Rare Double Eagle Comes Home to Roost at Heritage

Dallas, Texas: An exceptional 1891 Double Eagle, certified MS64 Prooflike by NGC and considered to be one of the finest specimens of its issue, will be offered by Heritage Numismatic Auctions, Inc. (HNAI) as part of the Richard J. Chouinard Collection of United States Coins, Part One in their upcoming FUN auction, to be held January 12-15, 2005 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

"There are some coins that, once you see them, are never forgotten," said Jim Halperin, Co-Chairman of HNAI, "and this is a perfect example. This is a coin that I initially came across in the mid-to-late 1970s. As it was, at the time, the best example of an 1891 Double Eagle I'd ever seen, it was particularly memorable. I sold the coin to Julian Leidman for a respectable four-figure price, and Julian consequently sold it to Jeff Browning, the owner of the Dallas Bank Collection. Jeff held the coin for a while, until auctioning it at Sotheby's in 2001. Richard Chouinard bought the coin from that sale for $80,500, and now, with the consignment of his collection to Heritage, the coin has come full-circle. It's still one of the finest examples of an 1891 Double Eagle in existence, and I'm fully expecting it to realize a six-figure price this time around."

"A beautiful specimen by any standard, this particular coin is enhanced by the prooflike reflectivity in the fields," said Halperin. "The total mintage for the year was 1,390 pieces for circulation, and this one was probably coined soon after the proofs were struck (if the same dies were used) or very early when the new 1891 dies had just been polished and prepared. A few double eagles of each year show the desirable mirror fields, and this feature quickly wore off the dies as more business strike coins were made. Rarely are the prooflike coins found with excellent surfaces, as the delicate mirror fields attract bagmarks and quickly fall to much lower grades as compared to later business strike coins. There are a few scuffs on Liberty's cheek but this is a far nicer coin than commonly seen for any double eagle."

This is the only mint state example graded by NGC with the prooflike fields (two slightly circulated coins have also been graded), and it should be noted that no other pieces have been certified above MS61. PCGS has certified none above AU58, and aside from the present piece, NGC has certified only two pieces in Mint State, an MS60 and an MS61. This is an extremely important coin for the date collector or specialist, since it is most likely the finest known 1891 business strike.

Featured consignments to the 2005 FUN Signature Sale include The Jerry Bagne Collection of Proof Morgan Dollars, The Paul Bolyard PCGS Registry Collection of Washington Quarters, The Richard Chouinard Collection of United States Coins, The Cincinnati Collection, The William and Harrison Hiatt Collection, The Dr. Hoffnagle Collection of Morgan Dollars, The Gene Holland Collection of United States Coins, Part II, The John C. Hugon Collection of Barber Coinage, The Kenny's Bennies PCGS Registry Set of Franklin Halves, The Gold Rush Collection, The Krist Collection, The Lang Collection, The Wes Rasmussen Collection, The Larry Rausch Collection, The Paul Taylor Collection, The Tillamook Collection, and The Stan Zurawski Collection.

Catalogs for this auction will be available in mid-December. To purchase a catalog, please contact Customer Service, 800-872-6467, 3500 Maple Avenue, 17th Floor, Dallas, TX, 75219.

Images, descriptions, and prices realized from past auctions are available in the Permanent Auction Archives at the Heritage website.