Heritage Auctions NYINC Platinum Session World & Ancient Coins Signature® Auction Realizes $18,466,337, Part of a Remarkable Start to 2025 for Numismatics

By the time the auction hammer fell for the final time in Heritage's January 13 NYINC Platinum Session World & Ancient Coins Signature® Auction, demand drove the so-called "unicorn coin" of the entire series of South African coins to $2.16 million to lead the auction to $18,466,337.

A Republic gold "9" Pond 1898 MS63 Prooflike NGC from the Gatsby Collection soared past pre-auction expectations to lead the event, selling for a staggering $2.16 million, making it the most valuable South African coin ever sold at auction and the highlight of Heritage Auctions’ NYINC Platinum Session World & Ancient Coins Signature® Auction, which concluded January 13.

The total realized from the NYINC Platinum Session was $18,466,337, adding to the grand total of $26,503,091 for the three NYINC auctions held in January. Together with the more than $78 million from FUN auctions of US coins and currency, Heritage brought in over $100 million in numismatic auctions in the first three weeks of the calendar year.

"This unique coin is one of the most valuable and rare coins in the world," said Cris Bierrenbach, Executive Vice President of International Numismatics at Heritage Auctions. "It has an incredible pedigree – it once was part of King Farouk’s illustrious ‘Palace Collections of Egypt’ – and has been held privately for the past 14 years."

The appeal for the coin only increases because it comes from The Gatsby Collection, an extraordinary curation of pre-1960 South African coinage. The Gatsby Collection represents the single greatest collection of South African coins ever assembled, and not surprisingly, drew out every advanced collector around the world, along with creating many new collectors of the series in the process. The popularity of the series, and importance of this collection, is evidenced by the fact that the vast majority of lots in this collection actually sold to collectors in countries other than South Africa.

All told, the Gatsby Collection produced 94 numismatic lots in the auction, including the following highlights:

The auction featured treasures from multiple collections, including the Robert C. Pickett Collection, the highlights of which included a magnificent Victoria gold Proof "Una and the Lion" 5 Pounds 1839 PR62+ Ultra Cameo NGC that closed at $336,000. Designed by Royal Mint Chief Engraver William Wyon, this elusive and highly coveted issue was struck just two years into Queen Victoria’s reign and narrates a symbol drawn from Edmund Spenser’s 16th-century epic, "The Faerie Queene," with Una representing Truth and the lion symbolizing the full might of England.

Reaching the same $336,000 was a James II gold 5 Guineas 1688 MS64 Prooflike NGC. The last example of the denomination that approached a Gem assignment at Heritage was the William & Mary Paramount specimen in 2021. This example is tied with just one other for the finest, not only for the date, but across all of James II’s 5 Guineas series at both PCGS and NGC.

A gorgeous George IV gold Proof 5 Pounds 1826 PR65 Deep Cameo PCGS, also designed by Wyon, achieved $300,000. Other examples have been offered before at Heritage, but almost always at the 63 grade level. The PR65 grade puts this example in the top 5% of the certified population between both grading services.

Numerous records were set in the auction, including a Victoria gold Proof Pattern "Bonomi" Crown 1837-Dated (1893) PR66 PCGS that sold for $228,000, establishing a new record for the type. Designed by Joseph Bonomi, it is an astounding rarity from a mintage of just six pieces in gold that has not been offered in any metal at Heritage since the Cape Coral specimen in silver in 2018.

A João V gold 6400 Reis (Peça) 1730-B UNC Details (Cleaned) PCGS brought $228,888 to set a new auction record for all João V coinage. It is a behemoth of the Brazilian series, with dates surrounding this example coming to market in the last decade, but never the 1730 of Bahia. The example sold in this auction is the only example to come to market in recent memory.

Russian coins were popular among collectors, including a Nicholas I platinum 12 Roubles 1830-CПб MS63 Prooflike NGC that drew a winning bid of $132,000 and a Nicholas I platinum 6 Roubles 1830-CПБ MS67 NGC, St. Petersburg mint, KM-C178, Bit-56 (R2), Sev-600 (R), Fr-159 from the Eternal Collection that set a new auction record for the date at $114,000