LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 April Rosemont, IL (CSNS) US Coin #1104  / 

2407

1840-D $2 1/2 AU58 PCGS

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:25,000.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1840-D $2 1/2 AU58 PCGS
<B>1840-D $2 1/2 AU58 PCGS.</B></I> Variety 1-B. This coin will impress the specialist who appreciates smooth surfaces, a powerful strike, and rarity. Note the well-struck central devices, with Liberty's curls prominent. The eagle, too, enjoys sharply impressed claws, thighs, and feathertips--areas often found poorly struck. If one must find fault, several obverse stars lack their central radial lines, but this coin is sharper than most of this issue. <BR> On the obverse there is a sharp bisecting die crack from the rim nearly touching the lower point of the fifth star through Liberty's forehead, top of her ear, out the back of her head, to the rim between the last two stars. Similarly on the reverse there are two die cracks, one down through the E of STATES to the eagle's beak and right wing, with a second fainter one extending through the E of AMERICA into the field below. The surfaces are bright yellow-gold, with luster in the protected areas and minimal signs of handling. For identification, there are a couple of faint lines in the field just above the bust tip of Liberty.<BR> The 1840-D is among the rarest Dahlonega issues of any denomination, especially in high grade. In <I>Gold Coins of the Dahlonega Mint,</B></I> Douglas Winter writes, "In properly graded AU50 or better, it is probably the rarest issue from this mint." Most 1840-D quarter eagles are Variety 1-A. The present piece may be the finest known example of the rarely seen Variety 1-B. As the two known varieties were struck with the same obverse die, it is apparent from the obverse die crack that this variety was struck after the 1-A die combination, which is known without the bisecting obverse die crack. This second variety was discovered in 1997 and presumably remains quite scarce. The reverse diagnostics are similar to the A reverse, but the mintmark is slightly further left, and most of the known B reverse coins show the die crack through the E of AMERICA. A foremost opportunity for the specialist. Population: 2 in 58, 1 finer (3/0).<BR><BR><B>Coin Engraver:</B> Christian Gobrecht<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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