Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ Bidders Crush Records at James A. Stack, Sr. Part II Sale

Despite thermometers and precious metals both plunging in recent days, the Stack’s Bowers Galleries sale of Part II of the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection showed that the market in rare coins continues to be extremely hot. More than 75 years since the collection was formed and more than 30 since the last offering of coins from this collection hit the market, the Stack’s Bowers Galleries James A. Stack, Sr. Collection sales of December 2025 and February 2026 have realized more than $28 million. Part II, conducted February 3, exceeded $13 million, as rare Federal gold coins brought strong results and superb private and territorial gold rarities were pursued to levels that surpassed expectations and set several price records.

The sale’s highest price was $2,820,000 for the second finest known 1798 Small Eagle half eagle, one of the most important and storied rarities in the half eagle series. Just seven are thought to exist, of which only five remain in private hands. The James A. Stack, Sr. specimen, graded AU-53 by PCGS, is the only CAC-approved example. Acquired for $3,100 in B. Max Mehl’s 1946 William Cutler Atwater sale, it realized a return on investment of 8.93% annually. The Stack specimen made national headlines when it brought $3,000 in Henry Chapman’s 1912 George H. Earle, Jr., at the time the most valuable coin ever sold.

James A. Stack Sr.’s remarkable 1911-D Indian $10, graded MS-66 (PCGS) CAC, CMQ, set a new auction record for any circulation strike Indian $10 at a stunning $1.8 million, shocking many observers. The Stack 1907 Rounded Rim, Period $10 in PCGS MS-67 CAC, CMQ sold for $900,000, while the 1933 $10, graded PCGS MS-66, brought $960,000.

The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection of private and territorial gold coins was among the finest ever assembled, and portions of it sold in Stack’s auctions between 1990 and 1995. The February 3 auction included a high grade specimen of the legendary 1850 Baldwin Horseman or Vaquero $10, graded MS-61 (PCGS) CMQ, that realized $840,000. Only one example, a PCGS MS-63+ that sold in Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ November 2024 sale, has ever brought more. The extremely rare Templeton Reid $2.50 set a new world record for the issue, as James A. Stack, Sr.’s AU-58 (PCGS) CAC example climbed to $504,000. The rare 1849 Miners’ Bank $10 graded PCGS MS-62 CAC, CMQ sold for a staggering $432,000. This price was not quite double the previous record for the type of $264,000 set for a PCGS MS-61 in a January 2022 sale. The very rare 1851 Baldwin $10 was similarly ascendent, with the AU-58 (PCGS) CMQ piece selling at $240,000, topping the previous record of $172,500 set for a PCGS MS-62 example in 2007. A choice EF-45 (PCGS) CAC, CMQ Oregon $5 brought a very strong $156,000.

Among Federal coins, the 1827 quarter eagle in MS-62+ (PCGS) CAC, CMQ sold for $138,000, nearly as much as the finest known MS-65 (PCGS) Bareford-Pogue coin brought in 2015. The PCGS Price Guide for an MS-62+ coin was just $77,500, $10,500 more than the CAC price guide in the same grade. Stack’s Bowers Galleries sold a PCGS MS-64+ example for $144,000 in 2024. Other highlights included an 1854-S $2.50 rarity in PCGS VG Details ($114,000), an 1879 Flowing Hair $4 Stella in PCGS Proof-65 CAC, CMQ ($228,000), and the magnificent 1828/7 $5 in PCGS MS-64+ CAC, CMQ-X ($630,000). The stunning Proof-69 DCAM (PCGS) 1899 half eagle sold for $228,000.

“We saw that eye appeal paired with a value-adding provenance sets records,” noted John Kraljevich, Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ Director of Numismatic Americana, who cataloged the private gold coins as well as other James A. Stack, Sr. rarities. “When a Norris, Gregg, and Norris $5 in AU-50+ and another in AU-58 are both beautiful, but the AU-50+ brings $10,000 more, we have to look at the impact that a historic provenance has on coins like this. The lower graded piece was owned by Pioneer minter John Glover Kellogg and last sold at auction in 1916. Knowing and describing that history makes collectors want these coins more.” In a similar situation, a MS-63 (PCGS) CAC, CMQ 1849 Moffat $5 that had also been owned by Kellogg brought $114,000, multiples of the PCGS Price Guide for a specimen in that grade.

James A. Stack, Sr. (1887-1951), a New York textile executive who was not related to the Stack’s Rare Coins family, was an advanced collector and numismatist who left instructions that his coins could not be sold until decades after his death. The collector’s legendary eye for quality and rarity was showcased in a variety of Stack’s sales dating back to 1975, each of which has become a classic.

Complete results for the Stack’s Bowers Galleries February 2026 Showcase Auction are available at StacksBowers.com. For more information about The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection or to consign to an upcoming auction, contact the firm by calling 800-458-4646 or by emailing info@stacksbowers.com.