1820 50C O-105 MS(PCGS#39567)

August 2015 Mail Bid Auction 41

Auctioneer

Sheridan Downey

Lot Number

38

Grade

MS62

Price

7,741

Lot Description

Ex Elton Dosier, Gehring Prouty Charles De Olden and Steven Nomura. I’ll not forget the day that Elton Dosier brought his set of 1820’s to my home in Oakland. It was sometime around 1995. He laid the 7 raw coins, O.101 through O.107, on a black velvet pad. The ever modest owner was clearly pleased with his accomplishment. He graded each coin either AU or UNC. Numerical grades were foreign to Elton. Henry Hilgard and I hovered over them, picked them up, rolled them in the light and gently put them down. Silence prevailed. We were in awe. The coin dealer in me broke the silence with a pronouncement, “Elton, those are liquid `20s!” Henry laughed. He knew what I meant. In the market place the coins were liquid assets, as good as cash. In the years to follow Henry and I often recalled that day and our introduction to Elton’s “liquid 20s.” We lost Elton in the spring of 1997. His widow, Dorothy, asked me to sell his collection. Gehring Prouty made it his business to see that the best and rarest coins stayed in California. He selected 90 pieces from the Dosier Collection and made Dorothy an offer she could not refuse. The 1820 O.105 was in that group. Gehring’s tenure was distressingly short. He passed away in 1999, age 51. His legendary collection of eye-popping bust halves came to market at the August 2000 ANA Convention in Philadelphia. Pandemonium reigned. My bourse tables were engulfed by collectors who knew they were part of a once in a lifetime opportunity. I limited each collector to 10 coins. Dealers were asked to wait until collectors departed with empty pocketbooks. Chuck De Olden latched onto the 1820 O.105, still in its wild, raw state. He eventually sent it to NGC where it graded MS 63. In 2006, when De Olden chose to sell his capped bust halves, he graciously asked me to help. We spent a memorable weekend at his family compound in Virginia, going over his coins. They made their appearance at the 2006 Atlanta ANA and the 2007 FUN Show. Steve Nomura added the 1820 O.105 to his collection during the FUN Show. When he sent it to PCGS this year his reward was a 1 point demotion. (The NGC MS 63 label accompanies this lot.) The coin, needless to say, is remarkable. You’ll not see a better struck 1820. Every curl, feather, leaf, claw and star is fully impressed. The lightly toned surfaces are mildly prooflike. In a word, WOW! Est. $3,500 to $5,000.