December 19, 2013 – The American Numismatic Society has consigned a small group of Gobrecht dollars to Heritage Auctions. The coins are part of the collection of 100 Gobrecht dollars, bequeathed to the Society by Dr. Julius Korein, one of the foremost collectors of this series.
The collection contained many duplicates within each die variety, which, in accordance with the wishes of Dr. Korein, the American Numismatic Society has decided to sell. Curatorial staff, in consultation with numerous experts on Gobrecht dollars, examined the collection over many months and ultimately selected for sale over 50 duplicates, which were all inferior to other coins in the collection. The ANS’s collection will retain over 40 pieces, which thus creates the largest and most comprehensive collection of Gobrecht varieties in any public collection.
The current sale of some five coins, all of Judd 60, which will be held by Heritage Auction on January 8-11, 2014 in Orlando, FL, is the third such auction. Previously, two coins were sold in the January Americana Sale of Stack’s in 2011, and in November of 2012, four coins were sold at NGSA in Geneva. Those sales added over $90,000 to the endowment, specifically to cover salary and other costs of the North American Curator at the Society. According to the Society’s guidelines on de-accessioning, all coins will be sold at public auction.
Dr. Ute Wartenberg, Executive Director of the American Numismatic Society, commented on the sale, “Dr. Korein’s donation of his collection of Gobrecht dollars was one of the most amazing gifts of the last decades and a high point in the development of our fabulous cabinet of US coins. He was fully aware of how many lessor duplicates he owned, and he asked us to sell them over time in order to increase the endowment of the US Chair of the Society. His most generous bequest has ensured not only that we now possess the pre-eminent collection of these spectacular coins but also will help to fund more activities in the field of US numismatics at the Society.”
For more information on the American Numismatic Society, go to their website …
… or search the database of objects in their collection for more information on the coins.
You can see the complete catalogue of the Heritage Auction here.