1868 $3, PL MS(PCGS#87989)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

2012

等级

MS67PL

价格

642,665

详细说明

Certification numbers can mean a lot, and in this instance there has been only one certified as MS-67 Prooflike by PCGS and NGC, with none finer, and no DMPL/DPL specimens reported at either service. However, we are not offering the holder, we are offering the coin itself, and the Superb Gem here presented can stand tall on its own as one of the finest 1868 threes we have ever seen. The obverse is exquisitely struck, definitive for the design, showing the details of the hair, the feather plumes, and everything else. The fields are highly prooflike, the letters are sharp, and at quick glance the piece could be mistaken for a Proof. However, there are hints of graininess or luster on both sides, differentiating the two. Besides, all known Proofs have the dies oriented in the same direction (medallic alignment) not in the normal fashion (180&deg; apart, as here). The reverse is likewise definitive for the design, displaying certain features that are seldom seen, such as the vertical separation at the center of the ribbon knot, revealing that it is actually composed of two ribbons.<p>Today in retrospect in seems a puzzlement that three-dollar gold coins were ever issued in the first place, considering that the quarter eagle of similar value had been struck since 1796. But issued they were, under authorization of the Act of February 21, 1853, the same piece of legislation that reduced the weight of certain silver coins (resulting in arrows being added to the dates). Some numismatists have suggested that the owner of a three-dollar gold piece could have purchased a sheet of 100 three-cent stamps without requiring change, or could go to a bank and easily obtain 100 silver three-cent pieces.<p>In a flurry of enthusiasm, in the first year of coinage, 1854, the Philadelphia Mint struck 138,618 circulation strikes - a figure that would forever stand as the highest production in the series. Small quantities were made at the Dahlonega and New Orleans branch mints, after which those facilities never produced the denomination again. The San Francisco Mint first struck three-dollar gold coins in 1856, and then again in 1857 and 1860, after which just two were struck in 1870 for the cornerstone of the new Mint (of which just one example survives today). Coinage continued at the Philadelphia Mint through 1889, but in sharply reduced numbers. Very few of the later date examples ever reached circulation.<p>The mintage for the 1868 of 4,850 circulation strikes is somewhat higher than in the previous few years and it is estimated that perhaps 300 to 400 examples can be accounted for today in all grades. A few dozen Mint State coins are known, but most of those cluster at the Mint State-60 to 62 range. The present example crosses the finish line ahead of its peers, not only in the numerical certification but in the exquisite sharpness of strike and strength of eye appeal. Few $3 gold pieces anywhere, of any date, can match this.