Plan now to participate in the Pogue Collection Part III sale at Sotheby’s international headquarters in New York City on Tuesday evening, February 9. On the next day in the same venue we will have our Rarities Auction with other important properties, including notable rarities. We invite you to attend in person as a bidder or interested observer—to watch numismatic history being made! You can also view the action in virtual time on our web site at StacksBowers.com.
A Landmark Rarity
Every now and again an incredible coin comes on the market. Year in and year out, auctions feature scarce and rare coins, sometimes with an incredible highlight or two or three. The D. Brent Pogue Collection is a rare, make that unique, exception. Nearly all coins are the finest graded or close.
Lot 3086 in our Pogue Collection Part III sale, held in partnership with Sotheby’s in New York City on February 9, is another wonder coin—the finest 1836 O-109 half dollar graded by PCGS, Proof-66+ and with a CAC label and unique as such!
This is among the most spectacular of all early Proof coins in the D. Brent Pogue Collection. From the moment of its creation this 1836 half dollar has been the object of extraordinary care, receiving special preparation at the time of its manufacture and special care ever since. Its surfaces show exceptional tones of bright blue and violet at centers, and gold and warm rose inside the rims. The reverse coloring is particularly bright, its blue verging on cobalt. The strike is full and the surfaces have been handled with the utmost delicacy.
Proof 1836 lettered edge half dollars are known from a number of different die pairs. None are common, and very few of the survivors of any die combination are gems. The 1836 Overton-116, known for its 50/00 punching error on the reverse, may be the most numerous, with either five or six specimens known. Nearly as many Proof examples of 1836 Overton-108, the 1836/1336 variety, have survived. The only 1836 Overton-101 with claims to Proof status to have sold in recent memory is the Eliasberg coin; PCGS has never certified a Proof of that die combination, however. The National Numismatic Collection contains a little publicized Proof 1836 Overton-107 that is thought to be unique.
Focus on 1836 O-109
Some notes from Dave Bowers, with research by John Kraljevich:
We have located three Proof examples of 1836 Overton-109:
1. J. Colvin Randall – T. Harrison Garrett – Garrett I:328 – Superior’s Chalkley sale (January 1990):3551 – Douglas Noblet – Bowers and Merena’s sale of January 1999:1135 – Superior’s sale of February 2001:5534. Last sold as Proof-65 (NGC). This coin is an “old friend.” It seems like only yesterday in a way, but it was in 1979 that on behalf of the Johns Hopkins University we cataloged and sold this coin. We had the pleasure of having it again in 1999 as noted above.
2. Mrs. Emery May Norweb – Norweb I: 3114 – Bowers and Merena’s sale of August 1996:130 – Heritage’s sale of April 2013:4269. Last sold as Proof-64 (NGC). Amazing to say, but the second coin in this list is an “old friend” as well! We have memories not only of showcasing this coin in 1996, but also being a close numismatic friend of Emery May Holden Norweb. She was the very definition of a grand lady and, at the same time, a connoisseur. Her entire lifetime from her pre-teenage years onward involved coins, at first working with her father, Albert Fairchild Holden, then on her own. After we sold her estate collection her son Harry and his wife Pam invited our entire staff to visit their summer home in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, for a private cruise and a lobster dinner. Often a coin is more than a coin, and the mention of the Norweb half dollar evokes many memories.
3. This coin. The finest known.
A possible fourth example was sold as lot 374 in the January 1993 “Bullet sale” by Heritage, but the description provided in the unillustrated sale catalog precludes confirmation. Graded Proof-64 by PCGS, the coin was described as “brilliant;” at the time, it was the only Proof 1836 lettered edge half dollar certified by PCGS.
Matthew A. Stickney
Though superb provenance accompanies each of the three confirmed Proof specimens from these dies, few American numismatic cabinets are more legendary, or more ancient, than Matthew Adams Stickney’s. Stickney is the earliest American collector who built a substantial cabinet that survived intact late enough that its contents were well-cataloged, and its highlights photographed, before its dispersal. Though sold in a 1907 auction by Henry Chapman, Stickney’s collection was mostly built in the 1830s through 1850s.
A book could be written about Stickney, and perhaps someday one will be. In the meantime, for more information on Matthew Stickney visit our description of the current lot at http://www.stacksbowers.com/BrowseAuctions/LotDetail/tabid/227/Lot/3086/AuctionID/6074/Default.aspx
For Additional Reading
The technological stature of American coins took an enormous leap forward in 1836. Lettered edges had long since been eliminated from other denominations, but the edges and the laborious two-step process required to create them continued on half dollars until this issue. With the introduction of the steam press in 1836, used in conjunction with a close collar that could create edge reeding at the moment of striking, the days were numbered for this design type. This coin and others of this emission represent the last in a four-decade tradition of lettered-edge half dollars. The edge lettering on this piece is bold, but shows some of the pitfalls of the practice, including visible overlapping of the designs struck by two separate edge dies, seen beneath the date. When cataloging this coin in 1907, Henry Chapman was seemingly aware of the existence of crushed lettered edges on Proof half dollars of this era when he noted that on this coin, the “Edge lettering [is] perfect.”
This is the finest Proof half dollar of this date ever certified. Only two other Proof Capped Bust half dollars have ever been graded Proof-66 or finer by PCGS, both dated 1827. Represented by three separate submissions, one is graded Proof-66 CAM (and Proof-66) while the other piece, graded Proof-68, is the only example of this type ever graded finer than the Stickney-Pogue 1836 Overton-109. Henry Chapman called this coin “magnificent … in every way” in the 1907 Stickney sale. More than a century later, his phrasing is, like this coin, essentially perfect.
Limited-edition catalogs are in print and are available for purchase while supplies last. Limit: one per person. To order, call 800-458-4646. Also available are two deluxe hardbound books about the Pogue Collection.
Treasures from the D. Brent Pogue Rare Coin Cabinet, 208 pages, color illustrated, quality hardbound. This tells the stories of 100 special coins from the collection. $39.95 plus shipping.
The 1822 Gold Half Eagle: Story of a Rarity, 128 pages, color illustrated, quality hardbound. $39.95 plus shipping.
For more information or to order visit http://media.stacksbowers.com/poguecollection/pogue-the-books.html
