1849 G$1 No L MS(PCGS#7501)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

2001

等级

MS67

价格

154,240

详细说明

This is an exquisite, virtually pristine example of a historic gold dollar. Aglow with frosty mint luster and vivid medium gold color, both sides are silky smooth in texture with not even a single detracting blemish. Fully struck with outstanding visual appeal, even the most discerning collector will be impressed by this solidly graded Superb Gem.<p>The gold dollar denomination has its origins in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina with a family of German jewelers and gunsmiths, the Bechtlers, who in the 1830s began striking gold brought to them by local miners into smaller denominations. These included gold dollars, a denomination that was not concurrently being made by the U.S. Mint. The coins were a success in the region and soon they were accepted in trade throughout the South.<p>Officials at the Mint took notice of the success of the Bechtlers' gold dollar and started producing patterns for a one dollar gold piece beginning in the 1830s. Not much came of these proposals until 1848 when vast quantities of gold started coming out of California. In 1849, two new denominations were added to the nation's coinage, the $20 double eagle and the gold dollar (although the $20 coins were not produced for circulation until 1850). While various patterns were proposed, including a version with a hole in the center, ultimately James Longacre's design with a bust of Liberty wearing a coronet on the obverse and wreath surrounding the denomination on the reverse was adopted.<p>On May 7, the No L 1849 gold dollars were struck from one obverse die paired with two reverse dies. Those two reverse dies were found to have cracked easily leading to some minor modifications to the obverse hubs. At the same time Longacre added his initial L on the truncation of Liberty's neck, creating the With L variety. Here, then, is a remarkable near-pristine example of the first official gold dollars struck.<p>The No L variety comprises a tiny fraction of the 688,567 coins produced in 1849, the mintage reported as only 10,000 pieces by Q. David Bowers in his <em>Guide Book of Gold Dollars</em> (2011 edition). The majority of grading events for Mint State survivors are between MS-61 and MS-65, with quantities dropping off dramatically as the grades go up. In Superb Gem Mint State, as here, the 1849 No L is a major condition rarity.