STACK'S BOWERS: STACK COLLECTION GOLD COINS

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V29 2026 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 29, Number 3, 2026, Article 24

Stack's Bowers will be selling the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection, Part II on February 3, 2026. Select Federal Gold Coin Highlights are discussed below. -Garrett

1824/1 Capped Head Left Quarter Eagle. BD-1. Rarity-5. MS-61 (PCGS). CMQ. A dramatic rarity in the early quarter eagle series, a remarkable Mint State survivor from a mintage of just 2,600 pieces. Both sides show splendid cartwheel luster over reflective fields, with a prooflike character that remained from the initial preparation of these dies throughout the duration of the short production run. Even light yellow gold surfaces show a faint light green hue, enriched by coppery toning on the central obverse device and around the obverse periphery. Trivial friction is seen, with some horizontal lines across the portrait and some abrasions in the obverse fields, but the circles of spinning luster remain unbroken and undimmed. The strike is well centered and firmly rendered, though the area of the central reverse device left of the shield shows its usual softness, caused by an alignment opposite the highest points of the obverse portrait. A few little abrasions are seen on the rim, including at 9 o'clock on the obverse and a tiny nick above U of UNITED on the reverse. Three pinprick marks around O of OF on the reverse are probably the best markers for provenance study, as few other contact marks are consequential enough to appear in a photograph. The freshness and visual appeal are unmatched at this grade level, as in-hand inspection will impress upon those interested. Free of abuse or damage inflicted during its useful life as a coin or during its far longer career as a collectible, this piece offers outstanding value for an early gold connoisseur.

It's been a remarkable nine years since we've sold an 1824 quarter eagle. The last, a PCGS AU-58, sold in our auction of March 2017. We have not offered a Mint State example since the September 2015 Pogue II sale, when a PCGS MS-63 brought $70,500. With just 50 to 60 pieces known from a mintage of 2,600, this ranks as one of the most elusive dates in the entire quarter eagle series. This piece has eye appeal and provenance to complement its rarity, making it one of the most desirable examples of this issue extant.

Provenance: From the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection. Earlier from our (Stack's) sale of the J.F. Bell (Jacob Shapiro) Collection, December 1944, lot 91.

1854-S Liberty Head Quarter Eagle. VG Details--Mount Removed (PCGS). On behalf of the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection, Stack's Bowers Galleries is pleased to present an eminently collectible example of a numismatic classic. The first quarter eagle issue from the San Francisco Mint, and one of the rarest of any denomination from that facility, the significance of the 1854-S has been confirmed by its inclusion in the fifth edition (2019) of the influential reference 100 Greatest U.S. Coins by Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth, in which it is ranked 93.

Struck during the first year of coinage operations at the "Inconspicuous Gold Rush Mint," as described by Nancy Y. Oliver and Richard G. Kelly (2014), the history of the 1854-S is closely linked to that of the California Gold Rush. As such, our story begins with James Wilson Marshall's now famous discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California on January 24, 1848. With the onset of the California Gold Rush that year, both private and public interests moved quickly to convert the new riches into a usable, transportable form of wealth. Bars or ingots were preferred for long-distance shipment of high value deposits, but coins served both in the expanding local economy and in commerce beyond San Francisco. Locally produced private coins began turning up outside of the California gold regions as early as the summer of 1849, when the New Orleans Picayune reported seeing a new coin that was "about the size of a $5 U.S gold piece, but it is not so handsome." The new private half eagle seen in New Orleans was coined by Norris, Gregg & Norris, and within a few years numerous private minting and assaying firms were serving Gold Rush California.

1879 Four-Dollar Gold Stella. Flowing Hair. Judd-1635, Pollock-1833, JD-1. Rarity-3. Gold. Reeded Edge. Proof-65 (PCGS). CAC. CMQ. Beautifully designed, rare in all grades, and supported by an intriguing backstory, the 1879 Flowing Hair Stella is a coin of which numismatic legends are made. The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection delivers one of the finest examples at the Proof-65 grade level that we have ever had the privilege of bringing to auction.

The story of the four-dollar gold Stellas of 1879 and 1880 begins with the desire in certain government circles to create an international coinage system that would be readily recognized and accepted throughout the world. Although it had surfaced earlier, this idea gained its greatest momentum in 1879 through the efforts of John A. Kasson, the United States' minister plenipotentiary to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and a former chairman of the Congressional Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures. Kasson urged the federal government to consider creation of a four-dollar gold coin as the basis for a new international monetary system. In Kasson's opinion, a four-dollar gold coin struck in the United States Mint would more closely approximate in value the more widely used and accepted gold coins of several European countries, including Austria's 8 florins, the Dutch 8 florins, France's 20 francs, Italy's 20 lire and Spain's 20 pesetas.

Provenance: From the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection. Housed in a Stack's 32 W. 46th Street envelope prior to certification.

1798 Capped Bust Right Half Eagle. Small Eagle. BD-1. Rarity-7. AU-53 (PCGS). CAC. CMQ. With a total survivorship of just seven coins, the 1798 Small Eagle $5 is an iconic issue, one of the all-time classic gold rarities struck at the First Philadelphia Mint. This precise example was once the most valuable coin in the world, a fact that made it the focus of headlines nationwide in June 1912, after it sold for a then-shocking $3,000 in Henry Chapman's auction of the George H. Earle, Jr. collection.

A new example of this rarity turned up in 2000, offered as lot 1290 in the June 2000 Ira and Larry Goldberg sale. At the time, John Dannreuther identified it as the Atwater coin, a provenance we agreed with in writing when cataloging the Pogue specimen in 2015. Though the Atwater plate is not of great use, B. Max Mehl noted that Atwater purchased his coin from the 1912 Earle sale, where a superb photographic plate illustrates this coin perfectly. The June 2000 Goldberg coin and the Atwater coin share an aspect that, a decade ago, your cataloger used as confirmation that those two coins were the same, namely a struck-through atop the second T of STATES that left a nearly round depression. With this coin in front of us, it's plain that the Atwater coin went to James A. Stack, Sr. and has been in the collection since (still in the 1946 Atwater sale envelope!). Interestingly, that struck through characteristic is seen on both coins, meaning that the same piece of detritus was clinging to the reverse die when both coins were struck, suggesting that they were struck nearly (or exactly) one after each other.

Considering the abbreviated mintage of just a few hundred coins, it's perhaps not surprising that two of the survivors were struck in close sequence to each other. The Dannreuther-Bass book suggests a likely run of 300 to 600 coins, with the now obsolete Small Eagle reverse apparently pressed into emergency service. This is the very last use of a Small Eagle die, the only half eagle variety to use a Small Eagle reverse after 1797, and also (as pointed out by Dannreuther) the sole 13 star obverse / Small Eagle reverse variety in the entire half eagle series. Further, rather than requiring a book and a magnifying glass to attribute, this variety is as naked-eye as can be, making it a focal rarity for advanced gold enthusiasts.

Provenance: From the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection. Earlier from Mr. John Butler, "a druggist, of Burlington, New Jersey" about 1900; Butler's son, by descent; George W. Earle, Jr. Collection; Henry Chapman's sale of the George W. Earle, Jr. Collection, June 1912, lot 2339; Henry Chapman; Col. James W. Ellsworth Collection; Wayte Raymond, as part of the Ellsworth Collection, en bloc, 1923; William Cutler Atwater Collection, 1925; Atwater Estate, 1940; B. Max Mehl's sale of the William Cutler Atwater Collection, June 1946, lot 1612. Plated in The Standard Catalogue of United States Coins by Wayte Raymond, 18th (and earlier) editions, 1957, p. 140.

1828/7 Capped Head Left Half Eagle. BD-2. Rarity-8. MS-64+ (PCGS). CAC. CMQ-X. One of the most amazing discoveries in the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection. This is not only the finest recorded example of this date, nor simply one of six known 1828/7 half eagles extant, it is also the finer of two known specimens from these dies. It was unpublished and unidentified until it recently emerged from the Stack Collection, where it has been since 1944.

There are four known die varieties of 1828 half eagles: two with 1828/7 overdates and two perfect dates, with a combined estimated population of fewer than 20 coins. The perfect date 1828 varieties, BD-3 and BD-4, are both very rare, rated as Rarity-8 and Rarity-6+ respectively by Dannreuther. The overdate varieties, BD-1 and BD-2, are even greater rarities. We have not offered an 1828/7 half eagle of either variety in any grade since the March 2016 Pogue IV sale - and for good reason. Including specimens of both varieties, there are only six known.

This variety was unknown and unpublished the last time an example of this variety sold (as of this writing, though the discovery coin is slated to sell in January 2026). John Dannreuther first published the variety (as 1828/7 BD-2) in his 2006 Early U.S. Gold Coin Varieties, penned based upon his own research and the work of the late Harry W. Bass, Jr. Despite his Herculean efforts to acquire a complete collection of early gold by die variety (and die state), Harry Bass never owned one of these. At some point before 1996, Andrew W. Pollock III realized that the 1828/7 half eagle offered in our 1955 Baldenhofer sale, our 1962 Wolfson sale, our (Bowers and Merena's) 1989 sale of the Brooks Collection, in addition to appearances in Auction '80 and Auction '88, was actually struck from the reverse die used on the 1828 perfect date half eagles, not the reverse die used on the other 1828/7 half eagles. When that coin was offered in Superior's January 1996 Michael I. Keston sale, it was again cataloged as the same die variety as other known 1828/7 half eagles. That piece, now graded MS-63 (NGC), is the second finest of two known. Its provenance has been tangled with this one over the years, as no one had any idea that a second example of that unique die variety had been hiding in the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection for 75 years!

Provenance: From the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection. Earlier from our (Stack's) sale of December 1939, lot 100; Col. James W. Flanagan Collection, via Stack's, January 1940 (at $845); our (Stack's) sale of the Col. James W. Flanagan Collection, March 1944, lot 1103 (at $925); our (Stack's) sale of the J.F. Bell (Jacob Shapiro) Collection, December 1944, lot 349 (at $1,300).

1899 Liberty Head Half Eagle. JD-1. Rarity-5-. Proof-69 Deep Cameo (PCGS). A leading highlight of the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection, and one of the most significant Proof Liberty Head gold coins of any denomination or date that we have ever had the privilege of bringing to auction. Not only is this the single finest Proof 1899 certified by PCGS, but it is also the single finest PCGS-certified Proof in the entire Liberty Head half eagle series, 1839 to 1908. It is the ultimate Proof type coin of the With Motto design, and would also serve as a focal point in the finest specialized collection of classic U.S. Mint Proof gold coinage.

The mintage for the Proof 1899 half eagle is, ironically, 99 coins, delivered in at least four batches throughout the year. This is a sizeable total for an 1890s U.S. Mint Proof gold issue, but yearly mintages would increase dramatically with the turn of the century as more contemporary collectors became interested in these special coins. Even so, demand for complete Proof sets was strong enough in 1899 that more than half were sold or otherwise distributed that year. Many were subsequently preserved with the utmost care, further evidence of growing numismatic interest in Proof gold coinage during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Provenance: From the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection. Earlier ex Thomas L. Elder's sale of the Lewis C. Gehring, Esq. Collection, August 1921, lot 129; Hillyer C. Ryder; Ryder Estate, February 1928; sold en bloc to Wayte Raymond, May 1945; Wayte Raymond to James A. Stack, Sr., ca. 1947.

1911 Indian Half Eagle. JD-1. Rarity-4. Proof-67 (PCGS). CAC. CMQ. The Philadelphia Mint struck 139 Proof half eagles in 1911, John W. Dannreuther accounting for only 80 to 100 survivors in all grades when he published his United States Proof Coins volume on gold coinage in 2018. This is the first of the later Sandblast Proofs in the Indian series, after the Mint abandoned the Satin Proof finish of 1909 and 1910. The decision was taken after a vote among attendees of the 1910 ANA Convention showed that the sandblast pieces were preferred.

1907 Indian Eagle. Rounded Rim, Periods. MS-67 (PCGS). CAC. CMQ. When it was discovered that Augustus Saint-Gaudens' original design for the 1907 Indian eagle caused problems both in production and stacking, Chief Engraver Charles Barber made modifications to the design that included a more standard rim configuration that permitted stacking. Although Saint-Gaudens had succumbed to cancer on August 3, at his studio in Cornish, New Hampshire, another set of models was made using feedback received from the Mint. Saint-Gaudens' widow, Augusta, sent these revised models to the Mint where Barber reviewed them and stated that "dies made from these models would be a great improvement" over the modified dies he had already prepared. Confusion arose, however, from Acting Mint Director Robert Preston's September 9 order to commence production of the revised eagle for circulation: was this the modified Barber design, additional working dies for which had already been prepared and delivered to the coiner, or that sent to the Mint by Augusta Saint-Gaudens, dies for which Barber had not yet produced? In the event, the Mint commenced production per Preston's order using Barber's modified variety on September 13, eventually striking 31,500 examples in September and October 1907. These are the celebrated Rounded (or Rolled) Rim Indian eagles, which have traditionally been attributed as Judd-1903 and Pollock-1997, although most examples are part of a regular issue that was actually intended for commercial use. Per the uspatterns.com website:

Research by Roger Burdette in the Mint archives has discovered that true patterns for this design do exist and they were struck using a hurriedly made edge collar which has 2 large stars at one end of the tri-partite collar...

2 examples with this edge are in the Smithsonian. It is not known if there are any others.

Provenance: From the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection. Earlier from our (Stack's) sale of the J.F. Bell (Jacob Shapiro) Collection, December 1944, lot 673, where it realized $235, which matches Mr. Stack's cost for this coin as noted in his inventory.

1911-D Indian Eagle. MS-66 (PCGS). CAC. CMQ. The lowest mintage Indian eagle issue of the With Motto design type, the 1911-D was produced to the extent of just 30,100 pieces. Coinage commenced on April 26, 1911. The bulk of this mintage must have remained undistributed until destroyed through melting in the late 1930s, for the 1911-D is scarce even in circulated grades. Such examples constitute the majority in today's market, Q. David Bowers (2017) estimating their number at 1,000+, and these are obviously survivors of limited circulation in the American West. This issue also saw limited use in the export trade, and we believe than even an estimate of 500 coins is too generous for the 1911-D in Mint State. While the legendary 1907 Wire Rim, 1907 Rounded Rim, 1920-S, 1930-S, 1933, and even the 1911-S are rarer in terms of total number of Uncirculated coins known, the 1911-D is the leading Indian eagle condition rarity in grades of MS-65 and finer.

Although this issue has always been elusive, a small number of Mint State coins did find their way into numismatic hands within a few years of striking. The earliest auction appearance recorded by Q. David Bowers in his 2017 Guide Book of Gold Eagle Coins is lot 903 in B. Max Mehl's May 1921 sale of the Honorable James H. Manning Collection. Another coin cataloged as "Uncirculated" appeared in the great Fort Worth, Texas dealer's November 1939 sale of the William B. Hale Collection, but the two examples included in his November 1945 W.A. Philpott and Henry L. Zander Collections sale were circulated ("About Uncirculated" and "Very Fine"). The earliest offering of a Mint State 1911-D recorded by David W. Akers in his auction survey published in 1980 is the F.C.C. Boyd coin sold as lot 851 in Numismatic Gallery's January 1946 sale of "The World's Greatest Collection."

To read the complete item description, see:
1911-D Indian Eagle. MS-66 (PCGS). CAC. CMQ. (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-1LCLTW/1911-d-indian-eagle-ms-66-pcgs-cac-cmq)

1933 Indian Eagle. MS-66 (PCGS). Trailing only the 1907 Rounded Rim, the 1933 is the second rarest issue in the challenging Indian eagle series. It is also one of the most famous and eagerly sought issues in all of U.S. numismatics, linked by date to, and sharing much of its history with, the legendary 1933 Saint-Gaudens double eagle. David E. Tripp, author of Illegal Tender: Gold, Greed, and the Mystery of the Lost 1933 Double Eagle (2004) has done in-depth research and written extensively on both issues. He contributed a detailed history of the 1933 eagle to the catalog description for our (Stack's) October 2004 sale of what was then the finest certified example (NGC MS-66, lot 2190). Tripp breaks down the 312,500-piece mintage of the 1933 eagle into six transfers from the coiner's department in the Philadelphia Mint to the cashier: 50,000 coins on January 19, 1933; four additional deliveries of 50,000 coins each between February 3, 1933 and March 3, 1933; and a final delivery of 62,500 coins between the same February and March dates. 312,000 of these coins were sealed in the Mint's Vault F, 12 were destroyed through "special assays", nine were destroyed during the 1934 Annual Assay, 304 examples previously set aside for assay were not destroyed and subsequently returned to the cashier and, from the first 50,000-coin delivery on January 19, 100 were sent to the treasurer for sale to the public. Since those 100 examples were considered as having been issued for circulation, the 1933 eagle thereby gained the important status denied to the 1933 double eagle; the 1933 eagle as an issue became legal to own whereas, much later, the federal government deemed only one example of the 1933 double eagle legal to own.

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued Presidential Proclamation 2039 on March 6, 1933, banning both the paying out of gold by official institutions and hoarding of gold, and beginning the recall of privately owned gold, only four of the 100 1933 eagles from the January 19 delivery sent to the treasurer had been sold. A fifth example was released just five days prior to the Presidential Proclamation, as reported in a letter by David Tripp printed in the November 15, 2004 issue of Coin World:

On March 1 [1933], the last (not the first) known authorized release of a 1933 eagle was made, not from the treasurer, but from the cashier's window in the Philadelphia Mint. Thus, the records indicate a total of five 1933 eagles found circulation through official channels.

To read the complete item description, see:
1933 Indian Eagle. MS-66 (PCGS). (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-1LCLVT/1933-indian-eagle-ms-66-pcgs)