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1843 25C PR64 NGC. Ex: Pittman. Walter Breen, in his E

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1843 25C PR64 NGC. Ex: Pittman. Walter Breen, in his E
<B>1843<25C> PR64 NGC.</B></I> Ex: Pittman. Walter Breen, in his <I>Encyclopedia</B></I> (1988), indicates that as many as eight proofs exist of the 1843 quarter. In the August 3, 1998 Bowers and Merena <I>The Rarities Sale</B></I> of an NGC PR64 specimen (lot 155), the cataloger states: "For some unrecorded reason, Proof mintages of silver coins were very low in 1843, considerably smaller than would be the case for the following year, 1844." The catalog also presents a census of known specimens, which we reproduce here with some minor additions:<BR> 1. National Numismatic Collection, Smithsonian Institution.<BR> 2. 1946 ANA, Numismatic Gallery, Lot 442; John J. Pittman Collection, David W. Akers, May 1998, Lot 1309.<BR> 3. The presently offered specimen (i.e., Bowers and Merena's lot 155 above).<BR> 4. 1843 Proof Set, John J. Pittman, David W. Akers, October 1997, Lot 832.<BR> 5. 1843 Proof Set, Will W. Neil Collection, B. Max Mehl, June 1947, lot 2292; 1843 Proof Set, Amon Carter Collection, Stack's January 1984, lot 630.<BR> Another 1843 quarter, described as a Choice Brilliant Proof, appeared in the Stack's sale of the Floyd Starr Collection, October 1992, lot 403. David Akers, however, in his May 1998 Pittman catalog, writes: "I attended the Starr sale and examined the coin, but I did not think that it was a Proof. However, apparently some others did, although the Starr coin looks nothing like any of the ... (currently known) specimens. ... Among other things it is much more weakly struck, particularly on the left stars, and does not have the deep mirror fields of the others." In this regard, we note that the Starr specimen is very likely the same coin offered in the Bowers and Merena August 1998 Sale (lot 155 listed in number 3 above).<BR> The PR64 example in this lot comes out of Pittman's 1843 proof set (lot 832 listed in number 4 above). A tiny mark on Liberty's upp