LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 February Long Beach Signature Coin #460  / 

2385

1877 $2 1/2 PR66 Cameo NGC

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:28,000.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1877 $2 1/2 PR66 Cameo NGC
<B>1877 $2 1/2 PR66 Cameo NGC.</B></I> Among the low-mintage proof quarter eagles of the 1870s, the coins of 1877 are perhaps the most famous. David Akers, in his 1975 book on the quarter eagle, acknowledged the recognition given by numismatists to this important proof issue: "The 1877 Proof Quarter-Eagle is both a great rarity and one of the few Gold Proofs of its denomination which has actually received a measure of acclaim somewhat in line with its rarity."<BR> While its proof mintage of just 20 specimens is worth consideration, a number of other issues have similar mintages, yet are not lauded in the same way as the 1877. The answer lies with the year's business strike production, just 1,632 pieces. Akers further comments on the 1877 proofs' fame, calling it "ersatz" for its association with the business strikes, yet he does not begrudge the coins for their numismatic celebrity: " ... so many Gold rarities are unrecognized that one would suppose that the 1877 Proof will 'take it any way it can get it.'"<BR> The terse description afforded this piece in the Byron Reed sale, "choice Proof or better, deep mirror surfaces, just a dozen or so pieces known from an original mintage of twenty", hardly does justice to this carefully preserved and immensely desirable specimen. The devices offer exquisite detail with just a touch of frost. Though light haze has settled over the yellow-gold fields, the mirrors are essentially undimmed, and the combination of elements yields excellent contrast. An elegant exemplar that bears one of the most important pedigrees in American numismatics. Census: 1 in 66 Cameo, 1 finer (1/08).<BR><I>Ex: Byron Reed, October 8-9, 1996, lot 64.</B></I><BR><I>From The Southwest Collection.</B></I><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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