Mercury Dimes and Dahlonega Gold Highlight McCarthy Collection in Heritage's Long Beach Signature Auction

Dallas, TX: An important, eclectic collection of coins assembled by Dr. Frank McCarthy will be offered by Heritage Auction Galleries at their February Long Beach Signature auction, the official auction of the Long Beach Coin Expo. The auction will be held February 14-17, 2007.

Explained Heritage President Greg Rohan: "Dr. McCarthy, who hails from San Francis­co, began collecting coins in 1991 to break the boredom of retirement. He first got excited over gold coins, and immersed himself in gold. He became a more serious numismatist about five years ago, and began to pursue rarities from the Dahlonega Mint (selections are included in this auction). He has several continuing collections, and looks forward to selecting new collecting areas in the future. Dr. McCarthy's Long Beach consignment is particularly strong in Mercury dimes and gold dollars, but the consignment ranges from Two cents to Territorials. We are pleased to offer these exciting coins from a very exciting collector."

Dr. McCarthy has had a series of widely ranging careers that in some ways reflect his approach to collecting - pursuing varying paths as they interest him. "I have been a fighter pilot in Vietnam, a restauranteur, a hostage negotiator, and a coin collector. In my career as an industrial psychologist, I consulted on matching man, motion, and machines, to save steps in many different production processes."

"My approach to coins," noted Dr. McCarthy, "is to enthusiastically climb to the top of the mountain and then get rid of them! I intend to continue this cycle until the day I lose my enthusiasm - which is nowhere in sight at this time."

Highlights from the Dr. Frank J. McCarthy Collection:

1919-D Mercury dime, MS65 Full Bands NGC
Rarely encountered in Gem condition with fully detailed crossbands, with none certified finer.

1945 Mercury dime, MS66 Full Bands NGC
Full Bands examples account for only 3% of all Mint State survivors, and most of those are below Gem grade (and currently bettered by only one piece).

1856-D Gold $1, AU58 PCGS. Variety 8-K.
This is one of the foremost rarities in the gold dollar series, with a low survival rate from a paltry mintage of 1,460 pieces.

1858-D gold $1, MS62 NGC. Variety 10-M.
Just 3,477 of these were struck at the Dahlonega Mint, and only 9 have been certified finer.

1851 Humbert Fifty Dollar, 880 Thous.-- XF Details. K-2, R.5
Since Augustus Humbert was the United States Assayer of Gold in California in 1851, there is logic to also including these $50 'slugs' as part of the regular U.S. coinage.

Images, descriptions, and prices realized from all of Heritage's previous auctions are available in the Permanent Auction Archives at the Heritage website, www.HA.com.

To reserve a copy of the catalog for any upcoming Heritage auction, please contact Nicole Jewell, c/o Heritage Auction Galleries, 3500 Maple Avenue, 17th Floor, Dallas, TX 75219, or call 1-800-872-6467, ext. 272.