Sold for the Benefit of the University of Texas at Austin
In the days leading up to our auction session on the evening of Saturday, January 11, 2014, anticipation was intense. A wide range of estimates was discussed, but no one was sure how strong the prices for the three British Gold Pattern coins of George III would be. As I have mentioned in my earlier blogs about these coins, no large sized gold coins were struck for circulation during the tumultuous, transitional reign of George III; they were only issued as boldly struck and attractive patterns.
The action began at 6:30 p.m. and it was standing room only. Collectors and dealers sat anxiously while Chris Karstedt ran through the pre-sale introduction. Stack’s Bowers Galleries staffers, myself included, stood in the back trying to get phone bidders on the line. Then the bidding started; the first two lots, attractive, circulated Five Guinea pieces, opened and closed with some back and forth between the book and the winning bidder. Then lot 1003 was called to the block, the stunning 1773 Pattern Five Guinea, graded Proof-64 by NGC. The auctioneer started the bidding at $60,000. The bidding ran up, all the way to the successful hammer price of $375,000 ($440,625 with the 17.5% buyer’s fee). The next lot (1004), a Pattern 2 Guinea from 1768, NGC graded Proof-63, experienced similarly active bidding, finally settling at $170,000 ($199,750 with the buyer’s fee). Finally, the 1820 pattern 5 Pounds, the first example of the denomination, came under the auctioneer’s gavel, as lot 1008. Graded Proof-61 Cameo by NGC this impressive gold coin quickly surpassed the presale estimate of $75,000 to $125,000 to settle at a hammer price of $160,000 ($188,000).
When the hammer came down on lot 1010, the dispersal of the amazing collection of English gold coins, assembled by the late Thos. H. Law was officially complete. The nearly 500 lots sold in our August 2013 official American Numismatic Association Convention Sale and our January 2014 official New York International Numismatic Convention Sale, brought an impressive $5,873,836.70 with the buyer’s premium, placing it among the most important major collections of world coins ever sold at auction. We wish to thank the Law family for allowing us the honor of offering the collection to the current generation of collectors.
If, like the Law family, you have a collection of quality, rare world coins that you would like our team to market, contact one of our consignment directors to discuss your holdings. Let the same team that sold such legendary collections as Kroisos, Law, Eliasberg, Wa She Wong, Ebert, Chin Family, Demarete and others, catalog, market and sell your collection. We are now accepting consignments for our April and August Hong Kong auctions, our August 2014 ANA auction, and our weekly Internet auctions (world coins will be offered in the first sale of every month).
