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

2147

1850 $1 PR64 NGC

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:20,000.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1850 $1 PR64 NGC
<B>1850 $1 PR64 NGC.</B></I> Gold was discovered in 1848, and by 1850, California gold camps had yielded enough bullion to sway the market ratio of silver to gold. Silver became comparatively scarcer, and thus more valuable. The metallic content of silver coins exceeded face. Mint deposits of silver bullion dwindled, and mintages fell correspondingly. In 1850, only 7,500 business strike silver dollars were coined. The proof mintage is small but unrecorded.<BR> In 1993, Q. David Bowers described two die pairs. The present piece is his second variety. It is distinguished by a recut base of the 0 in the date, and a cluster of die lines from the denticles beneath the 50. The reverse die is familiar to Seated dollar researchers, as it appears to have struck the sizeable majority of proof 1840 to 1850 Seated dollars. Its primary diagnostics are die lumps on each side of the right upright of the second A in AMERICA, above the crossbar.<BR> The obverse die was also used to coin a portion of the business strikes. Per Bowers (1993), the ANS holds an 1852 proof struck from the 1840 to 1850 restrike die. This is the only known post-1850 specimen from the shared reverse.<BR> The present specimen exhibits beautiful golden-brown and mauve-red toning. The strike is razor-sharp, even on Liberty's curls, the eagle's ankles, and the peak of the left (facing) wing. Thorough rotation beneath a loupe fails to locate any conspicuous hairlines. This lot provides a combination of rarity, quality, and value that would be difficult to surpass. Census: 10 in 64, 3 finer (2/08).<BR><I>From The Queller Family Collection of Silver Dollars.</B></I><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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