Heritage Auctions, the world’s largest numismatic auction house, recently announced it sold $70.8 million USD in U.S. coins; U.S. and world currency; and world and ancient coins at auction in the first three weeks of 2017.
According to Heritage Auctions, which has offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Chicago, Palm Beach, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam and Hong Kong, this is a 30 per cent increase over the same period last year.
“These results show Heritage is in tune with the market and its clients and maintains its superiority as the world’s No. 1 auction house for numismatic collections, large and small,” said Greg Rohan, president of Heritage Auctions. “The rare coin market remains a robust market for collecting and investing.”
“These results bode well for 2017. We remain optimistic for the coming year,” he added.
This 1792 H10C half disme (obverse shown) realized $493,500 USD at the recent FUN Convention in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
During its annual auction held in conjunction with the Florida United Numismatists (FUN) Convention, U.S. coin sales totalled more than $42 million USD, led by a rare, 327.97-ounce Justh & Hunder gold ingot, which sold for $564,000 USD, and a 1792 H10C half disme, which ended at $493,500 USD following interest by 14 bidders. An 1884 trade dollar, a classic rarity of which there are only 10 are known to exist, sold for $423,000 USD.
U.S. and world currency sales realized more than $8.8 million USD on top of a 1934 $10,000 federal reserve note from the famed Binion Horseshoe Casino display, which sold for $158,625 USD, and a 1934 $5,000 note, which sold for $146,875 USD.
“Overall we were very pleased with the results,” said Dustin Johnston, director of Currency Auctions at Heritage. “As expected, collectors zeroed in on rare notes with impeccable provenance and exposure. Condition played an important role this year as near-gem examples surpassed expectations.”
World and ancient coins sold more than $18 million USD during its annual auction held in conjunction with the New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC) at the Waldorf Astoria in New York and online. The star of the NYINC show was the Meiji 13 (1880) proof set of Japanese coinage, from the Commander Collection, the most valuable of which sold for $305,500 USD, followed by an 1880 Meji gold Proof 10 yen, which sold for $270,250 USD.
“We serve the most significant numismatic collections in the world,” said Cristiano Bierrenbach, executive vice-president of Heritage’s International Numismatics department. “New markets and stellar collections underscore our growth plans for 2017.”