Stack’s Bowers Galleries will again make history as rare gold coins from the Bernard Richards Collection cross the auction block in the Rarities Night session of the November 2024 Showcase Auction. As the Official Auction of the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Expo, the firm’s sale will be held November 18-22 in Costa Mesa, California, with lot viewing available at the Whitman Winter Expo November 12-15.
The Bernard Richards Collection of Liberty Head and Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagle gold coins was assembled in the 1970s and ’80s, with many coins purchased from important Stack’s auctions during those decades. Working with members of the firm, including Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ founder Harvey Stack, Richards built a nearly complete set of $20 double eagles from 1850 through 1932. The highlight of the collection was also among the last coins purchased by Richards: an 1870-CC, now graded PCGS AU-55 and representing the single finest example of this important rarity. This coin last appeared in the January 1986 Stack’s sale of the James Walter Carter and Margaret Woolfolk Carter Collection.
Other important highlights from this world-class collection include:
- 1881 Liberty Head Double Eagle. AU-55 (PCGS). CMQ. From Stack’s October 1970 auction.
- 1882 Liberty Head Double Eagle. AU-58 (PCGS). The Robison specimen, first auction appearance in 45 years.
- 1887 Liberty Head Double Eagle. JD-1. Rarity-5+. Proof-65+ Deep Cameo (PCGS). CAC. CMQ. The Garrett specimen, purchased directly from the Mint in 1887.
- 1920-S Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle. MS-62 (PCGS). CMQ. From Stack’s T. Henry Allen Collection sale, February 1977.
- 1931 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle. MS-65 (PCGS). An incredible Gem example, purchased privately from Stack’s.
- 1931-D Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle. MS-64+ (PCGS). CAC. CMQ. Last sold in Stack’s March 1983 auction.
- 1932 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle. MS-65 (PCGS). CAC. CMQ. Last collectible date, an elusive Gem, last sold in the Stack’s 1971 ANA auction.
“This collection was carefully assembled over the course of many years,” explained Andrew Bowers, Sales Manager East Coast, who worked with the Richards family. “Mr. Richards clearly had a great eye and selected coins from our firm’s private and auction offerings over those years, which included many famous old-time collections, such as those of Ellis Robison (1982), Amon Carter (1984), and of course the 1976 sale of the Garrett Collection. As we reviewed the raw coins and prepared them for certification, we marveled at their uniformly high quality and eye appeal.”
“Cataloged as ‘probably the finest known specimen’ in our January 1986 auction, the Bernard Richards 1870-CC $20 turned out to be everything we could have hoped for,” commented Vicken Yegparian, Vice President of Numismatics. “We initially saw photos of the collection a few years ago, and it seems like a lifetime passed before we got to hold this marquee rarity in hand earlier this summer. It’s not only the finest graded by PCGS, but it’s also the only 1870-CC double eagle I’ve ever seen that has prooflike flash in the fields.”
The 1870-CC double eagle and other rare U.S. gold coins in the Bernard Richards Collection–as well as the entire November 2024 Rarities Night Auction–will be available for viewing and pre-sale bidding at www.stacksbowers.com. For more information on the November 2024 Showcase auction or to consign to an upcoming Stack’s Bowers Galleries event call 800-458-4646 or email [email protected].
* * *