Username Password
Email: Password:
Forgot password?    No Login?
Home Latest News Active Sales Active Auction Past Auctions Other Stuff Contact Sheridan

Sheridan Downey Numismatist - Coins

Mail Bid Auction 45

Auction ended on August 2, 2017

Lot Number 50


Click coin to enlarge

1806 Knob 6, No Stem -  O.108a, T.2 R.8 PCGS VG 8


Ex Don Frederick.  The Holy Grail of draped bust half dollars.  There are but 7 examples known of the die pair, only two of which feature the massive die break/cud atop UNITE.  This is the Don Frederick specimen.  It surfaced in 1976 in Hawaii, about the time another example showed up in Brooklyn, NY (the Friedman-Schertz-Meyer-Link coin).  Frederick was a keen student of the draped bust series.  He knew that only one of the (then) 3 other known specimens came from the terminal die state.  He negotiated a purchase in January 1977.  For thirty years Don resisted all efforts to pry the coin loose from his collection.  Then, in July 2008, he consigned his pre-turbs to Heritage.  This was lot 439 in the Baltimore ANA sale.  Heritage properly noted the coin’s defects: the surfaces were once wiped and display scratches under the deep toning.  Yet the coin is attractive.  The toning is obviously of ancient origin, reminiscent of Grandma’s silver.  (A phrase often used by my great friend Henry Hilgard.)  Frederick was profoundly disappointed when the coin sold to a dealer for $25,300.  In short order the coin was submitted to PCGS for grading and sold to a private collector for an undisclosed sum.  Since 2008 only one other 1806 O.108 has appeared at auction: the “El Paso” coin, uncovered in 1979, and introduced to collectors circa 1995 as ANACS VF 30.  It has appeared at auction three times in its current PCGS XF 40 capsule, first in 2003, then in 2009 and last in the Stack’s/Sotheby Pogue I sale of May 2015.  Sale prices ranged from $86,000 to $126,000.  The charisma, rarity and value of the “06-108” is usually compared to its capped bust equivalent, the 1817/4.  When my interest in the series developed there were 5 known 06-108’s and 7 known 1817/4’s.  The numbers are now 7 and 11.  Each of these rarities appears in distinct die states: the 1817/4 comes with and without a bisecting obverse die break [O.102 and 102a]; the 1806 Knob 6, No Stem comes with and without a reverse rim cud [Tompkins die states 1-3 and 4-5].  This is the most important coin in the sale.  Congratulations to the new owner!  Est. $60,000 to $80,000.

Auction Ended

High Bid Maximum Bid Total Price
$55,000
Reserve met
$55,000 $60,500

Sheridan Downey, Numismatist
4400 Keller Ave., Suite 140, PMB 398
Oakland, California 94605
sdowney3@aol.com
(510) 479-1585

©2024 Sheridan Downey