First published in the June 14, 2010 issue of Coin World
On May 13, as verified by an invoice provided to Coin World, a 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar, graded Specimen 66 by Professional Coin Grading Service sold to the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation with a listed price of $7.85 million. A 1933 Saint-Gaudens double eagle that sold in 2002 for $7,590,020 is still the most expensive coin sold at auction.The prior week, on May 4, Pablo Picasso's painting Nude, Green Leaves and Bust sold at auction for $106.5 million, marking a record for a work of art sold at auction, although private treaty sales are rumored to have moved some paintings for up to $150 million.
Record prices bring media attention to a collecting area, and the Picasso record has inspired many journalists to say that the recession in the art market is over and that the market is hungry as ever for top-quality items of lasting quality and rarity.
Whether the 1794 dollar transaction will have any positive impact in the general coin market is yet to be seen, although it certainly vouches for a degree of confidence in the market for major rarities, evidences of which have been few in auctions since January.
The buyer of the 1794 Flowing Hair dollar, the nonprofit Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation, focuses "on the study and publication of information on the Early Coinage of the United States of America."
This is a huge purchase for the foundation, which in 2008 had assets of $6.6 million and spent nearly $2.3 million on "accessions to the foundation's body of numismatic material used for research, publications, and displays."In 2008 the foundation also spent more than $2.3 million on "numismatic educational programs" according to the foundation's 990-PF tax filing, nearly the same amount as the larger American Numismatic Association spent on publications and education that year.
Is a more expensive coin waiting to be the first $10 million coin and is there a buyer willing to pay the necessary funds? My money is on the unique Saint-Gaudens 1907 Indian Head double eagle pattern, which has not been offered for sale publicly for decades.
