent collectors. In fact, some established cent collectors tried to make plans to determine who would "win" many of the lots. We needed extra time and people to show lots, as well as time to discuss some of the new information that appeared in the auction catalog. The catalog quickly became a new reference book.

The evening the large cents were offered, the auction room filled up quickly with some 300 seated collectors and standing room only for the balance of those attending. It was noted by me (I was to be a "spotter" for my uncle, who was the auctioneer) that an unfamiliar but lovely lady came into the room and seated herself next to the side door to the auction room. Before the sale started, my secretary came running over to me, said that the young lady was to be bidding with the initials D.N. -- we used initials at the time not bidder numbers -- and told me that she had left a substantial deposit and was planning to bid on a number of the cents. Wow, a new bidder, unknown to anyone, could only add to the great competition we were anticipating.

When the sale started, Dr. Sheldon sat on the side aisle with some dozen or more collectors near him. When the bidding started, Dr. Sheldon seemed to orchestrate the bidding, and his side of the room bid to a certain level and then stop. The auctioneer was still looking for more bids. It seemed that at a certain level only one bidder from the Sheldon group was bidding. Suddenly from the other side of the room "D.N" bid, and continued bidding until the Sheldon side stopped. She won the lot and did the same thing on a number of the 1793 cents. As we got to the extensive group of 1794 cents, she selected certain scarce or choice examples and topped the other bidders. Any plans that the group of collectors sitting with Dr. Sheldon had made with each other were foiled and each was on his own against the mystery lady. The combination of the quality of the material and a "wild card" bidder led to record-making prices in both sessions. Those of us in the room were able to see history being made.

To read the complete article, see:
Harvey Stack Remembers: Growing up in a Numismatic Family, Part 17 May 2, 2018 (http://www.stacksbowers.com/News/Pages/Blogs.aspx?ArticleID=2948)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
HARVEY STACK'S NUMISMATIC FAMILY, PART 16 (http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n16a27.html)

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