Keith M. Parker, a Southern California collector, has won the Grand Prize
in Heritage’s 2006 Auction Survey drawing – an MS61 High Relief Double Eagle
designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Designed at the behest of President Theodore
Roosevelt, the High Relief “Saint” is considered by many numismatists to be
America’s most beautiful coin.

In a press release, Mr Parker, said the
call announcing his win came as a complete surprise: “To say that your call made
my day (my weekend, my month …) would be an understatement. I jumped on the
Internet to HeritageAuctions.com to look at other High Relief examples, having
never even owned a $20 Saint (although I did bid on some in your recent auction
of the wonderful collection of Phillip H. Morse, the co-owner of the Red Sox. I
read that catalogue from cover to cover, finding the descriptions of the coins
and the history of their mintage fascinating).”

Mr. Parker, who was born
and raised in Southern California, filled “the obligatory Whitman folders with
coins as a child, but spent all of the Morgan and Peace dollars that my
grandparents sent to my sister and I when they would write to us. To this day I
wonder if an 1889-CC or 1893-S passed through my hands at the toy store. In high
school, I worked at a jewelry store, and was allowed to search the cash register
for silver coins, which had just ceased being minted. When I had enough to make
the trip worthwhile, I would drive to Jonathon’s Coins in Inglewood and sell
them. I thought being able to sell a quarter for 35 cents or more was very cool,
but I was never very dedicated to the effort of buying coins. Fortunately, I
always remembered those gorgeous silver coins.”

Mr. Parker received his
Bachelor’s degree in Physical Chemistry in 1974 from UCLA, and found work in
Madison with the Wisconsin Power & Light Company as an Environmental
Scientist. “I worked on air and water pollution studies in connection with the
licensing of new coal fired power plants. One January (when the wind chill was
about 30 below) I called the company’s lawyers to discuss an environmental
impact report, and was told that the lead attorney was vacationing for three
weeks on a Mediterranean cruise. I decided right then that I was in the wrong
profession, and began law school at Northwestern University in Chicago. After
receiving my Juris Doctor degree in 1982, I ultimately returned to Southern
California and joined a large, national law firm that did some work for PCGS. I
was very intrigued by the idea of standardized grading of coins by reputable
third parties.”

In 1994, Mr. Parker and 3 former colleagues started
their own small firm in Irvine, motivated by lifestyle decisions. Partly that
included a rekindled interest in rare coins: “I purchased my first coins from
Heritage through eBay in June 2000, and I have purchased virtually all of my
coins from Heritage ever since. The large number of coins available through
Heritage and the information about the coins provided by your website remedied
my first long-standing concern – lack of information; the independent grading by
PCGS remedied the second concern – vagaries of grading. My focus remains on
Morgan silver dollars. The coins are beautiful and remind me of those I received
from my grandparents when I was young. While my collection for the most part
consists of relatively modest coins, I have been able to purchase high-end
examples by looking for JH Exceptional selections. Most importantly, I have
always been treated with respect and as a valued customer by the Heritage
employees.”

“We were most gratified by Mr. Parker’s comments,” noted
Heritage President Greg Rohan. “Client service is the number one focus of our
efforts at Heritage, and the fun of making the phone call to the lucky winner
may be superceded only by his kind remarks.”

While Mr. Parker is
thrilled with his new High Relief $20, he admits to being somewhat torn about
its place in his collection: “It is a beautiful example of US coinage that I
otherwise would never have an opportunity to own, but it is also a very valuable
coin which could provide resources that I could use for rarer Morgans that I
otherwise couldn’t afford. Given the current state of the coin market, I don’t
think I can go wrong by holding onto the double eagle for the time being, and it
will take a very special Morgan to give it up.”

Information on all
Heritage events, auctions and archives is available at http://www.heritageauctions.com/default.php.