ERIC NEWMAN COLLECTION SALE II COVERAGE

Retired St. Louis lawyer Eric P. Newman auctioned his 1,800-piece coin collection during a two-day sale in New York City. The coins sold for $23 million, the Associated Press reports.

“It is a great honor for us to offer this collection,” Jim Halperin, co-chairman of Heritage Auctions, said in a statement. “Eric P. Newman is a titan of numismatics and one of the hobby’s greatest treasures.”

The coin collection was 90 years in the making. Newman, who is 102-years old, began collection in the 1930s and paid roughly $7,500 for it. The collection boasts rarities including a $10 gold coin from 1852 during the California Gold Rush. The coin, which has been graded a 68 on rarity on a scale of 1 to 70, is the only privately owned version of the $10 gold piece coin from the U.S. Assay Office.

To read the complete article, see: Eric Newman, 102-Year-Old Coin Collector, Sells 1,800 Piece Collection For $23 Million (www.ibtimes.com/eric-newman-102-year-old-coin-collector-sells-1800-piece-collection-23-million-photo-1474196)

Even London's Daily Mail covered the story, including images of several coins and Heritage's great portrait photo of Eric. In the words of comedian Billy Crystal impersonating Fernando Lamas, "Eric, you look mahvelous!" -Editor

To read the complete article, see: Rare US Coins Sell for $23M in auction - and it only cost the 102-year-old seller $7,500 (www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2509383/Rare-US-Coins-Sell-23M-auction--cost-seller-7-500.html)

The most amusing version (to me at, least) was this one from Eric's hometown St. Louis Business Journal which got the story right but accompanies it with a stock photo of pocket change captioned, "A rare collection of coins sold for $23 million in a New York City auction."

Below is an excerpt from a post-sale report by Legend Numismatics. -Editor

The recent Eric Newman auction was one of the most important auctions of past decade and we are here to discuss it. First we MUST thank Mr Eric Newman for allowing the numismatic world to share in ownership of these treasures. Its magnificent all the proceeds are going to charity. Thank you! Second, we say a "great job" to Heritage and Stuart Levine for all the work they did. Our only gripe: get a bigger auction room next time!

This sale not only had coins sell "beyond moon money" but had dozens of coin prices that were totally nuclear! We predicted it would be good old "shoot out" it was and then some. Its cool to watch bids just jump for $5,000.00 to $30,000.00 knowing there were several active bidders. The auction room was packed. The internet played hard. The buzz could not have been any stronger.

This auction certainly proved the rare coin market was MORE than alive and well. All through auction lot viewing we saw multiple major players we hadn't seen in a few years. They all said the same thing: this collection has incredible coins that are once in a lifetime opportunities. We fully agree. There was no question the dominant buyers in the sale were collectors. This should be expected. Only the sharpest and bravest of dealers tried to play for their own accounts.

To read the complete article, see: THE ERIC NEWMAN COLLECTION (www.legendcoin.com/cgi-bin/inventory/cms2.pl?page=market_report)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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