Part of my collecting of US commemorative coins involves the collecting of auction catalogs of noteworthy collections; I've written before about a couple of them.
Here, I am writing about a Stack's auction from October 22, 1985. It was the auction for "The Jimmy Hayes Collection of United States Silver Coins;" it was a relatively small catalog. The auction catalog's cover noted the milestone auction of the company: "Stack's 50th Anniversary Sale."
Jimmy Hayes Collection of United States Silver Coins Catalog Cover
James Allison "Jimmy" Hayes was born on December 21, 1946 in Lafayette, Louisiana. He received his BA from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1967 (today known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) and his JD from Tulane University in 1970. He served in the Louisiana Air National Guard from 1968 to 1974, achieving the rank of Sergeant.
Jimmy Hayes (circa early 1990s)
(Image Credit: US House of Representatives Collection. Public Domain.)He began his political career in 1986 when he was elected to the US House of Representatives as a Democrat and served in the 100th, 101st, 102nd and 103rd Congresses. He switched parties and was elected to serve in the 104th Congress as a Republican. All told, he served from January 3, 1987 to January 2, 1997. Considering the timing, I can't help but to wonder if the auction was used to raise funds for Hayes' initial election campaign.
The catalog states: "Jimmy is well known as a collector of the finest coins of the United States. His interest in collecting started in 1958 and his collection has since become legendary."
Hayes assembled a Type Set of classic-era silver commemorative coins that is described in the catalog thusly: "The coins are marvelous as far as their condition are [sic] concerned, however, what singles out this collection is the kaleidoscope of color on every coin. The collection took Jimmy Hayes decades to complete."
Unfortunately, only the Lafayette Dollar and Hawaiian (European) Discovery Half Dollar are photographed in color - all of the other coins in the collection are illustrated via black-and-white photographs so the attractiveness of any toning present is lost. The collection was assembled in the pre-grading service era (ANACS was active at the time, but not eventual industry leaders PCGS and NGC) and was thus offered "raw" with adjectival grading descriptions. The 1922 Grant, 1923-S Monroe, 1926 Independence Sesquicentennial, 1928 Hawaiian and 1935 Hudson half dollars were graded "Choice Uncirculated" while all other coins received a "Gem Uncirculated" grade.
Jimmy Hayes Lafayette Dollar
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more on noteworthy collectors, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 08/15/2023 09:57 am
