1873 $5 Closed 3 MS(PCGS#8329)

August 2020 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

1435

等级

MS63

价格

35,013

详细说明

1873 Liberty Head Half Eagle. Close 3. MS-63 (PCGS). CAC. Gorgeous satin surfaces are bathed in vivid rose-orange patina. Suitably bold in strike with remarkably smooth surfaces for a survivor of this conditionally challenging issue. The 1873 is an outlier in the circulation strike Philadelphia Mint half eagle series of 1862 to 1877 in that is has a relatively high mintage of 224,985 coins. This figure includes examples of both the Close and Open 3 date styles, the former a bit more challenging to locate in today's market. In truth, however, both varieties of the 1873 are scarce in an absolute sense and quite rare in Mint State, especially above the MS-62 level. This premium quality Choice Uncirculated example represents a significant find and fleeting bidding opportunity for the astute gold collector. The reason for the sudden and short-lived increase in circulation strike half eagle coinage at the Philadelphia Mint in 1873 is explained by Q. David Bowers and Douglas Winter in their 2005 book The United States $3 Gold Pieces: 1854-1889. The authors start by quoting Mint Director James Pollock from his Annual Report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1874: "It seems a remarkable omission in our laws, that there is no limit at which our coins shall cease to be a legal tender on account of wear. In England, the sovereign, or pound sterling, is not legally current when it has lost more than half a grain...It has not been a serious trouble in this country from the fact that our coin is so apt to be exported. And yet it makes difficulty at the Customs Houses and national treasuries, as we have had occasion to know. The collectors and treasurers hardly know what they are to do when coins much abraded are offered to them. In some sections where gold is much used, as on the Pacific Coast and in the extreme southwest, the wear is very marked." To address this problem the Mint Act of 1873 included a provision that sent $32,717,185.50 worth of worn gold coins to the melting pot. This bullion was used to strike new gold coins and, due to the popularity of this denomination as a medium of exchange, the half eagle was one of the first to benefit from this new, yet limited supply of gold bullion for new coinage. As Pollock's account makes clear, gold coins did not circulate within the United States except in the far West, but he was aware that eventually a resumption in specie payments would allow gold to once again circulate freely in the East and Midwest. As quoted by Bowers and Winter: The resumption in specie payments eventually came about on December 18, 1878, when, in anticipation of the government mandated date of January 1, 1879, the market achieved parity on its own. In 1873 all of that was in the future, however, and much of the Philadelphia Mint's circulation strike half eagle mintage of that date was either exported or remained in Treasury stocks pending the resumption of specie payments. A limited quantity may have found its way to the West Coast where, as above, gold coins continue to circulate extensively. PCGS Population: 14; 11 finer (MS-66 finest). PCGS# 8329. NGC ID: 25WJ. Click here for certification details from PCGS.