By Greg Cohen – Senior Numismatist, Stack’s Bowers Galleries ……
Among the most distinctive of all coins struck using the gold mined in the American West after it was discovered in 1848 at Sutter’s Mill is the 1850 Baldwin & Co. $10 gold piece, known to collectors as the Vaquero, or “horseman”. One of the finest known examples of this incredibly rare and beautiful type will be featured as part of the extraordinary Robert D. Reed Collection in the Stack’s Bowers November 2024 Showcase Auction.
Robert Reed collected gold coins, primarily United States issues, but with a smattering of ancient and world coins as well. He purchased from Stack’s auctions, fixed price lists, and private over the counter sales, generally between 1986 and 1996. During that decade or so, he quietly assembled an incredible cabinet, the United States portion of which will be offered in our November 2024 Showcase Auction.
Dies by A. Kuner for the Baldwin $10 feature a vaquero (Spanish for “cowboy”) on the obverse in traditional Mexican garb, riding on horseback with a lasso, CALIFORNIA GOLD, TEN DOLLARS. and the date 1850. The reverse displays an eagle similar to that on federal $10 gold pieces, with BALDWIN & Co. above and SAN FRANCISCO. below. Five stars on each side complete the frame around the eagle.
An extremely rare type, there are fewer than two dozen examples thought to survive, most of which are in the AU to lower Mint State range. The finest graded is a PCGS MS64+, a coin for which PCGS CoinFacts does not list a pedigree. The Reed Collection example has been off the market since our (Stack’s) October 5, 1988, sale of Rare and Important United States Gold Coins, and has been recently graded as MS63+ by PCGS. This gorgeous coin was previously part of the extensive John A. Beck Collection sold by Abner Kreisberg in January 1975, where it was lot 714.
Boldly and brilliantly lustrous, the surfaces of this 1850 Baldwin “Horseman” $10 gold piece (lot 3283) are ultra-flashy with a combination of swirling cartwheels and semi-prooflike reflectivity. The devices are impeccably well struck with razor sharp definition throughout. None have sold in auction in a decade, since the MS61 (PCGS) Riverboat Collection example was sold for a record $381,875 in April 2014. The presently offered MS63+ will easily surpass that when the hammer falls.
For more information about consigning to the Stack’s Bowers Galleries November Showcase Auction call 800-458-4646 or email [email protected].
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