1828 25c Capped Bust NGC MS63* Newman Collection

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1828 25c Capped Bust NGC MS63* Ex. Colonel EHR Green from the Eric P. Newman collection

Capstone Coins is proud to present this 1828 25c Capped Bust NGC MS63* Ex. Colonel EHR Green from the Eric P. Newman collection.

The Eric P. Newman specimen is the sixth finest business strike 1828 B-4 quarter, while six or seven proofs are also known from these same dies. Because of the unique artistic toning, this specimen exhibits many qualities all cornerstone rare coins possess.

Exquisite peripheral ocean-blue and autumn-brown toning frames the essentially brilliant fields and devices. The patina is undoubtedly the reason this coin possesses the scarce Star designation. The strike is precise throughout, and neither side displays more than minimal contact.

Colonel Edward Howland Robinson Green (better known as Col. E.H.R. Green or, more simply, Col. Green), was the son of Henrietta Howland Robinson Green, née Henrietta Howland Robinson (1834-1916). She, too, is known more simply as Hetty Green, and even more familiarly as the “Witch of Wall Street”, noted for her austerity. At the time of her death in 1916 she was said to be worth well over $100 million and probably much more -- those millions were like today's billions. The Green family fortune was comparable to that of Morgan, Mellon, Vanderbilt and Rockefeller.

E.H.R Green acquired the title of Colonel by being on the staff of the governor of Texas in 1910 and kept the title from that point on. He was a spendthrift, having inherited some 50% of his mother's estate, and indulged in luxuries, including woman and partying and various areas of collecting. He had a world class stamp collection, which competed in completeness and rarity with the famous royalty collections of the period. He also loved gold coins, and he accumulated many early American silver coins. As the Gold Act of 1933-1934 exempted the rarities of the gold series from being seized and melted, he was sure to have enough to prove that his interest and holdings in coins were many, in order to retain gold as part of his wealth.
At the time of his death–with a total estate valued at more than $40 million–his coin collection was valued at an estimated $5 million, along with a stamp collection worth $3.5 million. Green’s numismatic holdings included at least seven different 1838-O half dollars, a Brasher doubloon, all five of the 1913 Liberty nickels, and a staggering hoard of 1796 quarters, said to number more than 200 pieces. Col. Green was one of numismatics great collectors.