Read this must see/read article Thurs. and then again Friday trying to grasp the severity that Eliashberg, Brann and Geo. Clapp with the help of Barber/Morgan have given us in the Numismatist/ coin collector World! The collections posted in rolodex type catalogs for thousands of collectors to see and cheerish as shown in the early 1950's ( of which I'm sure some in this room have seen in person)? The Bowers Auctions of Oct.27th, 28th, and 29th 1982 offer a look at the complete set that Eliashberg collected and magnificantly assembled for auction by his sons. I'm amazed that the Geo. Clapp collection bought in 1947 for $100,000 has escalated to Multi Millions today! But more astonishly is that Eliashberg's collection self proclaimed cost him $300,000 has grown to the billions today! A graph in the CW article by Rusty Goe depicts 19-1/2 eagles (1870cc-1893cc) sold for $49,198 now estimated at $828,500. ** Newsworthy This October is the 40th Anniversary of that historic auction, I for one will be really watching for articles of that! 50-60 years from now imagine what our grandkids will be reading? Enjoy! DB
Where's the article ? Did you post it ? Just based on inflation you would expect things to be about 10-15x more expensive today. And coins had not moved up much in that time for 2 reasons: the demographic wave of coin collectors was about to hit for the next few decades....and the price of gold/silver was about to skyrocket in about 20-25 years. I'll have to read the article but keep in mind that a simple linear increase in the price may overstate today's value because the population census when Eliasburg sold was much lower for many of his valuable coins. Also, you just came off a HUGE 10-12 year run in silver and gold prices, so his collection caught that, too (not the peak but still WAY up from 5-15 years earlier). I can believe that. But that is still only a bit over 7% compounded over the last 40 years. You could have matched or exceeded that with a portfolio of stocks, bonds, or both. It's what I have noted here for years: unless you get lucky and are fortunate to load up at the bottom of a coin cycle and then sell at the top, returns for even prestigious ultra-rare coins are unlikely to hit 10% over a long period of time. Will look for the article (anybody got a link ?) but I think I have also seen some catalogs from that auction (as well as others) that might be of interest to some of you.
Thanks Goldfinger I did not post article as I would have to scan 9-10 pages and don't about copywrite issue's. As you noted the Bowers US Gold Collection catalog from Oct. 1982 is well sought after I had to pay $50 to get one still chasing Bowers 1996 book "King of Coins" as I know I can't accumulate the coins. But the Life mag, Illustrations and NY Times Feb 20 1976 would be cool to put away for grandkids. Still waiting for a old timer to weigh in that he saw complete collection at Worlds Fair/Baltimore or Philly Mint? Being I'm 65 he'd be really seasoned !lol
Here it is... https://coinweek.com/us-coins/eliasbergs-1982-us-gold-coin-collection-auction-reconsidered/
Bruce Morelan just sold his 1794 SP 1$ to Great Collections for 12 million; he won it at auction for 10 million in 2013. 20% return in 9 years... not bad!
