Auction Details
<b>Letter from Bob Korver</b>
<b>Director, Heritage Numismatic Auctions</b>
<p>Dear Bidders,</p>
<p>
Welcome to Heritage's February 2003 Long Beach Signature Sale. We offer herewith 4,300 lots of exquisite rare coins for your bidding consideration in this, our 37th major sale as the official auctioneer of the Long Beach Coin Expo. Since 1985, the Long Beach-Heritage partnership has delivered one exceptional sale after another, and this is another spectacular catalog. Quality coins for the most discriminating collector, investor, or dealer can be found on every page. </p>
<p>
The BTB Collection of Buffalo Nickels
The Gem Buffalo Nickels of the BTB Collection were painstakingly acquired over many years by well-known dealer, Stephen G. Slater. "Patience and perseverance was the key to securing this kind of quality for my client," Mr. Slater said. "Fully 95% of the coins I was offered were not the super high-end examples we were seeking in the assembly of this fine collection. For every 20 coins I saw, I passed on 19. It was a lot of hard work over many years to put this set together." Emphasizing exceptional strike and extraordinary eye-appeal, Mr. Slater and his client have succeeded in their goals; the effort speaks for itself when the beauty and quality of this collection is examined. The excellence of these coins has the BTB Collection currently ranked ninth overall on the PCGS Set Registry.</p>
<p>
The Jay Eisenberg Collection of Mercury Dimes
Mr. Eisenberg's interest in coins started in his youth, and ever since he has enjoyed the simple pleasures of adding coins to his collection out of circulation. A life-long collector across denominations, he never-the-less decided six years ago to specialize - to pursue a world-class collection of Mercury Dimes. His long experience had taught him the value of buying the finest quality that he could afford, and to procure the rarer dates as soon as acceptable specimens could be located. By concentrating his resources, he was able to obtain the keys, then the remaining issues, while upgrading whenever possible. Over the six years, probably one-third of his collection was upgraded when a superior specimen was encountered. His recommendation to younger collectors is to "take your time to learn, look at many coins before buying, and then buy the best that you can afford."</p>
<p>
The Philip Kaufman Collection, Part 4
Philip Kaufman is truly an all-American collector; born in Brooklyn but raised and educated in California, he has traveled coast-to-coast in pursuit of the wonderful coins that make up his collection. Mr. Kaufman started collecting coins in the third grade, filling his "old blue album with Lincoln Cents pulled from circulation, and completed, except for the 1922 'No D' and a 1955 Doubled Die." During the early 1980s, Mr. Kaufman started to seriously pursue rare coins, ultimately concentrating on Seated Liberty Proof Quarters, then expanding his interests to Proof Seated Half Dollars and ultimately to all Proof Seated Coinage. His goal was to obtain one of the leading examples of each denomination and date, constantly upgrading as better coins appeared in the marketplace. For more than a decade, he attended coin shows across America, and bid in scores of auctions (purchasing notably pedigreed examples from Eliasberg, Pittman, Norweb, Starr, and Stack). Mr. Kaufman wishes to thank the many dealers who helped in his pursuit of these marvelous coins (especially ANA Governor Barry Stuppler and Mark Yaffe for aiding the quest) and his wonderful wife Cheryl for sharing his collecting passion. We have been offering Mr. Kaufman's coins over several recent Signature Sales.</p>
<p>
The New York "Eye Appeal" Collection
Extraordinary eye-appeal characterizes the coins in this colorful collection of toned silver Dollars. This visually stimulating trove of originally toned treasures was started with the theme of searching for the finest coins in three categories: 1) Flashy high-end, better date, DMPL & PL cameo Dollars; 2) Toned dollars "with killer colors including PLs, DMPLs, and end-of-roll pieces;" and 3) Rarely seen collector dates with great panache. </p>
<p>
The success of the consignor in obtaining such exalted pieces is apparent. Any aficionado of toning will simply love these coins. We were so impressed that we photographed a special selection in the color plates. Each one of these coins is a testament to original toning, to the beautiful array of colors and patterns that occur naturally when the surface of the coin remains pristine and undisturbed. In addition to their amazing patination, the collection is of uniformly high eye-appeal. As the consignor modestly stated, "each coin has zip."</p>
<p>
The Collection of Colonel Carmine A. Penta, Part 2
Colonel Carmine Penta, U.S. Army Retired, assembled a marvelous collection of type coins, plus specialty collections of Walking Liberty Halves, Dollars, and Silver Commemoratives. During his career in Intelligence, Col. Penta had many postings overseas, and it was during his travels that he because fascinated with numismatics. He has now been an active collector for more than two decades, "pursuing American coins because of a strong liking for the enduring values that they represent." Col. Penta declares himself to be "far more attached to the coins than their current price levels," but he has also been astute enough to recognize the importance of pricing trends. He accurately anticipated growing demand for high-quality Washington Quarters and Franklin Halves, and bought actively before prices began to climb. He looked for "mintage opportunities, finding it fascinating to try to outguess the market." In his retirement, Col. Penta enjoys traveling with his lovely wife, Jan, and writing for Coin World. </p>
<p>
The Hans Poetsch Collection, Part 5
From consignor Hans Poetsch comes more wonderful high-grade coins. His complete set of Standing Liberty Quarters anchored our FUN Signature Sale. With numerous high-grade pieces and significant overall eye-appeal, this collection will excite general collectors and specialists. Mr. Poetsch was introduced to the joys of coin collecting in the late 1960s, when he was invited to join a weekly Saturday afternoon pinochle game in the back room of a coin shop in Elgin, Illinois. All of the other players were collectors, and Mr. Poetsch learned the lingo in self-defense! He started collecting Silver Dollars for the same reasons as every other collector - enormous size and history - and made substantial progress toward completing his set. For several years, he was content to work on "filling the little holes in the little coin books." His business interests required more attention during the 1980s, but he used the time wisely to educate himself about these neat pieces of history. When he became serious about his collecting during the 1990s, he began to specialize in Standing Liberty Quarters, because of their artistry and the challenge of locating superlative examples. Unable to attend many auctions in person, he often used an agent, so the significance of his collection has largely been a secret. Mr. Poetsch admits to being accused of being a "hoarder," but the term doesn't quite fit when so many of his coins are in such extraordinary condition. Part four of his important collection contains his "# 1" set; more than a decade in the making, this set is testimony to one numismatist's pursuit of a series noted for its artistry as well as the challenge of locating superlative examples like these.</p>
<p>
The Dennis Ridings Collection
Mr. Ridings was born in the lovely Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, but grew up in Fairfax County. At the age of eight, he received an 1811 Half Cent from his frugal grandfather as payment for pulling weeds. His father took him to Earl Blaisdell's coin shop in Vienna to find out what the unusual coin was worth. Young Dennis was offered $90, and after the shock wore off, he followed his Dad's advice to keep the coin. The experience sparked an interest in these exciting pieces of American history, and he began to help around Earl's shop (getting paid in coins, naturally). He also accompanied Earl to shows in Vienna and Winchester, where he ran errands for many of the dealers of the day, who often paid him in coins (oftentimes in Quarter Eagles and Half Eagles!). As his experience and knowledge grew, he continued to assemble date sets from the bags searched for Earl, but he also began to focus his buying on better type issues.</p>
<p>
After the age of sixteen, Mr. Ridings began to reap the rewards of what had become his "working hobby." He sold coins to buy his first car, a 1967 Mustang fastback. He married, moved back to the Shenandoah, and sold coins to buy 45 acres in Winchester to build a home for his wife and daughter. He sold more coins to start his construction business, specializing in structural steel. Over the years, his construction projects have included many schools, office buildings, shopping centers, and private residences in Virginia; a hospital in Africa; and reinforcement of the West Wing of the White House. Mr. Ridings is perhaps proudest of his efforts to rebuild Reston's Dogwood Elementary School that burned in Nov.2000; heroic efforts by the community and subcontractors resulted in a new building ready for classes after Christmas 2001. Having accomplished all of his collecting goals, his final sale of coins will purchase a beach-front retirement residence in Antigua. His original 1811 Half Cent "will ultimately go to a grandson, perhaps even for pulling weeds."</p>
<p>
The Ira Rosen Collection, Part 2
Ira Rosen is the Senior Producer of Primetime Thursday, and before that, he was a Producer for 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace. His shows have won twenty Emmy awards, and dozens of other honors. Mr. Rosen started collecting rare coins at the age of ten, looking through bank rolls for Indian cents, Buffalo nickels, silver coins, and other curiosities. He sold his "young collection" in the early 1990s, and then began to focus on a more specialized collection. Mr. Rosen, through his many years as a collector, had come to the conclusion that Morgan Dollars were simply the most attractive coins ever produced (and thousands of fellow collectors would agree with him). In Part 1 of his collection, we offered the marvelous proof examples that were "the most attractive embodiment of how a Morgan should look, combining the beauty of the design with the quality of a high-grade strike." Over the years, Mr. Rosen devoted considerable effort developing his expertise on the Morgan series, "learning the facts and looks of each issue." Now, in Part 2, he brings fellow collectors an extraordinary collection of beautiful rainbow dollars that he has been cherrypicking for years. His success continues to be evident when looking at these masterpieces.</p>
<p>
Once again we thank the 72,000+ registered bidder/members on our award-winning website, HeritageCoin.com, for their enthusiastic support of our auctions - and thanks go as well to our many friends who travel to Long Beach three times every year to say "hello," bid enthusiastically, and procure a few treasures for their growing collections. </p>
<p>
Good luck with your bidding! And see you in Long Beach.</p>
<p>
Sincerely,
</p>
Bob Korver
HNAI Director