WALTER HUSAK LARGE CENT COLLECTION TO BE SOLD BY HERITAGE Öffentlichkeit Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 10, Number 23, June 10, 2007, Article 23
WALTER HUSAK LARGE CENT COLLECTION TO BE SOLD BY HERITAGE
Alan V. Weinberg writes: "Walter Husak, large cent collector
extraordinaire of Burbank and Solvang, CA, has consigned his
magnificent Sheldon-numbered early large cent collection to
Heritage Auctions of Dallas for a two night auction scheduled
for the February 2008 Long Beach, CA show."It is the 3rd finest early large cent collection ever formed
in American numismatic history, surpassed only by the R.E. "Ted"
Naftzger collection and the Dr. William H. Sheldon collection,
the latter of which was riddled with coins of questionable origin.
Those two collections were dispersed by private treaty, so this
will be the finest public auction sale of American early large cents."There are, in the collection, 292 of the 295 known Sheldon
numbered varieties of large cents 1793-1814 along with a number
of Non-Collectible varieties. The condition, across the board, is
superb with many finest knowns or high condition census pieces.
The collection has been, from time to time, exhibited by the outgoing
owner, at EAC and Long Beach shows and was exhibited in its entirety
last week at this June's Long Beach show at the Heritage bourse
booth before Heritage wrapped up the collection and transported it
to Dallas for cataloguing."The cataloguing will be done by Heritage staff cataloguer Mark
Borckardt and Florida's well-known large cent expert Denis Loring.
The coins will be slabbed by PCGS before the auction, probably
around this August. At the present, all coins are raw as this is
the preference of Walt and most early copper connoisseurs. But,
truthfully, slabbing protects the coins in transit, exhibition
and lot examination and will appeal to the so-called 'Registry
Set' collectors."The catalogue, as planned, will give the PCGS 'slab grade' and
the EAC census grade. The photography of the coins is still undecided
- Walt is a magnificent large cent photographer and has photographed
all his coins. There is talk that Heritage might want to photograph
the coins after they are slabbed and these pictures would be used
in the auction catalogue. But it seems to Walt and me that his raw
coin photography cannot be surpassed in quality. So a decision on
the catalogue photography is still up in the air."A decision also has to be made as to whether the large cents will
be encased in the new three-pronged slab device which will allow
examination of the early coppers' rims, often lettered or ornamented
and so important to large cent collectors."There are slightly over 300 large cents in the collection and the
catalogue, as foreseen, will have over 400 pages with some important
coins occupying as many as 1 1/2 to 2 pages. A special bound edition
will be created and should be of paramount importance in any
numismatic library."When asked why Walt, still young and healthy at 67, was going to
auction his collection, he responded that he'd 'hit a wall'. There
were only about five coins he still needed and they were unobtainable
in long term collectors' or institutional hands. So he could no
longer add to or markedly improve the collection."The coins will be on exhibit at the August Milwaukee ANA, the
September Long Beach show and the January 2008 FUN Orlando show
before being seen and auctioned finally at the February 2008 Long
Beach show."I am very familiar with Walt's large cents and have examined them
over time and at the Long Beach show. The quality and visual
appearance of the coins is astounding. Surfaces, strike and color
are uniformly superb. They are an early copper collector's dream
and the opportunity to bid on and buy, or even just examine, these
coppers is a distinct pleasure. You never tire of it."[Many thanks to Alan for his write-up on the collection. It's
appearing here a week late because of my travel last weekend.
We'll be looking forward to the catalogue! -Editor]- 2007-06-10
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