July 7th, 1989 ~ "Auction '89"
When 1804 Dollars sell, they often set record prices. In 1885, when the same coin sold at auction for $1,000, "the room broke into hearty applause clapping hands and stamping their feet." Again in 1941 the "Dexter Dollar" set a world's record price for a single silver coin when it sold for $4,250. It sold again in 1950 for a reported $10,000, then came back on the market in 1981 selling for $280,000, and again in 1985 when it sold for $500,000!
"Auction '89," known as one of a series of "Apostrophe Auctions," was one of the most important sales of the year. These auctions were conducted annually by four firms: Rare Coin Company of America, Inc. (Rarcoa), Superior Stamp & Coin Co., Inc., David W. Akers, Inc., and Stack's Rare Coins. The record-setting Dexter 1804 Dollar appeared in the Rarcoa auction session.
Bidding opened at $375,000, rising to a bid of $660,000 by Jack Lee, where he dropped out. Then bidding continued to $875,000 as a final bid by Gerald Bauman of MTB Banking Corp. where it was topped by an additional $25,000 by the final buyer, Hugh Sconyers, acting on behalf of the American Rare Coin Fund. The final bid of $900,000 was increased by a buyer's fee of 10%, which was added to all winning bids, increasing the final sale price to $990,000. Just $10,000 shy of $1,000,000!
When bidding for the coin concluded the auction was stopped for nearly fifteen minutes! The coins' buyer, Hugh Sconyers, acting on behalf of the American Rare Coin Fund, and the seller, Leon Hendrickson, of Silver Towne, were beseiged by the media as television cameras rolled. Similarly, bidding paused in the 1885 auction to announce the identity of the coin's buyer in that sale, James Vila Dexter, who was represented at the auction by J.W. Scott.
The $990,000 auction record was broken April 8th, 1997 by another 1804 Dollar, the Stickney specimen, which sold in the Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection Part II sold by Auctions By Bowers and Merena, Inc. The "hammer price" was $1,650,000, and with a 10% buyer's fee, the final price was a world record for a single coin sold at auction, $1,815,000! The purchaser was Greg Roberts of Spectrum Numismatics which also owns the King of Siam proof set.
Copyrighted Coin World Page 1, July 26, 1989, reprinted electronically by permission of Coin World/Amos Press Inc.
Copyrighted Numismatic News Page 1, July 25, 1989, reprinted electronically by permission of Numismatic News/Krause Publications, Inc.
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