Collector pays more than $30M for U.S. coin set

? An anonymous buyer has paid more than $30 million for a collection of rare U.S. prototype coins, some from the 1700s, that never went into circulation, according to the dealer that brokered the deal.

The collection consists of about 1,000 coins that collectors refer to as pattern coins – trial designs that never went into production because the U.S. Mint chose other designs.

“This collection is an incredible collection. … These were some of the first coins ever, ever struck by the United States government,” said Laura Sperber, a partner in Legend Numismatics of Lincroft, N.J., which brokered the deal.

The seller wanted to remain anonymous, and the buyer, concerned about security, agreed to be identified only as “Mr. Simpson, a Western states collector,” Sperber said.

“Both the buyer and the seller are very competitive people. And they’re very successful in their careers, and they both love the romance and collectability of coins,” Sperber said.

The coins span the period from 1792 to 1942. Highlights include test designs for the first pennies made in 1792 and six coins from 1872 that are often referred to as “Amazonian” patterns because the female figure portraying liberty is much stronger and regal looking than earlier versions.

Gathering such a large collection of pattern coins is difficult because so few were created in the first place. And they were usually supposed to stay in the possession of the Mint – after all, these were the rejects.

“To accumulate as many patterns as there are in this collection, that’s incredible,” said Douglas A. Mudd, Curator of the American Numismatic Association Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colo.