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1854

1876 $3 Gold PCGS PR65

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:12,500.00 USD Estimated At:50,000.00 - 75,000.00 USD
1876 $3 Gold PCGS PR65
The proof-only status of the 1876 $3 gold piece has given it much fame over the decades, a distinction it clearly has earned, and its well documented rarity is assured by a mintage of just 45 pieces. Although struck from a single set of Proof dies, there were two separate deliveries during the year. The earliest group of coins, numbering 20 pieces, was produced on February 19. The dies were then stored until a further 25 coins were minted on June 13. The collector must allow for duplication in arriving at the number of surviving 1876 threes, but even so it seems that no more than 25-30 pieces are left in collectors' hands today. The population of unimpaired examples, conversely, is much lower, with as many as a dozen specimens having been negligently cleaned or even used as pocket pieces.

This high quality Gem cameo Proof 65 beauty displays strong contrast between the fields and devices, and there is a customary "halo" effect in intervals around the head of Liberty, the result of slight granularity in the fields. The color is a bright gold with a brilliant, almost wicked levels of glitter and flash. In short, a majestic example of this important $3 gold rarity. Set in a newer PCGS holder, it might even be described more carefully as a "deep" or "ultra" cameo Proof 65.
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