Barber dime sells for record price

A record price of $1.9 million was paid by an anonymous New York investment banker to acquire the finest known 1894-S Barber dime, graded PCGS Proof-66 Branch Mint.

?The seller is Daniel Rosenthal, an Oakland business executive, who bought the coin in our 2005 auction for a then-record price of over $1.3 million, said John Feigenbaum, president of David Lawrence Rare Coins of Virginia Beach, Va., who brokered the sale.

Representing the seller was Mitchell J. Spivack of Wonder Coins in San Clemente, Calif., and it was from him that Feigenbaum took possession of the coin July 23. Feigenbaum then flew across the country to take the coin to a Manhattan vault the next day.

This is the third time Feigenbaum has been involved in the sale of this dime with a pedigree that includes the legendary Clapp and Eliasberg collections.

?This is the one coin that most defines my numismatic legacy. My father, David Lawrence Feigenbaum, originally wrote a detailed pedigree on the 1894-S dimes in 1990. It was his life?s ambition to own this specimen. It?s the finest of the nine known examples, and both PCGS and NGC have graded it Proof-66 on several occasions,? he said.

?It was a pleasure handling the original purchase and (now) sale of this great coin for Daniel Rosenthal, who goes by the online moniker ?Justhavingfun,?? said Spivack.

Spivack added he believes that Rosenthal will be considered one of the greatest collectors of this time.