1776 silver dollar, 1792 cent sell for $1.41M each at Heritage

NEW YORK – A 1776 Continental dollar – the finest of only four silver Continental currency dollars known to exist and a 1792 silver center one cent piece – one of the earliest and most famous of all 1792 pattern coins – both realized $1.41 million at a coin auction conducted by Heritage Auctions, May 16-17.

These rare coins from the birth of the American republic were the undisputed stars at Heritage Auctions’ selections from the Eric P. Newman Collection IV Signature® Auction, which totaled more than $11 million. The Continental Dollar realized the highest price ever paid for a non-gold American Colonial coin.

The nearly 700 lots of the most important U.S. Colonials offered in recent memory, many of them pedigreed to “Colonel” E.H.R. Green, across the festive two-day auction, gave collectors of all levels a chance to own part of this long-held collection.

At almost 103 years of age Eric P. Newman is the foremost United States numismatic researcher and author. His massive and storied collection is one of the single finest numismatic assemblages ever seen. Along with the first three parts of his collection, auctioned earlier in 2014 and in 2013, his coins so far have realized more than $44 million.

“Historic coins like these, treasures from the birth of the United States, commanded appropriately important prices,” said Jim Halperin, co-founder of Heritage Auctions. “The top collectors in the world knew that they weren’t likely to see many of these coins ever again. The competition and overall prices, as it’s been throughout Mr. Newman’s amazing collection, exceeded even our in-house expectations.”

A 1783 “100” Unique Plain Edge Nova Constellatio 100 Units, Silver, AU55 NGC, the first pattern coin issued by the newly independent United States and a forerunner of the decimal coinage’s acceptance, first in America, then eventually by most monetary systems throughout the world, proved popular with collectors at a final price realized of $705,000. A 1652 New England sixpence, AU58 NGC, the finest known specimen, was also highly sought-after before finishing the auction at $646,250.

Copper highlights included the 1787 George Clinton Copper, MS63 Brown NGC, the finest-certified example of this rare classic offered at auction for the first time in more than a century, which realized $499,375, a price equaled by a simply stunning 1792 Reeded-edge Copper Disme AU55 NGC.

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