Next up will be Newman sale #9, featuring an array of great U.S. coins, including an original Confederate cent and half dollar. Here's the Heritage announcement from their
October 10, 2017 Coin News email. -Editor
 We are pleased to announce our ninth presentation of selections from the incomparable Eric P. Newman Collection. Both currency and U.S. coins from the Eric P. Newman Collection highlight
Day One of our three-day Signature Auction, to be held November 1-3 at Heritage's World Headquarters at 3500 Maple Avenue in Dallas.
Currency items start the day on Wednesday, November 1, while U.S. coins follow in the evening session. As always, the scope, quality, and numismatic significance of the Eric P. Newman Collection
is on full display. Most of the coins are making their first appearance at auction in nearly 70 years, and some pieces have never before been offered in a public sale.
Such is the case with the 1861 Original Confederate half dollar , which headlines our Dallas event as lot 15125. It is in its first public appearance, having traded hands only by private treaty
among some of the finest collections of all time, including the "Colonel" Green Estate, from which it was acquired by B.G. Johnson and Eric P. Newman. Graded PR40 NGC with CAC endorsement,
it is one of just four pieces struck (three available to private collectors) and one of the greatest rarities in all of numismatics. Arguably, an Original Confederate half dollar is even rarer and of
greater historic significance than a 1913 Liberty Head nickel (as Mr. Newman knows, having owned all five of the 1913 nickels at one time).
Other important coins in the Dallas event include many rare and memorable Colonials, high-value early copper and silver type, and elusive Territorial Gold pieces. A large number of lots will be
offered in the online Signature Internet Session to be held on Friday, November 3. There, they present a wonderful opportunity for collectors of all budgets to obtain coins with the prestigious Eric
P. Newman pedigree.
Highlights of this offering include coins such as these:
- Undated New Yorke Token, Brass, W-1705, R.6 VF35 NGC
- 1737 Higley Copper, CONNECTICVT, Freidus 1.3-A, W-8215, R.7, Fine 15 NGC
- 1793 1C Chain, AMERI., S-1, B-1, XF45 NGC. CAC
- 1792 Half Disme, Judd-7, Pollock-7, XF40 NGC. CAC
- 1796 25C B-1, MS64+ NGC. CAC
- 1797 50C O-102, T-2, AU55 NGC.
- 1796 Draped Bust Dollar, Large Date, Small Letters, B-5, BB-65, MS63 NGC
- 1796 $2 1/2 No Stars on Obverse, BD-2, AU55 NGC
- 1795 $5 Small Eagle, BD-3, MS64 NGC. CAC
- 1861 Confederate States of America Cent, Original, B-8005, PR63+ NGC. CAC
As in the previous auctions, items sold are from the extensive collection of Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society (a Missouri not-for-profit corporation), which has been assembled over a
period of 90 years. Proceeds of the sale of all items will be used exclusively for supplementing the Society's museum operations and scholarly numismatic research efforts and for the benefit of
other not-for-profit institutions selected by Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society for public purposes.
This auction will open for bidding soon at
www.HA.com/coins.
To read the complete issue, see:
October 10, 2017
(https://coins.ha.com/heritage-auctions-newsletter/coin-news-eric-p.-newman-auction-part-ix-opens-for-bidding-soon.s?id=5388)
Follow the links to see all the highlighted lots. Here are two that particularly caught my eye. -Editor
Lot 15102: 1795 BD-3 Small Eagle Five Dollar
 
Half eagles were the inaugural gold coinage of the United States Mint, the first delivery from the Coiner occurring in July 1795. During the remainder of the year and likely leading into the first
deliveries of 1796, the Mint used eight obverse and nine reverse dies to strike 1795-dated half eagles. A combined 12 different die varieties were created.
Early numismatists such as John C. Randall, William H. Woodin, and Edgar Adams studied half eagle die varieties as early as the 1880s. Randall's collection (W. Elliot Woodward, 6/1885)
included seven different 1795 Small Eagle die combinations. In the preface to the catalog, Woodward wrote:
"The silver Dollars, Half Dollars and Quarters, and the early gold represent nearly every known die and combination of dies. In this respect the collection is in the first rank, and it may be
said 'it is first, and there is no second.'"
Randall was a mentor to Woodin in studying early half eagles by die variety. Woodin's half eagle exhibit at the 1914 ANS Exhibition included 11 different die combinations of the 1795 Small
Eagle; the variety not represented was BD-11, of which only 3-5 pieces are known today. The early half eagle variety studies of Woodin and Adams were influential in shaping the acclaimed die and die
state analysis performed by Harry W. Bass, Jr., which is presented in detail in John Dannreuther's reference Early U.S. Gold Coin Varieties (2006).
To read the complete lot description, see:
1795 $5 Small Eagle, BD-3, High
R.3, MS64 NGC. CAC.... (https://coins.ha.com/itm/early-half-eagles/1795-5-small-eagle-bd-3-high-r3-ms64-ngc-cac/a/1260-15102.s?ctrack=200071&type=around1-1-coin--news--tem101017)
Lot 15124: Confederate States of America Cent
 
Design and Striking of the Confederate Cent
No official documentation on the striking of the Confederate cents has ever come to light, and we have only second-hand testimony about their creation from the man who actually struck the coins.
Fortunately, much has been learned from contemporary numismatic accounts and the evidence of the coins themselves. It seems that in the short window of time between the secession of South Carolina in
December 1860, and the beginning of actual hostilities, Philadelphia die sinker Robert Lovett received a commission from Southern sympathizers to produce a design for a Confederate cent. The
commission may have come through the jewelry firm of Bailey & Co., or Lovett may have conceived the project on his own, as his work was well-known in the South. In any case, he proceeded to cut the
dies and strike a small number of specimens for demonstration purposes in the early part of 1861.
The obverse die features a bust of Liberty, wearing a Phrygian cap with a band of six stars in the center, with the legend CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA around, and the date below. The bust is
from the same punch used on a store card Lovett issued the year before, making it easy for contemporary numismatists to identify the design as Lovett's work. The reverse includes the denomination
in the center, surrounded by a wreath of agricultural products from the South, with a prominent cotton bale at the bottom. Lovett's initial "L" is inscribed on the lower right portion
of the bale. The coins were supposedly struck on copper-nickel planchets, but the exact composition has recently been questioned by some researchers who doubt such planchets were available at the
time.
To read the complete lot description, see:
1861 1C Confederate States of America Cent,
Original, B-8005, PR63+ NGC. CAC. ... (https://coins.ha.com/itm/confederate-states-of-america/1861-1c-confederate-states-of-america-cent-original-b-8005-pr63-ngc-cac/a/1260-15124.s)
Wayne Homren, Editor
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