SEDWICKCOINS BLOG

Live on the Internet, Wednesday-Friday, May 4-6, 2022

Welcome to our 31st Treasure Auction, a sale filled with many historical numismatic rarities from many eras all across the world!

We start off Session I with Gold Cobs, featuring a selection of excellent certified Mint State gold escudos from the 1715 Fleet including a Lima, Peru 8 escudos dated 1713 M (lot 44), two different types of the Mexico 8 escudos 1714 J GRAT variety: one with 1714 on the reverse and the other with 1714/GRATon the obverse (lots 33 and 34), a Lima, Peru 8 escudos 1709 M with HISPANIA legend variety from the Pullin Collection, and the finest known Bogotá, Colombia 2 escudos dated 1712 (lot 60). Among the non-Fleet shipwreck gold cobs, we have the rare Lima, Peru 8 escudos dated 1715 M from the Loosdrecht (1719) along with a Lima, Peru 4 escudos dated 1750 R with the cross side struck from an 8 escudos die recovered from the Luz (1752).

 Our Shipwreck Ingots section contains several notable pieces including an impressive early New World “tumbaga” gold bar weighing 1,222 grams from the “Tumbaga Wreck” (ca. 1528) (lot 65), a beautiful gold disk weighing 216.4 grams from the 1715 Fleet (lot 69), and two cut segments of gold “finger” bars from the Atocha (1622) (lots 67 and 68). These gold bars, along with the massive silver bars and numerous coins in this sale, are sure to attract significant interest given this year being the 400th anniversary of the sinking of the Atocha and Santa Margarita on Sept. 6th, 1622 off the Florida Keys. Most notable among the section Shipwreck Coins (1500s-1650s) is the 1622-dated Seville, Spain cob 2 escudos from the Santa Margarita, which is a cover coin in Duncan Mathewson’s iconic work, Treasure of the Atocha (1986) (lot 169) along with a partially dated and graded Seville, Spain cob 2 escudos from the Atocha, plus a choice, fully dated Bogotá, Colombia cob 4 reales dated 1622 A, pedigreed to both the Atocha Research Collection and the Pat Johnson Collection (lot 164). Other important lot offered under Shipwreck coins (1660s-1740s) include a Potosí, Bolivia cob 8 reales dated 1714 Y from the pirate ship Whydah (1717) (lot 271), a large variety of reales from the ever-popular 1715 Fleet, finally under Shipwreck Coins (1750s-1900s) there is a US $20 double eagle dated 1861 from the SS Pewabic (1865) (lot 345). 

As we start Session II with Mexico Silver Cobs, we’re pleased to host our first offering of

selections from the Clyde Hubbard Collection of Charles-Joanna Coinage as lots 360 to 494, including the finest-ever offering of “Late Series” 1/2R. This collection, assembled by the late expert numismatist over 70-plus years, represents his life’s work in acquiring New World rarities such as the finest graded “Early Series” 3 reales of assayer R (lot 366), the rare “Late Series” 4 reales of assayer S (lot 428), and a high grade “Early Series” 2 reales with assayer R (Latin variety) (lot 368). In Lima Silver Cobs we have a rare and choice Philip II 4 reales of assayer X (lot 548) in addition to other Lima cob rarities. Potosí Silver Cobs contains a large selection of rare Royals, from the finest NGC-graded 8 reales Royal dated 1729 M to the elusive 8 reales Royal dated 1712 Y. Pay particular attention to the two unique Potosi “Hearts” of the sale: a 1720 Y 4 reales Heart from the Pat Johnson Collection and the 1721 Y 4 reales Heart plated in the Practical Book of Cobs.

The second day of our auction starts with World Coins, containing Latin American gold rarities such as the finest La Rioja, Argentina 8 escudos dated 1845 RB (lot 679), the very rare Argentina 1834 P 8 escudos (lot 668), and the exquisite and finest prooflike Santiago, Chile 10 pesos dated 1863/2 (lot 720). Several impressive Spanish rarities in the sale include the very rare Seville-minted gold 4 escudos of Charles II dated 1700 M (lot 1107), the difficult Segovia-minted gold 8 escudos of Philip V dated 1721/19 F (lot 1109), and the Mint State Madrid-minted gold 320 reales de vellon of Ferdinand VII dated 1822 SR (lot 1130).

  In Session IV, the Medals and Decorations offering contains several important pieces such as the Philippines gilt-silver medal of Charles III from 1782 engraved by Gerónimo Antonio Gil (lot 1218), the Peru silver-plated bronze essai medal dated 1824 commemorating the Liberation of Ayacucho (lot 1216), and the Guatemala silver proclamation medal of Ferdinand VII from 1808 (lot 1207). We’re excited to offer the second part of Admiral Vernon medals from the John Adams Collection here as well. Following that, in U.S. Coins, we have a strong assortment of better and high grade Morgan dollars in the Blakewood Collection as well as other rarities like the 1851 San Francisco Standard Mint nickel alloy pattern $5 (lot 1267) and the Dahlonega gold $5 half eagle 1841-D with very rare tall mintmark variety (lot 1227). You’ll notice that there is no US and World Paper Money following US coins; we are hosting our first ever exclusive US and World Paper Money Auction on July 1st of this year. Interested consignors should contact us by May 31st to take advantage of our new auction.

 Several important and beautifully designed rarities are present in Ancient Coins like the Aegina silver stater from 350-338 BC with a high relief land tortoise design (lot 1272), the Carthage gold stater from 320-310 BC formerly in the British Museum Collection (lot 1289), and the Byzantine gold solidus of Justinian II with a well-defined depiction of Christ (lot 1297). Coin Jewelry is decorated with lots of shipwreck coins in mounts ready for wearing, including a Lima, Peru gold cob 8 escudos dated 1711 M from the 1715 Fleet (lot 1304) and a Grade 1 Potosi, Bolivia cob 4 reales of assayer Q from the Atocha (1622) (lot 1326).

 Our Shipwreck Artifacts hosts several amazing and rare pieces recovered from the 1715 Fleet: an intact gold and red-coral rosary (lot 1364), a 56” long gold olive blossom chain (lot 1365), and a historically significant 20-karat gold ring engraved inside with the Prayer of Saint Zacharias (lot 1366). Within Non-Wreck Artifacts, there’s a veritable antique armory of two cannons (lots 1381 and 1382) along with several European flintlock pistols of various designs and calibers (lots 1384 to 1389). On the third day, the Express Session VI contains almost 500 lots of coins, medals, and artifacts drawn from all categories.                              

  We hope you enjoy this auction and walk away with some new treasures for your collection; our sincere thanks to all consignors who made this possible!                                

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Article: The Clyde Hubbard Collection of Charles-Joanna Coinage

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Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC / Licensed Florida Auctioneer #AU3635, AB2592 (since 2007)
P.O. BOX 1964 | Winter Park, Florida 32790 | Phone: 407.975.3325 | Fax: 407.975.3327 www.SedwickCoins.com

Live In-Person & on the Internet, Thursday-Friday & Monday, November 4-5 & 8

We’re excited to host our first live floor auction since the beginning of the pandemic over a year and a half ago. While our past three online-only sales were immensely successful and record-breaking, we missed visiting with the many bidders that attend our live floor auctions. There’s something to be said about bidding on and seeing these treasures in person, which is why we’re grateful to be at this point.

Session I begins with Gold Cobs, which hosts a number of choice 1715 Fleet coins including a 1711 J Mexico cob 8 escudo Royal (lot 16), an extremely rare 1714 Mexico cob 8 escudos struck with a Royal obverse die (lot 18), one of the nicest 1712 Lima 8 escudos we’ve ever handled (lot 29), and a fascinating 1702 Bogotá cob 2 escudos with the date rendered as “2071” reading outward (lot 63). Notable non-wreck gold cobs in this section include a 1698/7 M Seville 8 escudos plated in both Calicó and Tauler reference works (lot 14), plus a rare and unlisted 1751 S Bogotá cob 8 escudos (lot 58). The latter is pedigreed to the featured Fernandina Collection, a curated group of some very high grade and rare gold cobs, both wreck and non-wreck, that will no doubt attract much attention.

The Shipwreck Ingots section is strongly influenced by lots from the Atocha (1622) due to next year’s 400th anniversary of the sinking. We feature one impressive gold “finger” bar (lot 67) from the wreck alongside a total of five large silver ingots (lots 71-75). Coins from the Atocha feature prominently in Shipwreck Coins with some 70+ lots up for bidding, including a very rare Lima cob 2 reales Philip II assayer X (lot 87). Other lots of note include coins from the Capitana (1654) and Maravillas (1656) wrecks pedigreed to the Mastalir Collection of Countermarked Potosí cobs, a wide selection of Dutch portrait and rider ducatoons from the Akerendam (1725)(lots 288-332), our first offering of an NGC-graded Mexico cob 8 reales from the pirate ship Whydah (1717)(lot 280), and an assortment of world and US gold coins salvaged from the popular SS Central America (1857)(lots 396-406).

In Mexico Silver Cobs, we offer several extremely rare cob 8 reales Royals like a 1613 F (lot 424), a 1706 J (lot 430), and a 1715 J (lot 432) in addition to a desirable 1728/6/5 D pedigreed to the Rooswijk (1739). Lima Silver Cobs hosts the quite rare 1686 R Lima cob 8 reales Royal (Lot 490) in addition to several other rare types. Many more rare Royals can be found in the Potosí Silver Cobs section including a very difficult to acquire 1656 E Potosí cob 8 reales Royal (lot 635). Bidders’ hearts will be beating strongly for lots 741 and 808 – the finest and only graded 1696 VR cob 4 reales and 1734 E cob 1 real Hearts. Two key collections within this session are the Barry Stallard Research Collection of Early Lima, La Plata and Potosí Cobs (see lot 505 for the immensely rare La Plata piece) and the Jorge Ugaz Collection of Potosí Cob 8 and 4 Reales.

On the second day of the auction, the wide selection found in World Coins should draw spirited bidding from all over the world. Such rarities there include a fresh-to-the-market Japanese proof 20 sen dated Meiji year 13 (1880)(lot 1173), two Segovia-minted rarities – a gold 4 excelentes of Ferdinand-Isabel (lot 1276) and a massive 50 reales cincuentín dated 1620 (only our second offering of this rare denomination!) (lot 1315), and the finest NGC-graded 1745 MF Mexico pillar 8 reales (lot 1184). Also an special selection of gold Chilean coins recovered from La Luz wreck (854-865). The presence of a 1621 A Cartagena (Colombia) cob 8 reales from the “Dry Tortugas wreck” (1622) as lot 885 is especially fitting as this year is the 400th anniversary of the striking of these first coins from the mint in Cartagena – an event we will be celebrating in December while attending the Cartagena Numismatic Congress.

We are very pleased to offer several collections within this session: the exclusive J.O.B. Collection of Seville Gold Coins (lots 1251-1275) packed with many finest and only known graded pieces, the Tamarindo Collection of Costa Rican Error Coins and Paper Money, and Part II of the Antigua Collection of Guatemalan Cobs.

One further collection to note is the John Adams Collection of Admiral Vernon Medals in Medals and Decorations. His feature article preceding the lots explains his personal collecting journey how this top-notch collection came to be.

U.S. Coins and Paper Money hosts some branch-mint gold coins from Dahlonega (lot 1411) and Charlotte (lot 1415) plus some popular early American currency like the 1798 Draped Bust silver dollar (lot 1419), the 1794 Flowing Hair large cent (lot 1434), and the grade-rarity 1777-dated South Carolina $20 colonial note (1451). World Paper Money contains some desirable type notes such as the Argentina 1 peso remainder of 1827-9 with portraits of Washington and Bolívar (lot 1456), the rare Cartagena (Colombia) Estado Soberano de Bolívar 10 pesos note of 1885 (lot 1459), and the spectacular Banco Internacional de Costa Rica 100 colones error note dated to the year “2931” (lot 1464).

Following an assortment of popular Greek, Roman, and Byzantine coinage designs in Ancient Coins, the Coin Jewelry section offers a wealth of mounted Atocha (1622) silver coins (lots 1540-1568) plus a visually impressive 1714 J Mexico gold cob 8 escudos in a special 1715 Fleet pendant setting (lot 1537).

Shipwreck Artifacts has many interesting salvaged items such as a pocket sundial from the HMS Winchester (1695), previously seen in a 1977 issue of National Geographic magazine (lot 1589), as well as an ornate gold toothpick from the 1715 Fleet (lot 1590). Finally, some notable lots in Non-Wreck Artifacts include an arsenal of flintlock pistols (lots 1605-1610) plus a long Spanish miquelet officer’s musket (lot 1604). The following Monday, we end the auction with an Express session with 400+ lots of lower priced coins, currency, and artifacts.

We wish you the best of luck in bidding, whether online or in person, with special thanks to all of our consignors!

The Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC team:
Daniel Sedwick, Agustín (Augi) García-Barneche, Cori Sedwick Downing, Connor Falk

Strong bids for rare world and shipwreck coins surpassed $4.07 million in Daniel Frank Sedwick’s May 7, 8, & 10 Treasure Auction 29. This is a new record for the auction firm and an indicator of a robust market for collectible coins and currency.

The top selling coin in the sale was the single finest Mexico City-struck cob 8 reales Royal dated 1730 that realized $102,000 on a pre-sale estimate of $35,000 and up. A numismatic rarity, the coin has an overdate 1730/28/5 plus the king’s name and ordinal reworked with PHILIPPVS V over LVDOVICS I. It was graded by NGC as AU 58 which is rare among all Spanish colonial Royals as almost all known examples were holed and some even gilded shortly after minting.

The top gold coin sold was a Bogota, Colombia gold 4 escudos dated 1826JF graded NGC MS 64 that realized $72,000. It boasts a pedigree to the Esmeralda Collection, a curated group of some of the finest early post-independence Colombian gold and silver coins, that was sold in the auction along with special NGC labels. This 1826JF 4 escudos also held pedigrees to the famous R.L. Lissner and Eliasberg collections as well.

The Esmeralda Collection also contained the single finest graded “Libertad Americana” Bogota, Colombia silver 8 reales dated 1819JF graded NGC MS 64. This scarce and desirable piece is the first “crown” coin of independent Colombia. A fight amongst several bidders ended with the coin selling for $57,000 on an estimate of $25,000 and up.

“Results for Latin American coins were outstanding and record-breaking,” said Daniel Frank Sedwick, president and founder of the company, “Given low mintages and survival rates, I believe collectors realize that their opportunity to own some of the finest examples may only come that one time during our auction – and they are bidding accordingly.”

It was not just coins that ruled the auction. A 22-1/4 karat Colombian gold bar weighing 358 grams recovered in 1985 by salvager Mel Fisher from the wreck of the Spanish galleon Atocha realized over double its start price to sell for $66,000. A similarly rare and desirable Seville, Spain gold cob 2 escudos graded PCGS AU 58 from the Atocha sold for $39,000 on a $10,000 to $15,000 estimate.

Other top lots in the sale include:

–          A Mexico City, Mexico, silver cob 8 reales Royal dated 1607F graded NGC XF details / holed, ex-Rudman, sold for $54,000.

–          A Segovia, Spain gold milled 8 escudos dated 1721/19F graded NGC AU 58+ and the finest known in the NGC census sold for $54,000.

–          A Mexico City cob 8 reales Royal dated 1714J and graded NGC AU details / environmental damage plus the distinction as the only known Royal 8 reales recovered from the 1715 Fleet sold for $46,500.

–          A Cuzco, Peru, gold cob 1 escudo, dated 1698M and graded NGC AU 58 sold for $45,000.

–          A Potosi, Bolivia, silver cob 2 reales, dated 1733E, with a unique heart design as made, sold for $36,000.

–          A Mexico City, gold cob 8 escudos, dated 1714J, graded NGC MS 62 recovered from a 1715 Fleet shipwreck, ex-Ullian, sold for $34,800.

–          A Lima, Peru, gold cob 8 escudos, dated 1712M, graded NGC MS 62 recovered from a 1715 Fleet shipwreck, sold for $31,200.

–          A Quito, Ecuador, silver 4 reales dated 1844MV-A graded NGC MS 65, finest known in the NGC census, ex-Lissner, sold for $31,200.

–          A United States silver Draped Bust dollar dated 1796 with small date and large letters (Bolender-4) graded NGC VF 30 sold for $7,200.

The auction firm’s next sale will be the Nov. 3-5, 2021 Treasure Auction 30 held live online and in person in Orlando, Florida. Consignments are now being accepted for that auction through August 14^th; interested consignors should email the company at office@sedwickcoins.com or call 407.975.3325.

We can travel to you to you or you can consign in person at these upcoming Coin Shows:

• July 7-10, 2021 FUN Summer Coin Show – Orlando, Florida

• August 10-14, 2021 ANA World’s Fair of Money, Rosemont, Illinois.