The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 23, June 10, 2007, Article 23

WALTER HUSAK LARGE CENT COLLECTION TO BE SOLD BY HERITAGE

Alan V. Weinberg writes: "Walter Husak, large cent collector 
extraordinaire of Burbank and Solvang, CA, has consigned his 
magnificent Sheldon-numbered early large cent collection to 
Heritage Auctions of Dallas for a two night auction scheduled 
for the February 2008 Long Beach, CA show. 

"It is the 3rd finest early large cent collection ever formed 
in American numismatic history, surpassed only by the R.E. "Ted" 
Naftzger collection and the Dr. William H. Sheldon collection, 
the latter of which was riddled with coins of questionable origin. 
Those two collections were dispersed by private treaty, so this 
will be the finest public auction sale of American early large cents.

"There are, in the collection, 292 of the 295 known Sheldon 
numbered varieties of large cents 1793-1814 along with a number 
of Non-Collectible varieties. The condition, across the board, is 
superb with many finest knowns or high condition census pieces. 
The collection has been, from time to time, exhibited by the outgoing 
owner, at EAC and Long Beach shows and was exhibited in its entirety 
last week at this June's Long Beach show at the Heritage bourse 
booth before Heritage wrapped up the collection and transported it 
to Dallas for cataloguing. 

"The cataloguing will be done by Heritage staff cataloguer Mark 
Borckardt and Florida's well-known large cent expert Denis Loring. 
The coins will be slabbed by PCGS before the auction, probably 
around this August. At the present, all coins are raw as this is 
the preference of Walt and most early copper connoisseurs. But, 
truthfully, slabbing protects the coins in transit, exhibition 
and lot examination and will appeal to the so-called 'Registry 
Set' collectors. 

"The catalogue, as planned, will give the PCGS 'slab grade' and 
the EAC census grade. The photography of the coins is still undecided 
- Walt is a magnificent large cent photographer and has photographed 
all his coins. There is talk that Heritage might want to photograph 
the coins after they are slabbed and these pictures would be used 
in the auction catalogue. But it seems to Walt and me that his raw 
coin photography cannot be surpassed in quality. So a decision on 
the catalogue photography is still up in the air.

"A decision also has to be made as to whether the large cents will 
be encased in the new three-pronged slab device which will allow 
examination of the early coppers' rims, often lettered or ornamented 
and so important to large cent collectors. 

"There are slightly over 300 large cents in the collection and the 
catalogue, as foreseen, will have over 400 pages with some important 
coins occupying as many as 1 1/2 to 2 pages. A special bound edition 
will be created and should be of paramount importance in any 
numismatic library.

"When asked why Walt, still young and healthy at 67, was going to 
auction his collection, he responded that he'd 'hit a wall'. There 
were only about five coins he still needed and they were unobtainable 
in long term collectors' or institutional hands. So he could no 
longer add to or markedly improve the collection.

"The coins will be on exhibit at the August Milwaukee ANA, the 
September Long Beach show and the January 2008 FUN Orlando show 
before being seen and auctioned finally at the February 2008 Long 
Beach show.

"I am very familiar with Walt's large cents and have examined them 
over time and at the Long Beach show. The quality and visual 
appearance of the coins is astounding. Surfaces, strike and color 
are uniformly superb. They are an early copper collector's dream 
and the opportunity to bid on and buy, or even just examine, these 
coppers is a distinct pleasure. You never tire of it."

[Many thanks to Alan for his write-up on the collection. It's 
appearing here a week late because of my travel last weekend. 
We'll be looking forward to the catalogue! -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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