Featured Ex-David Queller/Mass. Historical Society - 1810 50c Pickup

Ex-David Queller/Mass. Historical Society - 1810 50c Pickup

David Queller (1921-2014) was a passionate collector of US coinage, probably most famous for his acquisition of the 1804 “Reed-Hawn” Draped Bust Dollar, known as “The King of American Coins” and one of 15 known examples for $475k in 1993 and its subsequent sale for $3.7m at Heritage Auctions in 2008. (NGC’s article on the history of that coin and Queller here, and a 2008 video interview with Mr. Queller by Heritage here.) He was urged to keep bidding at the time by his son, and the collaborative efforts of his family members in his numismatic pursuits led to what became the Queller Family Collection.




I came across this bust half and loved it for its own sake immediately, but as I was intrigued by the flip I started digging and was able to find and order physical copies of both the 2002 Stacks catalog and the 1971 catalog pictured below with written descriptions of the coin after discovering the footnote in the first catalog revealing the prior auction sale.





While “magnificent iridescent toning” is accurate, I found it humorous that the 1971 description graded the coin “Brilliant Uncirculated” and in the same line notes rub on the high points. The coin is clearly circulated, but as this was prior to the ANA standards being established I can only wonder at the reason behind that one (perhaps someone here will be kind enough to elaborate.)

While reading that 1971 catalog I found that the coin was listed under Properties of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the same that put the John Quincy Adams Foreign & Ancient Coin collection in NYC up for auction with Stacks two months prior that same year as well as a Part II auction in September 1971.




The collection was augmented substantially by his son, Charles Adams and passed on in the family until 1913 when it was given to the society. Several individuals donated US coins to them over the decades and as this coin is very common, the trail naturally runs dry there. Still, it is fun to imagine how it got there and I had a blast doing the research and learning about its history as well as Mr. Queller and his numismatic achievements. Yet another facet of our hobby to be enjoyed.




Sources:

Heritage Auctions
https://coins.ha.com/heritage-aucti...ed-at-central-states-auction.s?releaseId=1472
CoinWorld
https://www.coinworld.com/news/precious-metals/pattern-coin-collector-david-queller-dies-at-90.html

NGC
https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/971/Queller-family-collection/

MassHist.org
http://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/DCA06pR12

PCGS
https://www.pcgs.com/news/part-seven-the-ana-publishes-grading-standards-1977

 

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congrats on a great pick up

 

Great read on a iconic collector. Sad he didn't get to realize to vast amounts of $$$ paid for his collection. Thanks for sharing.

 

Wow!
Kudos on a fantastic coin and awesome provenance.

 

Great coin, great story, great everything! This is exactly the kind of coin I would absolutely love to own, and that you'd have to pry from my cold, dead hands before I'd sell. I would try to call dibs on it if you ever tried to sell, but that's not allowed here outside the B/S/T forum.

My guess as to why the older catalog listing called the coin "Brilliant Uncirculated" with a "touch of rubbing on the high points" is that in the 1977 ANA grading standards link, it mentions there was no AU58 grade at first. Maybe this is the cataloger's way of acknowledging that "yeah, this coin is actually circulated, but not enough to matter, because it's so pretty?"

How lustrous is this coin, actually? If it has "some" luster, as the later catalog describes, that would argue against the theory that the coin is undergraded at 55. With the way the strike is all over the place on Bust Halves, I can't actually tell for sure from your photos, but I do see enough spots that look darkened from wear that my impression is that it could be accurately graded, slightly overgraded from a technical perspective, or, perhaps, "market graded" because it's so pretty.

It's always fun to be able to trace back the provenance of a coin you own. I have a couple saved searches on eBay to help me find coins from certain famous or important collections, but I only have significant provenance beyond on a very few coins in my collection. The only ones I can think of off the top of my head are both Civil War Tokens: one I bought directly from Susan Trask, and the other I bought directly from Steve Hayden. I have a handful beyond those two that have some kind of sale ticket or auction reference, but nothing of notable importance. I was able to find a Julius Caesar denarius I bought on eBay listed in an old CNG catalog, with the price realized, as well. I thought that was a cool find.

Finally, one random additional thought: it would be really cool if you could find nice, rainbow toned examples of the other Capped Bust denominations (half dime, dime, quarter) and show them off together.

Thanks for sharing. This is exactly the type of post that keeps me coming back to read these forums.

 

Wow. Just wow. What a great pickup with a great provenance. An absolutely beautiful coin

 

Thanks all, always glad to share. I'm hoping for more opportunities to dive into coins like this as it was a great time and gives added context to others as to why we are passionate about this hobby.

Several large auctions occurred before he passed, if you view the interview I linked that was actually at the auction of the 1804 Dollar so it appears he did live to see his efforts translate to substantial financial security for his family, which is awesome.

Interesting, sort of like a pre-TPG version of market grading. I hadn't considered that- thanks for sharing!

In my opinion, PCGS was quite accurate with the grade of AU53. Too nice for a 50, not enough cartwheel luster for a technical 55.

 

Thanks for clarifying I went back and re read to see he was in fact the owner since 1993 and at HA sale April 2008 for 3.4 mil. I knew of him in the late 70's and early 80's as he had 4 or 5 trade dollars of which my Dad and I had 1877 thru 1883 and were interested in his early years as we sent to auction 1983 sold at $9000 each to Bunkie Hunt.
Lost trail of where they are now but listed around $3000 We had $1450 in each.
Note worthy he died xmas day 2014 or 2015

 

Cool coin and great write-up!

 

That is an absolutely fantastic coin, and a great story to go with it! Thanks for sharing!