LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Dallas Signature Coin Auction #450  / 

13

1879-S S$1 Reverse of 1878 MS66 PCGS. Top 100 Variety.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1879-S S$1 Reverse of 1878 MS66 PCGS. Top 100 Variety.
<B>1879-S S$1 Reverse of 1878 MS66 PCGS.</B></I> A Top 100 Variety. Pressure to meet the demand placed on the various mints by the Bland-Allison Act to crank out millions of silver dollars perhaps resulted in the San Francisco Mint using a few leftover dies from the previous year. Those dies had actually been shipped to San Francisco in 1878, but were not used during that year, thus they saw service to produce an apparently limited number of coins in 1879 with the distinctive flat breast reverse that was discontinued by the end of the initial year of production. The exact mintage is not known, for records were not maintained by individual die pairing. Dave Bowers has estimated the mintage to be about 500,000 coins, suggesting that five or six reverse leftover reverse dies were used for this coinage, each die producing approximately 100,000 coins.<BR> Most Mint State survivors of this unusual die pairing trace their pedigree back to 3,000 pieces reportedly found in the estate of LaVere Redfield, with virtually all of those coins heavily abraded. In fact, abrasions are generally so abundant on the Reverse of 1878 Dollars that even an MS64 can be regarded as a significant find. The only representative that can compare to the exciting Premium Gem offered here is the famous Jack Lee specimen, which realized $46,000 in our February 2005 Long Beach Sale. Like that coin, this example is untoned and has been spared from all but the tiniest abrasions. Cartwheel luster abounds on both sides, and the frosty portrait of Liberty is especially smooth. Truly memorable quality for this interesting second-year variety. Population: 2 in 66, 0 finer (2/07).<BR><I>From The Jackson Hole 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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