Bowers and Merena Auctions will host its Boston Rarities Auction on Saturday, August 7, promising nearly 1,800 lots of world-class rarities and highly desirable collectors' coins.
"Three consignments stand out in my mind as defining elements of the importance of this sale: the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation Mint State Set of 1794 United States Coinage, the Horseshoe Collection of New Orleans Mint gold and silver coins, and the Ostheimer Specimen of the 1870-S Seated Liberty Silver Dollar," said Greg Roberts, CEO of Bowers and Merena.
"With selections as diverse, important and desirable as these, we are confident that our Boston Rarities Sale will see spirited bidding from a wide variety of collectors."
The Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation (CCEF) Mint Set of 1794 United States Coinage is a fully Mint State complete set of 1794-dated coins struck from the Half Cent through to the Silver Dollar, with most coins labelled "choice to gem" in quality.
 The Virgil Brand-F.C.C. Boyd-Cardinal specimen of the 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar |
The coins are among the finest known for their respective issues and die varieties. But the obvious highlight of the set is the Virgil Brand-F.C.C. Boyd-Cardinal specimen of the 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar.
Certified MS-64 by NGC, the coin is Condition Census #4 for the issue and one of only six Mint State examples known to exist. The five coins in the 1794 Mint State Set will be auctioned individually at the beginning of the Silver Dollar section of the sale.
"This important offering is made possible by the CCEF's recent acquisition of the Carter-Contursi 1794 Silver Dollar, graded PCGS Specimen-66, which recently sold for $7,850,000 in a transaction that set a World Record price for the most valuable coin," said Roberts.
'The second-rarest New Orleans Mint Double Eagle'
At the heart of the Horseshoe Collection is "one of the most comprehensive sets of New Orleans Mint gold and silver coins that Bowers and Merena has offered in quite some time," says the auction house.
The stand-out highlight of the collection is an 1854-O Liberty Double Eagle, a pop 2/0 coin certified AU-55 by PCGS. With an estimated 25-35 surviving coin population from a mintage of 3,250 pieces, it is the second-rarest New Orleans Mint Double Eagle.
Other rarities featured in this collection include Morgan Dollar condition rarities, key-date 19th century gold coins from other Mints and a J.W. Scott Restrike of the fabled 1861 Confederate States of America Half Dollar.
"Last in the triad of world-class rarities anchoring our Boston Rarities Sale is the Ostheimer Specimen of the 1870-S Seated Liberty Silver Dollar," said Roberts.
"This coin is the fourth-finest example of only nine 1870-S Silver Dollars in existence. As such, it is an extremely important example of the rarest regular issue Silver Dollar struck in the United States Mint. The Ostheimer Specimen is certified EF-40 by PCGS."
Additional collections that will be featured in the Boston Rarities Auction include the Fontaine Collection of 25 coins which all earned CAC designation, the Platinum Star PCGS Registry Set of Two-Cent Pieces and the Marmac's Little Sisters Collection of Half Cents.
As its name suggests, the auction will be held in Boston, Massachusetts.
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