Head-Spinning Prices for Stewart Blay’s CAC MS68 Barber Dimes

Of the thousands of CAC-approved coins that publicly sold during the autumn of 2023, some of the most newsworthy results were for MS68 grade Barber dimes from the collection of the late Stewart Blay. His Flying Eagle cents, Indian cents and Barber dimes were auctioned by GreatCollections on November 12 and November 19, 2023. Recently, GreatCollections sold Blay’s Lincoln cents. Indisputably, Blay had the all-time greatest collection of gem quality Lincoln cents.

Did Stewart Blay have the best set of Barber dimes? In terms of originality, grading accuracy and technical factors, Blay’s collection of Barber dimes was superior to Bob Simpson’s set and to any other set that I have seen. I viewed the Barber dimes in the Eliasberg sale by Bowers & Merena in May 1996. Additionally, I examined the epic Hugon Collection of Barber coins that Heritage auctioned in January 2005.

In terms of eye appeal and pizazz, Bob Simpson’s set was better. I found many of Simpson’s Barber dimes to be stunning and/or beautiful. Several of the most naturally appealing business strike Barber dimes, which I have ever seen in any context, were in Simpson’s set.

Also, Simpson had an 1894-S dime, and Blay never did. Blay, though, had a famous 1893-O and many superb Barber dimes from the Eliasberg Collection, which Simpson never had the opportunity to acquire. Indeed, Blay was pursuing gem quality Barber dimes during the twentieth century and Simpson did not begin his set until the twenty-first century.

The originality and technical merits of Blay’s coins were widely recognized during his lifetime. The most newsworthy aspects now are the very strong prices paid for Blay’s Barber dimes that were CAC approved as grading MS- or Proof (PR)-68, on a scale of one to seventy where coins that grade 65 or higher are said to be of gem quality. There are no business strike Barber dimes that grade MS69 and very few Proof Barber dimes have been certified as grading 69.

CAC has not approved even one Barber dime as PR69. CAC has, however, approved thirty-seven as PR68, twenty-four as PR68 Cameo and six as PR68 Deep Cameo. These totals include some coins that PCGS or NGC graded as 68+. Experts at the CAC office in New Jersey ignore the plus aspect of plus grades assigned by PCGS or NGC.

Of the 112 Barber dimes in Blay’s collection, 108 had stickers of approval from CAC. Nine of these 108 were certified as grading 68: MS68, MS68+, MS68PL, PR68 or PR68 Cameo.

The Blay 1892 business strike is one of two of that date graded MS68 by PCGS. The other, which does not have a CAC sticker, was auctioned by Heritage for $33,600 on July 14, 2022. Blay’s 1892 realized $48,950 last November. Market levels for these were about the same in November 2023 as they were in July 2022. Although the CPG^® medium retail estimate for a MS68 grade 1892 dime was raised to $20,000 in July 2022, it could have been raised in 2021.

In my estimation, the medium retail value of a MS68 grade 1892 has been about $22,500 for some time. The CPG^®-CAC medium retail estimate for a CAC approved MS68 grade 1892 dime has been $31,200 for many months, and really should have been $36,000 all along, in my opinion. The $48,950 result for Blay’s 1892 business strike was very strong.

To compute the price realized in a GreatCollections auction, I add 10% to the hammer price, the winning bid. In the history of coin auctions, it is customary to regard credit card surcharges, PayPal percentages, sales taxes, and shipping charges, as additional fees, not components of prices realized. 

Of all the certified 68-grade Barber dimes in the Blay Collection, the PCGS certified PR68 Cameo 1897 brought the second lowest price, $14,300. On October 27, 2014, Heritage auctioned a different CAC approved, PCGS certified PR68 Cameo 1897 for $14,100. Market levels for gem quality Barber dimes were not much higher in 2023, if higher at all, than they were during the period from 2013 to 2015.

As of December 12, 2023, the current CPG^®-CAC medium retail value estimate for a CAC approved PR68 Cameo Barber dime of a common date is $9,380. In my view, the CPG^®-CAC retail value estimate for this 1897 should be $13,000. The $14,100 result was strong, though not very strong. 

Blay’s PR68 1899 realized $36,300. Back on May 17, 2018, Legend auctioned this same coin, apparently in the exact same holder, for $14,100. On June 23, 2014, Heritage auctioned the Eliasberg-Gardner 1899, which was also PCGS certified as PR68 and CAC approved, for $16,450. As of December 14, 2023, the CPG^®-CAC value for this coin is $8,120, which is too low. It should be $17,000, in my view. Indisputably, the $36,300 result was extremely strong.

Blay’s PR68 1907 dime brought the strongest price in this auction. Yes, it is in a PCGS holder with an old green label, from more than two decades ago. Yes, this is the only 1907 dime that has been CAC approved at the PR68 level. Even so, on November 19, 2020, Heritage auctioned Bob Simpson’s 1907 dime, which was PCGS certified as PR67+, and had a CAC sticker, for $5,040. Blay’s PR68 1907 brought $85,250!

On November 1, 2023, the PCGS price guide value of a PR68 1907, presumably this very coin, was lowered from $14,000 to $13,500. While thinking about the $85,250 result for Blay’s 1907, I am at a loss for words. In July 1997, Heritage auctioned a PCGS certified PR68 1907, possibly this same coin, for $5,290.

Stewart Blay had two CAC approved, PCGS certified PR68 1911 dimes. One brought $12,650 and the other realized $15,610. The $12,650 result was the lowest price for a certified 68-grade Barber dime in the Blay collection, though it was still a newsworthy price. On December 6, 2019, Heritage auctioned a PCGS certified PR68 1911, without a CAC sticker, for $3,600. On March 21, 2019, Legend auctioned a different PCGS certified PR68 1911, without a CAC sticker, for $8,518.75.

An especially newsworthy result in this sale was for the Simpson-Blay 1911 business strike dime, which was PCGS graded MS68+ and CAC approved. On December 18, 2014, Legend auctioned this same PCGS graded MS68+ 1911 for $30,550. In November, it brought $79,750, more than two and a half times as much!

As the 1911 dime is a common coin, demand was generated by collectors building gem quality type sets. It is one of three Barber dimes of any date that have been PCGS graded as MS68+. In New Jersey, CAC experts ignore the plus aspect of plus grades assigned by PCGS or NGC. Would CACG experts in Virginia grade this 1911 as MS68 or MS68+?

The PCGS certified MS68PL 1893-O

dime is one of the most talked about of all Barber dimes. Prooflike or not, the 1893-O is a much better date. CAC has approved 137 business strike 1911 dimes in MS64 and higher grades, and just 23 1893-O dimes in MS64 and higher grades, about one-sixth as many. 

Was the $137,500 result for the Blay Collection 1893-O surprising? I was not really surprised. I was shocked by the already mentioned auction results for 1907 and 1911 Proofs. Furthermore, the price realized of nearly $50,000 for an 1892 dime was a little startling. There were, however, some exceptional values and many less expensive Barber dimes in Blay’s set.

Building a true gem set of Barber dimes is not that difficult. Many appealing business strikes cost less than $600 in MS65 grade. Regarding CAC approved MS65 to MS66 grade business strikes, only about a half-dozen dates in the set retail for more than $6,000 each. For twenty-three of twenty-six dates in Proof, including 1899, 1907, and 1911, the CPG^® medium retail estimate for a CAC approved PR66 Barber dime is $1,500.   

Copyright ©2023 Greg Reynolds

Insightful10@gmail.com

Images courtesy of GreatCollections.