LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 Jan. FUN Signature Coin Auction #454  / 

2969

1879 T$1 PR68 Star Cameo NGC

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:52,500.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1879 T$1 PR68 Star Cameo NGC
<B>1879 T$1 PR68 </B></I><img src="/images/star.gif" width="10" height="10" alt="" border="0"><B> Cameo NGC. CAC.</B></I> Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman halted the production of business strike Trade dollars on February 22, 1878, and thereafter the type was issued only in proof format. The coin was unneeded, as beginning in 1878 the nation's mints were engrossed in manufacturing prodigious amounts of similarly unneeded Morgan dollars.<BR> For those reasons the 1879 Trade dollar thus begins the run of proof-only issues, culminating in the fabulous 1884 and 1885 Trade dollars. The mintage of the 1879 is pegged at 1,541 pieces, a fairly large mintage for a proof issue of the era. The large production is explained in Bowers' <I>Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars of the United States: </B></I>"There arose in 1879, and continued into 1880, a popular numismatic speculation (later extended to the general public). Word spread that certain coins were of low mintage and would become rare. The 'best' condition was considered to be Proofs (business strikes were not available in the trade dollar series). Emphasis was on nickel three-cent pieces and trade dollars, both denominations of which were minted in record Proof numbers. A heightened interest developed in other Mint products as well, especially patterns. Several years later this speculation would extend to regular issue Proof and business strike gold dollars."<BR> The short-lived fervor for proof pieces of the two years likely accounts for the existence of numerous high-grade examples. The present survivor of the 1879 issue could justifiably keep company with those legendary 1884 and 1885 Trade dollars, although at a much lower price! NGC has certified six 1879s PR68 Star Cameo, the finest-graded at that service within any contrast designation. (A single Trade dollar, an 1878, is graded PR69 Star Cameo, the only piece finer.)<BR> At first glance the coin appears worthy of an Ultra Cameo designation, as the mirrors are both blinding and deep, with the desirable black-on-silver contrast collectors covet. The surfaces are expectedly free of even the most trivial impairments. A single dotlike planchet depression, as made, in the left reverse field below the T of UNITED will serve as a pedigree marker. A fine and essentially unimprovable piece.<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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