LOT Heritage Rare Coin Galleries  /  2007 Jan (FUN) Heritage Signature Coin #422  / 

3123

1875 $3 PR65 Deep Cameo NGC.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:117,000.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 2.00 USD
1875 $3 PR65 Deep Cameo NGC.
<B>1875 $3 PR66 Ultra Cameo NGC.</B></I> Ex: Browning. The three dollar gold piece, struck from 1854 to 1889, is one of the most enigmatic denominations of U.S. coinage. It role--and its usefulness--in everyday commerce were strictly limited, and thus it begs the question: Why did Congress ever authorize it in the first place? In the early 1850s coinage containing 90% silver had not been seen in circulation in several years, since it was overvalued in relation to gold, due to gold's abundance. The silver three cent piece was launched in 1851, containing 75% silver content rather than the usual 90%, and was highly successful in re-establishing circulating silver coinage: More than 36 million three cent pieces were produced from 1851 to 1853. (The rate for first-class postage was also reduced to three cents in 1851, which is sometimes used to explain the three cent and three dollar coins.) The Coinage Act of Feb. 21, 1853, reduced the silver content of circulating coinage, not by reducing the percentage of silver in each coin, but by reducing the weight. At the same time, the Treasury Department undertook to buy silver for coinage of its own, in contrast to the previous long-established practice of "contract manufacture" for silver depositors, who could specify whatever silver coinage denominations they preferred. But with little public notice, the act also provided for a new denomination, the three dollar gold piece. Coming as it did only six years after the gold discoveries that led to the California Gold Rush, the three dollar denomination likely owes its existence more to the powerful gold-mining interests (and their supporters back in Washington, D.C.) than to give Americans extra convenience in buying sheets of 100 first-class postage stamps.<BR> The three dollar gold coin was struck only in proof for the years 1873, 1875, and 1876. The 1875 proof is the key to the three dollar series. Only 20 specimens of this proof-only date were officially struck, yet nearly 35 coins are believed to exist today. A recent article on the three dollar gold series by Mint archives researcher Robert Julian (<I>Numismatic News,</B></I> Aug. 29, 2006) helps elucidate the situation. Julian writes: "Proof coins were made in the coiner's department as needed, but more were always struck than required at a given time. If, e.g., 25 proof gold sets were ordered by the (Mint) director, the coiner might double or triple that number and then pick out the best-quality pieces for official delivery. The 20 sets of 1875, e.g., may easily have left 20 or 30 extra $3 proofs yet on hand in the coiner's department. Those that were not delivered ... were supposed to be melted ..., but apparently were not. Someone had substituted other pieces of equal weight for the proofs ... (that) were then privately sold in later years ... ."<BR> For collectors of rare-date gold, the year 1875 has a special cachet. Both business-strike (save for the common double eagle) and proof gold coins bearing the 1875 date, of all denominations, are elusive and eagerly pursued. The present 1875 three dollar coin is a PR66 Ultra Cameo example certified by NGC, and as such it is the <I>finest known and only such example graded at either NGC or PCGS (9/06).</B></I> It has obverse fields showing the "halo" effect around the profile of Liberty that is invariably seen on this date as well as the 1874. The fields are deeply reflective and glassy, with exceptionally thick mint frost over the devices, the combination yielding a strong two-toned cameo effect. Although this superlative and rare coin has no markers that could be considered distracting, a tiny, dotlike planchet flaw is noted beneath the NI of UNITED, and a couple of dark toning flecks are noted in the lower obverse field, which will serve as future identifiers. The 1875 proof three dollar is one of the premier rarities among 19th century gold coins, and it is a coin that invariably realizes a high price when offered at public auction. Census: 1 in 66 Ultra Cameo, none finer (9/06).<BR><I>From The Dr. Robert J. Loewinger Collection.</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coin/Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>) <BR><BR><B>Important notice:
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