Washington presentation coin selling without reserve
A gold coin, which research shows was struck for and carried by President George Washington, will come to the auction block Aug. 16 through Heritage Auctions for only the third time in its history. The net proceeds from the sale of this coin will benefit charities.
LOS ANGELES – A one-of-a-kind gold coin believed to have once been a cherished memento of U.S. President George Washington will be sold without reserve at an August auction during the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia. It is only the third time in its history that this piece has been offered at public auction.
Eyes on Presentation Gold Eagle
Research strongly suggests the 1792 Washington President gold eagle was expressly struck for, presented to, and carried by George Washington. Furthermore, a 1792 letter to Washington located in 2010 provides compelling evidence that the coin was struck for Washington in Newburyport, Massachusetts, by polymath Jacob Perkins, rather than in England as previously believed.
“The Washington President gold eagle is both unique and monumentally important, being the earliest gold pattern submitted for consideration as a United States coin,” said Jim Halperin, Co-Founder of Heritage Auctions, which will auction the coin in August for the first time in 128 years. “Numismatic researchers widely agree that it is almost certainly George Washington’s own pocket piece.”
Both in 1875 and 1890, its only previous public auctions, the gold coin was described as likely struck for Washington and carried by him. Since its creation in 1792, this gold coin has been held by Washington himself and the most elite numismatists. In 1933, “Col.” E.H.R. Green, son of the “Witch of Wall Street,” Hetty Green, purchased it privately for more than $2,500, a huge sum in his day. Eric P. Newman acquired the coin in 1942, and it has not changed hands since.
Numerous Benefits of Newman's Collecting
Newman died in 2017 at the age of 106 and is best known as the most gifted and admired numismatic scholar, author and researcher of his era, as well as for creating what experts consider one of the nation’s most significant coin collections. Since 2013, more than 19,000 lots from Newman’s collection have sold for over $72.9 million at auctions conducted by Heritage, with all net proceeds benefiting various charities.
The 1792 Washington President gold eagle coin will be auctioned Aug. 16 by Heritage during the American Numismatic Association’s annual World’s Fair of Money Convention; 100 percent of the net proceeds will benefit charitable causes.
