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No Date (1853?) round ¼ Dollar, BG-209A Unique

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:5,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 USD and UP
No Date (1853?) round ¼ Dollar, BG-209A Unique
Preview
Holabird-Kagin Americana Office
3555 Airway Drive Suite#309
Reno, NV 89511
Thursday April 11, 10am-6pm
* Preview also available by appointment

Live Auction
Friday & Saturday
April 12-13, 2012
9am PDT starting time, both days

Location
Atlantis Casino & Resort
Grand Ballroom #4
3800 S. Virginia Street
Reno, NV 89502

Lot Pick Up
Holabird-Kagin Americana Office
3555 Airway Drive Suite #309
Reno, NV 89511
Sunday April 14th, 10am-1pm

c1853 Experimental broad Liberty head, 11 stars around (several with 7 points, unlike any other variety known from Period One), 2nd star repunched with lightly-punched star between it and the rim, 8th star double-punched and touching bottom of lower bun; reverse of BG-204B (see lot 126), rotated 90°. Crude work typical of the early efforts of Frontier and Deviercy; perhaps a rejected pattern. Or possibly a muling made as late as the 1890s with an 1853 die that somehow survived, as suggested by Mike Locke. Not of recent origin; the original Jack Totheroh specimen came from a Midwestern collection formed in the 1930-1940 period. Related to the almost equally rare BG-209B; an example of this type was in the holdings of the de Young Museum in San Francisco circa 1895. See discussion in the second edition of California Pioneer Fractional Gold under 209B (p. 52). On balance, the cataloger prefers a Period One (1853-1857) date. This variety was discovered by Jack Totheroh and he published it in The Brasher Bulletin, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Autumn 1993), pp. 12-13, as "214X." So Rare that no specimen could be found to illustrate in the second edition of Breen-Gillio. The original Jack Totheroh piece was stolen in a burglary September 23, 1993 and never recovered. But, after the publication of the second edition of Breen-Gillio, Jack was able to acquire this example from dealer Robert Lecce, discovered in 2003; it apparently came from a Superior auction, July 1982, unrecognized for the great rarity that it is. Its identity is readily confirmed by Jack’s highly detailed description of the discovery piece. Perhaps (now) unique; in any case, the only specimen available to collectors. Lustrous Uncirculated. PCGS MS63. There are no public sales records of this coin. Serial# 26703138 Totheroh Collection HKA#63364