1694 Token Elephant, Diagonals, BN MS(PCGS#61)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

1261

等级

AU58BN

价格

137,102

详细说明

A lovely and highly significant example of a very rare variety, showing diagonal lines (rather than simple right angles) at the center of the reverse shield. Both sides have a nice frosty texture to surfaces that are impressively smooth and well composed. We note a few trivial carbon flecks along the top of the elephant's back and within the shield on the reverse; these are hardly distracting. There are no troublesome flan flaws, and no mentionable handling marks apart from a faint horizontal hairline on the obverse through the elephant's legs. The surfaces are toned in warm rose-brown and show excellent detail to all major design elements. Obverse impression off center to 5 o'clock, reverse to 12:30 with virgin planchet beyond the denticles at lower right, but in both areas it is only portions of the border denticulation that are off the flan. The overall quality is exceptional at the certified Choice AU grade level, and the visual appeal is superb.<p>This is a rare variety in any grade. Archangel (who had most of the rare Elephants) lacked this. Norweb (who made a specialty of these varieties) had an EF. Dittmer's was a real cherry example, sold as NGC MS-64 BN at Heritage in May 2022 (at $50,400) and again in October 2022. The Craige coin was a PCGS EF-40, Partrick's was NGC EF-45, and Newman's was holed. Aside from the Craige coin, the only other example our firm has handled in recent memory was PCGS MS-62 BN sold in our August 2012 ANA Auction for $52,875 - it reappeared in the January 2022 Heritage sale - and the landmark Sydney F. Martin specimen in PCGS MS-64 BN that brought $50,400 in our Spring 2023 Auction.