Goldberg History

News Archives

1796 Naftzger Part I Coin Breaks Record (9/08)

PCGS.com video interview of Ira Goldberg regarding the Naftzger sale.

Record-Breaking Ray Rouse Half Cent(9/08)

The Ted Naftzger Collection Part I (9/08)

The Ray Rouse Collection (9/08)

The Ohringer Family Trust Collection Part I (5/08)

The Ohringer Collection, Part I, May 2008

Millennia Preview Gallery on NGC Website 3/13/08 ( Click HERE to view our special page of Millennia Articles)

1921 St. Gaudens Changes Hands - 10/11/07

1797 $10 Small Eagle 5/8/07

Proof 1863 $3 Gold 2/27/07

1874-CC Halves 2/20/07

Ableauctions - Pre - Long Beach Results 9/16/06

November 2005 - King of Siam Set sells for $8.5 Million

The greatest of all numismatic properties is the Proof set of United States coins presented to the King of Siam in 1836 by President Andrew Jackson.

In November 2005, Ira and Larry Goldberg sold the King of Siam set privately for $8.5 Million. This was a record-breaking price, as well as the third time the Goldbergs have sold the set, also a record.

The coin set was given as a token of good will between the young, largely rural and agricultural society of America and the ancient, independent Kingdom of Siam.

In 1834, President Jackson directed the Department of State to order the United States Mint at Philadelphia to manufacture in copper, silver, and gold one coin of each type then in use in America. The concept of Liberty is represented by the American eagle, the states are represented by stars, and a bold Miss Liberty (herself inspired by the French Revolution) takes the traditional king’s spot on the front of each coin. All of the coins have verbal proclamations of freedom. The coins were minted near the end of 1834 and housed in a custom-made presentation case of embossed, tawny yellow leather (the royal color of Siam). Slots in the blue-velvet interior of the case originally held the coins, as well as a gold medal showing the likeness of President Jackson.

The set was shipped aboard the USS Peacock in 1835 (the original ship’s log is included with the set), and in April 1836, American diplomat Edmund Roberts presented the set to King Ph’ra Nang Klao. The gift sealed a trade treaty and then disappeared for over a century.

It is thought that Anna Leonowens, the English teacher at the court of Siam who was made famous in the movies “The King and I” and “Anna and the King,” came into possession of the set before her death in 1915. Two women, said to have been Anna’s descendants, sold the set in London in the 1950s, and it was subsequently purchased by David Spink, of Spink & Son, in 1962. Since that time, only a few collectors have possessed the King of Siam set. It returned to America in 1979 and in 1983 was displayed at the Smithsonian Institute. During 1999, it was displayed among the Treasures of the Mandalay Museum, at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas.

This extraordinary set of coins is the world’s Number One numismatic treasure. Each of its owners enters a hallowed place in the annals of collecting.

2/2005 1792 Copper Penny Brings World Record Price

Goldberg Pre Long Beach Sale, Lot 806
Prices Realized - $437,000
February 22, 2005

(Beverly Hills, CA) - "One of the most prized items" in early American coins, the 1792 Judd-2 pattern cent, sold for $437,000 in a Beverly Hills, California auction on February 21, 2005. The successful bidder was Anthony Terranova, a noted early American coin specialist from New York.

The "silver-center cent without the silver" had been kept for decades in an old tobacco canister and was previously unreported until last summer. It was graded PCGS VF30.

"The consignors are descendants of Oliver Wolcott, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a Governor of Connecticut in the 1790s. They said their grandfather kept this coin and a few others in a tin tobacco can," said auctioneer Ira Goldberg of Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles, Inc., Beverly Hills.

"The historical importance of this coin cannot be overstated," said Michael Sherman, Vice President of Professional Coin Grading Service of Newport Beach, California who directed the team of experts who authenticated the coin. 1792 Penny, Reverse

"It is a pattern cent struck at the Philadelphia Mint on December 17, 1792, and it represents the birth of United States coins. It is one of the most prized items in numismatics, and PCGS is delighted to have authenticated it," Sherman stated.

The coin is only the ninth known Judd-2. The owners surprised collectors with its existence last August when they brought the valuable penny to the American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money® convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"When the gentleman first showed me the coin, I recognized what it was 'supposed to be,' even though I had never seen one in person. It had a genuine look to it, but these types of coins are the realm of specialists. I called over John Dannreuther, and he had the same reaction. He liked it," recalled Sherman.

"We took it to Colonial coin specialists, Anthony Terranova of New York City, Robert Rhue of Denver and former ANA President Kenneth E. Bressett of Colorado Springs, who all believed it to be genuine. Then it went to the PCGS grading room to check its weight and be examined by the PCGS team there. It was authenticated and certified PCGS VF30 within an hour of its surprising arrival at the ANA convention."

The chocolate-colored coin bears the date, 1792, the inscription, "PARENT OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY: LIBERTY," and depicts a lady's head facing to right. The lady represents the symbolic Miss Liberty, a common design theme of early United States coins.