Stack’s incredible year of 1954 continued. After the
initial sale in March, we offered a second section of the Davis Graves
Collection. Included was the specialized collection of world gold coins that numbered some 645
lots. Following that section, we offered duplicates and some
unusual American coins, highlighted
by an 1879 $4 Stella and the rare 1849 Moffat $16 ingot. Various
other U.S. gold was offered including a run of eagles from 1795 to 1804, with both varieties of 1798. With
the sale of the Davis Graves cabinet successfully concluded, the firm went "full speed ahead" to
catalog the Anderson Dupont
Collection.
The Anderson Dupont Collection of United States
copper, nickel and silver coins was one of the
most comprehensive collections of U.S. silver and copper coins to be offered on the auction market for years. At first, the U.S.
gold in the Anderson Dupont Collection was not scheduled to be in the sale (this will be explained
later).
The collection was of extreme size and reflected
an attempt by the collector to encompass the earliest dates of our Mint
until the mid 1930s. It contained
varieties and rare dates, in
nice circulated condition, Mint State and Proof.
The first part of the Anderson Dupont Collection
contained United States large cents. The collection presented 1,000 dates and varieties from 1793 to 1857. It contained
many high quality and rare
examples, explaining why Dr. William Sheldon was willing to catalog it. This
collection alone provided much information as to rarity and quality. To
me, working directly with Dr. Sheldon and his helper C. Douglas Smith was a college course on grading cents and
identifying varieties. The Anderson Dupont Collection contained coins that were
acquired from collections that
had been sold over the previous 50 years or more. These coins had not
previously been available for study.
To give an idea as to the scope of the collection
there were 19 cents of the 1793 Chain and Wreath types, 75 cents dated 1794,
and a total of 344 dates and varieties from 1795 to 1814
and followed by 784 later dates of the 1816 through 1857 range. Many
were of Condition Census quality and
others were among the best known of
certain varieties with a large number in Mint State or Proof.
The large cent portion of the Anderson Dupont
Collection was sold in September 1954. Dr. Sheldon did a
fine job of cataloging the
coins, and our photographer Sam Andre did a great job in capturing the details of the coins. We had a large group illustrated on full page photo
plates within the catalog. Once
Dr. Sheldon revealed in detail what was forthcoming in the offering, excitement developed rapidly within the huge
community of cent collectors. In fact, some established cent collectors tried
to make plans to determine who would “win” many of the lots. We needed extra
time and people to show lots, as
well as time to discuss some of the new information that appeared in the
auction catalog. The catalog quickly became a new reference book.
The evening the large cents were offered, the
auction room filled up quickly with some 300 seated collectors and
standing room only for the balance of those attending.
It was noted by me (I was to be a "spotter" for my uncle, who was the
auctioneer) that an unfamiliar but
lovely lady came into the room
and seated herself next to the side door to the auction room. Before the sale started, my secretary
came running over to me, said
that the young lady was to be bidding with the initials D.N. — we used initials at the time not
bidder numbers — and told
me that she had left a substantial deposit and was planning to bid on a number of the cents. Wow, a new
bidder, unknown to anyone, could
only add to the great competition we were anticipating.
When the sale started, Dr. Sheldon sat on the side
aisle with some dozen or more collectors near him. When the
bidding started, Dr. Sheldon seemed to orchestrate the bidding, and his side of the room bid to a certain level and then
stop. The auctioneer was still looking for more bids. It seemed that at a certain level only one
bidder from the Sheldon group was
bidding. Suddenly from the other side of the room "D.N" bid, and continued bidding until
the Sheldon side stopped. She
won the lot and did the same thing on a number of the 1793 cents.
As we got to the extensive group of 1794 cents, she selected certain
scarce or choice examples and
topped the other bidders. Any plans that the group of collectors sitting with
Dr. Sheldon had made with each other were foiled and each was on his own
against the mystery lady. The combination of the quality of the material and a
“wild card” bidder led to record-making prices in both sessions. Those of us in
the room were able to see history being made.
