1921 $1 Peace, Satin Finish PR(PCGS#7382)
1921 $1 Peace, Satin Finish PR (PCGS#7382)
February 2025 Showcase Auction - U.S. Coins
- 拍卖行
- Stack's Bowers
- 批号
- 1165
- 等级
- PR65
- 价格
- 1,134,555
- 详细说明
- It is a rare event when we can offer examples of both the Sandblast and Satin Proof variants of the fabled 1921 High Relief Peace dollar in the same sale. The present lot features the Sandblast Proof; its Satin Proof counterpart follows in the next lot. This sandblast specimen is returning to our firm for the first time since 1986, when it was offered in our (Stack's) October sale of that year and cataloged as:<p><em>...oyster gray toning, fine grain matte surfaces. Detail of hair and the eagle's feathers far sharper than on any [circulation] strike. There are some insignificant contact marks, and slightly deeper toning outlining the head of Liberty.</em><p>To this surface description we add only that both sides also sport delicate golden overtones that are deepest at the rims, where the color takes on a subtle rose tinge. The eye appeal is extraordinary, the technical quality equally impressive.<p>Coinage of this issue was simultaneous with both the circulation strike and Satin Proof 1921 Peace dollars, Roger W. Burdette providing a fairly tight window for Proof coin production of December 26 to 29 in the 2020 edition of his <em>Guide Book of Peace Dollars</em>. "After the twenty-ninth," Burdette observes, "[Chief Engraver George T. ] Morgan was busy making new, sharper hubs for 1922." The Sandblast and Satin Proofs were struck in essentially the same manner, but with one key difference toward the end of the process. Both were struck on the Mint's hydraulic press from new, carefully impressed dies. After striking, however, some of the coins were lightly sandblasted to impart dull, non-reflective surfaces. These are often certified and described as "Matte Proofs," as seen on the present NGC holder, but they are more accurately described as Sandblast Proofs, which term conveys how they were made. Neither type constitutes a regular Mint issue; these Proofs were not offered for sale publicly at the time, and were known only to a small circle of Mint and Treasury Department personnel, and others involved in the Peace dollar project.<p>Unlike the Satin Proofs, which was unknown to the wider numismatic community until the mid-1970s, the Sandblast Proof 1921 Peace dollars have long been recognized in advanced collecting circles. The number produced in unknown, as the mintage was not recorded at the time, and estimates on the exact number known will probably always be debated among numismatic scholars. The best estimate is provided by Burdette (2020), who opines that only five to eight specimens are extant. This is one of the two finest certified, a dazzling Gem that presents this initial High Relief version of the Peace dollar in its best light. Whether you are a Proof type collector or are drawn to those classic U.S. Mint issues that offer the utmost in beauty and/or rarity, this Gem Proof is a must-have coin that will serve as a centerpiece in a world class cabinet.