About The D. Brent Pogue Collection

Stack's Bowers Galleries and Sotheby's welcome you to our auction program of The D. Brent Pogue Collection of early United States coins. Formed over the decades from the 1970s to the present, the collection offers the finest of the fine, the rarest of the rare, and is expected to be the most valuable collection of United States coins ever sold.

The collection is composed of over 650 copper, silver and gold coins, and will be presented in a series of auction sales at Sotheby's global New York City beginning May 19, 2015. Each will be a world-class event and we invite you to participate!

The collection was started in the 1970s by D. Brent Pogue with the active participation and encouragement of his father, Dallas real estate developer A. Mack Pogue. Brent began the careful study of early American coins as a teenager and soon after, Mack and Brent were familiar faces in auction galleries whenever the most significant or finest known examples were crossing the block.

When the Garrett Collection, the finest collection formed in the 19th century, was consigned to us by The Johns Hopkins University and auctioned from 1979 to 1981, Brent and Mack were on hand to study and preview it. When the Louis E. Eliasberg Collection, the only cabinet to have one of each and every date and mintmark of United States coin from the 1793 half cent to the 1933 double eagle, was auction by us in a series of sales from 1982 to 1997, Brent and Mack previewed the coins and were among the most active buyers and bidders. From the Eliasberg sales they acquired the only 1822 $5 gold half eagle and the only 1854-S half eagle in private hands.

The D. Brent Pogue Collection is now replete with some of the most famous rarities known.

Half cents include Mint State examples of the first year of issue, 1793, and the rarest of the rare 1796 coins—one with pole to cap and the other without pole—the finest known 1794, the finest 1811 and more.

Large cents are among the finest known of the three 1793 types—Chain, Wreath, and Liberty Cap—gems of other early years, the only Mint State 1799 in existence (the famous Henry Hines specimen), and the finest of a number of other varieties including 1823 and 1839/6.

Half dimes begin with a gem 1792 half disme and continue to include other early dates, nearly all superb gems. Dimes follow suit from the 1790s through the 1830s, gem Mint State and for many years, gem Proofs. Quarter dollars begin with a gem of the first year of issue, 1796, and continue through the 1830s with incredible coins, Mint State and Proof, including the landmark 1827.

Half dollars are the finest ever offered—with choice and gem coins from 1794 onward—including marvelous gems of the three varieties of 1796 and 1797 and Proofs of the early 19th century, not to overlook an 1838-O that is tied for the finest known.

Silver dollars begin with a gem 1794 and continue to include gems of both 1795 types and other delights of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, capped by the very finest known example of "The King of American Coins," a superb gem Proof 1804, once presented by the United States government to the Sultan of Muscat. Keeping it company is another Class I 1804 dollar, the Dexter specimen, also among the finest examples of the most famous American rarity.

Gold quarter eagles from 1796 into the 1830s include choice and gem Mint State coins—including a gem 1808—as well as Proofs. Incredible!

Half eagles from 1795 onward are the finest ever offered and include all of the rarities, all of which are among the finest known or the very finest. The 1822, the only example in private hands (the other two are part of the National Numismatic Collection in the Smithsonian Institution), is the finest known and is the Brand-Eliasberg coin. The 1854-S is the finest of only two known (the other is in the National Numismatic Collection), and was produced by the San Francisco Mint in its first year of operation during the very height of the California Gold Rush. Words cannot do justice to these early coins.

Eagles or $10 gold coins from 1795 to 1804 are replete with choice and gem coins, again of incredible quality.

Coin for coin, no other collection ever formed—not even the Eliasberg Collection or the National Numismatic Collection in the Smithsonian Institution—can compare or even come close to the quality of the D. Brent Pogue Collection.

The term once in a lifetime opportunity has never been more appropriate than now.

Rarities Auction Accompanying the D. Brent Pogue Collection

Stack’s Bowers Galleries will be hosting an exclusive Rarities Auction, held in conjunction with The D. Brent Pogue Collection. We will be accepting limited consignments of United States and world coins and paper money, featured in a spectacular catalog reserved for the rarest of the rare. Special terms will apply. If you are interested in participating in this unique opportunity, please call 949-748-4849 or email us at [email protected].

Alternatively, you can fill out our online consignment form. Click here to view the form.