https://stacksbowers.com/james-a-stack-sr-collection/ I received an email blurb from Stack's today, advertising the upcoming auction of more of the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection, apparently for the first time in 30 years. It teases us with "One coin in particular – yet to be revealed – is a landmark discovery for all of numismatics." Any guesses as to what that coin is?
The link says Dec 2025 and Feb 2026. Preview a few of the coins at their ANA table. The bit about landmark discovery "yet to be revealed" implies something new that nobody has heard of, still sitting in that collection which last had an auction from it 30 years ago. One-off pattern or trial piece perhaps? Not sure if I would consider that a "landmark" but you never know considering how auctioneers like to puff things up. A second example of a coin where there was only one previously known, like the 1652 NE threepence that popped up over the past few years?
Did I comment on that thread @SensibleSal66 ? I noticed that it mimics the NE stamp on those original crude coins, but on a CT coin seemed odd considering the originals were made in Boston.
And did you also know that CT was settled by the Puritans from MA and England. History of Connecticut - Wikipedia
I did a recce on StacksBowers upcoming auctions and saw 25 lots in a current auction (Stack Collection) but upcoming stopped at Sept. 2. A lot of interesting coinage currently, a broad mix, 2 gold at 34K and 32K (both way out of my range, btw) but very interested in the item “to be revealed” later. Thanks for the update. Keep us posted for any juicy info… @KBBPLL
It might be a 1907 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle with the diameter of a $10 Gold Piece. Jeff Garrett said in "100 Greatest U.S. Coins" there's a rumor that one sold in the early twentieth century. The only two know for a fact to exist are in the Smithsonian. And James Stack did have a 1933 St. Gaudens Double Eagle, so what else did he have...
This one? https://uspatterns.store.turbify.net/j1917p2007.html If a third one exists, that seems like a good guess.
If I sold my truck, tools & material, and my house, I might be able to take a loan out to cover the rest of the price for those!
Look's like the cat is out of the (coin) bag. Just got this email from Stack's. There's no link to a press release so I've copy/pasted the contents of the email. Wow! Magnificent Unpublished 1804 Dollar Highlights James A. Stack, Sr. Collection Finest Class III Example in Private Hands Graded Proof-65 (PCGS) CAC. CMQ. The Only CAC Approved 1804 Dollar of any Class For every numismatist alive today, there was never a time when there wasn’t 15 known 1804 dollars. The numbers have been carved in stone: eight known Class I dollars, a single overstruck Class II in the National Numismatic Collection, and six known Class III dollars, of which three are permanently impounded. When Stack’s Bowers Galleries sells highlights from the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection this coming December, a 16th known specimen will find its first new home since Stack’s passing in 1951. Graded PCGS Proof-65 (CAC)(CMQ), it is far and away the finest of the Class III examples in private hands. It is also the only 1804 dollar of any type to have received CAC or CMQ approval. No Class III 1804 dollar has sold at auction since our offering of the Berg-Garrett-Pogue example in March 2020, and no 1804 dollar of any kind has sold since August 2021, when we sold the finest known Class I 1804 dollar, the Childs-Pogue specimen, for a world record price for the issue of $7.68 million. James A. Stack, Sr. aggressively worked to acquire connoisseur quality rare coins during the era he collected, from the late 1930s until his passing in 1951. Though he had a residence on Long Island, Mr. Stack (no relation to the founders of our firm) spent most of his time working in Manhattan and living in a Midtown apartment. He made the best of his ready access to Stack’s store, first on 6th Avenue and later on West 46th Street, purchasing superb examples of rare U.S. coins of every composition and era. While the man himself has remained a somewhat obscure character despite his numismatic importance, his collection is well known to those who collect the finest. Stack’s has sold portions of the collection over the years, including important quarters and halves in 1975, and a wide variety of important material offered in several sales in the 1980s and 1990s. No American coin has been more thoroughly researched and published than the 1804 dollar, including book-length studies by legendary numismatists Eric P. Newman and Kenneth E. Bressett (The Fantastic 1804 Dollar, 1962) and Q. David Bowers (The Rare Silver Dollars Dated 1804 and the Exciting Adventures of Edmund Roberts, 1999). Despite a battery of articles, catalogue descriptions, and more, no numismatic expert had any indication of the James A. Stack, Sr. coin until the piece was consigned to Stack’s Bowers Galleries for auction. “Every professional numismatist has received innumerable wishful phone calls about 1804 dollars over the course of their career, and every single one has been easy to dismiss,” noted Stack’s Bowers Galleries Director of Numismatic Americana John Kraljevich. “This piece took us all by surprise. It carries its own credentials with all the distinctive striking details we would expect of an 1804 Class III but all of the eye appeal we associate with the best of the Class I dollars.” Stack’s Bowers Galleries Executive Vice President Vicken Yegparian added “the James A. Stack, Sr. name has long been associated with the very finest coins, and past offerings have been highlights of our firm’s 90 years of auction sales. While this coin is a surprise to us all, no one is surprised that Mr. Stack would have owned a coin like this — or that he would have done so quietly.” Research on the coin continues, along with a fine PCGS EF-45 (CAC)(CMQ) 1794 dollar, a PCGS MS-64 (CAC)(CMQ) 1795 Flowing Hair dollar, and other important early American rarities to be offered from the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection. The 1804 and other early dollars will be joined by a phenomenal array of double eagles for the first auction of the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection on December 9, 2025 in Griffin Studios.
That auction will be interesting to watch. Now, if I can only devise a way to gather ten million dollars or more, I would be able to place a losing bid on it!
High resolution images are up on their website too now, but no direct link or blurb yet. https://stacksbowers.com/the-james-a-stack-sr-collection/coins/ and it's the first coin shown. Interesting lamination on Liberty's neck, and that there's a die crack through the Liberty legend considering how few of these were struck.
