1854-S Quarter Eagle, Ex: Norweb, Readies For Sale In Pittsburgh Via Heritage Auctions

Part of Heritage Auctions’ official event, Oct. 13-14, at the ANA Fall National Money Show

DALLAS, TX -- A rare 1854-S two and a half dollar gold piece, graded VF35 by PCGS and pedigreed to the famous Norweb Collection, is among the premier lots in Heritage Auctions’ upcoming U.S. Coins Signature® event at the Fall National Money Show, with floor sessions scheduled for Oct. 13-14 in Pittsburgh, PA. The coin is the most prestigious in The Baltimore Collection, Part Two, an impressive collection of Liberty quarter eagles.

“Only a dozen or so 1854-S quarter eagles are known, out of a tiny mintage of just 246 pieces,” said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage. “Many famous collections have established their reputations in part by owning an example of the 1854-S, and the date’s presence in The Baltimore Collection reflects the collection’s overall importance.”

One such collection was put together by a wife-and-husband team, Emery May (Holden) Norweb and the Honorable R. Henry Norweb, an American diplomat and later ambassador. The Norweb Collection had its roots in the coin cabinet Mrs. Norweb worked on with her father, Albert Holden, while she was a girl. Two decades later, in the 1930s, she and her husband began building their own collection, soon augmented with the Albert Holden coins.

Through most of the 1950s and into the early 1960s, starting a few years after Mr. Norweb retired from the diplomatic corps, the couple acquired a series of ultra-rarities: they bought their 1854-S quarter eagle at auction in 1954. The Norwebs were famous for donating important coins to various museums and institutions, but the 1854-S quarter eagle stayed in the collection until their deaths; it was one of the centerpieces when the Norweb Collection was sold at auction in the late 1980s.

“This is only the fourth auction appearance for the Norweb specimen,” said Rohan. “The Norwebs bought the coin out of the Davis-Graves auction in 1954. As part of the Norweb Collection, it sold again in 1988. It was in the Richmond Collection when that cabinet was auctioned in 2004. Heritage has sold five other examples of the 1854-S, and we are proud to add this coin to our roster of important sales.”

The Baltimore Collection, Part Two contains a number of other important Liberty quarter eagle rarities. The vast majority of the coins are circulation strikes, but the consignor made exceptions for the two famous proof-only issues of the series. The 1841 quarter eagle, PR55 NGC is of similar rarity to the 1854-S quarter eagle and is nicknamed “The Little Princess” by collectors. The 1863 quarter eagle, PR63 Cameo NGC, has a mintage of just 30 pieces, about half of which are known today.