$3.6 Million for Seated Liberty Dime

An 1873-CC No Arrows Seated Liberty dime led Heritage’s FUN auction with a jaw-dropping price tag of $3.6 million. (All images courtesy Heritage Auctions, HA.com.)

Numerous records were set and a 1873-CC No Arrows Seated dime graded MS-65 sold for a record $3.6 million to lead Heritage Auctions’ FUN U.S. Coins Signature Auction Jan. 11-15 to $51,857,970.

Coupled with the $12,079,520 from Heritage’s FUN Currency Signature Auction, the combined total for the events climbed to $63,937,490. Add in The Bass Collection, Part II U.S. Coins Signature Auction – Orlando FUN that brought $24,322,741 Jan. 5 and Heritage Auctions has sold $88,260,231 in U.S. coins and currency in just the first two weeks of 2023.

An 1870-S Seated Liberty half dime garnered more than 70 bids that ultimately resulted in a price of $3.12 million.

All told, a record 10 lots across the three events topped $1 million.

The top lot, one of three unique coins offered in the auction, was one of six coins to crack the million-dollar plateau in the FUN U.S. Coins event; the most seven-figure coins in a FUN auction was seven, a standard Heritage achieved twice: in 2015 and again in 2022. The 1873-CC No Arrows Seated Dime’s result nearly doubled its previous record of $1.84 million.

“Year after year, Heritage’s FUN auctions reaffirms its status at the premier destination for elite collections and sets the tone for the next six months or so,” says Todd Imhof, executive vice president at Heritage Auctions, “and I am excited to announce that based upon the results we delivered for our consignors, the state of the numismatic market remains vibrant.”

A 1794 and a 1796 half dollar together brought $1.8 million.

The 1873-CC No Arrows Seated dime, from the Prestwick Collection, Part II, is one of the most prestigious coins ever offered through Heritage. It bears the Carson City mintmark, which appears on some of the most collected coins in U.S. numismatics. From the 12,400 1873 No Arrows dimes that were struck, Mint Director Henry F. Rice took five examples and sent them – along with required quantities of the Seated half dollars and Seated dollars – to the Philadelphia Mint for testing in compliance with the Assay Commission statute. Shortly thereafter, the Coinage Act of 1873 required that all “old style” No Arrows dimes had to be melted. It is unclear what happened to the Assay Commission coins, but what is clear is that just one example survives today – the coin offered in this auction.

Although not the most expensive lot, perhaps more impressive was an 1870-S Seated Liberty half dime graded MS-64 that prompted more than six-dozen bids before it closed at $3.12 million, smashing the previous record set in 2005, of $661,250. This coin is from the Bender Family Collection, and its existence was completely unknown for more than a century.

Two half dollars – the finest known example of a 1794 Flowing Hair half dollar, MS-64+, and a 1796 16 Stars half dollar, MS-66 – ended at $1.8 million.

From the Jim O’Neal Collection of U.S. Half Dollar Types, the 1794 Flowing Hair half dollar erased the previous record of $252,000 set in 2017. 1794 marked the first year of what was arguably the country’s most important silver denomination, and also was important in its role as part of the official inauguration of Robert Scot’s two-year Flowing Hair type, as well as a highly visible “coming out” for the Mint’s implementation of required coinage under The Mint Act of 1792.

The 1796 16 Stars half dollar, among the finest of all Draped Bust, Small Eagle halves, is the scarcer O-102 (T-2) 16 Stars type and took down the previous record of $822,500.

A 1907 double eagle gold coin was another million dollar-plus coin.

Another possibly unique offering in the auction was a 1907 Arabic Numerals double eagle, PR-68, that brought in a winning bid of $1.68 million; the previous auction record was $920,000. One of the Important Selections from The Bob R. Simpson Collection, Part X, it made its first appearance at auction in the last 17 years. This example represents the Small Edge Lettering variety.

The sixth lot to reach seven figures, also from the Jim O’Neal Collection of U.S. Half Dollar Types, was a 1797 half dollar, O-101a, graded MS-65+, which ended at $1.56 million. Once a part of the Norweb Collection, this coin is from a two-year design type (featuring the dates 1796 or 1797) that comes from a mintage of just 3,918 pieces, making it the rarest two-year regular silver type, eagerly pursued by type collectors and early half dollar specialists alike.