Market Analysis: Final Pogue presentation generates $15.343 million

By Steve Roach , Coin World

Published: Apr 14, 2020, 9 AM

D. Brent Pogue’s MS-66 1932 Washington quarter dollar is from the first year of production. It has a green CAC sticker and realized $4,800 on March 20.

Original images courtesy of Stack’s Bowers Galleries.

PCGS has graded 253 1932 Washington quarters in MS-66, which typically bring $700 to $800. Pogue's MS-66 piece, with toning described as “most vivid, varied and expansive on the obverse, where particularly impressive shades of sea green, olive-gold, lilac and salmon pink are seen," generated $4,800.

Images courtesy of Stack's Bowers Galleries.

The final installment of Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ presentation of the D. Brent Pogue Collection, subtitled “Masterpieces of United States Coinage, Part VII,” saw $15.343 million in sales across 421 lots on March 20. The auction was moved to the firm’s Southern California headquarters due to the COVID-19 related cancellation of the Whitman Baltimore Expo where the auction was originally scheduled.

The last-minute venue change did little to restrain bidding excitement for Pogue’s Washington quarter dollar collection, with examples selected both for numeric grade and for eye appeal.

The year 1932 marked the start to the series, and Pogue’s example, graded Mint State 66 by Professional Coin Grading Service, with a green Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker, featured gorgeous toning described as “most vivid, varied and expansive on the obverse, where particularly impressive shades of sea green, olive-gold, lilac and salmon pink are seen.”

As a first year of a new design, many representatives were saved at the time in high Mint State grades — PCGS has graded 253 in Mint State 66 — but Pogue’s was noteworthy for its tremendous eye appeal. It realized $4,800, significantly more than the $700 to $800 that comparably graded representatives typically bring.

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