1839 $10 Type of 1840 MS (PCGS#8580)
December 2020 U.S. Coins Auction
- 拍卖行
- Stack's Bowers
- 批号
- 1134
- 等级
- MS64
- 价格
- 1,179,752
- 详细说明
- Finest Certified 1839 Small Letters Eagle
One of Just Two Mint State Coins Graded
Rare and Underrated Issue
First Mint State Offering at Auction Since 1998
1839 Liberty Head Eagle. Small Letters (a.k.a. Type of 1840). MS-64 (NGC).
Among the rarest and most significant gold coin offerings from the Larry H. Miller cabinet -- a bold statement, to be sure, but also an accurate one -- this is the finest of only two Mint State examples certified for this extremely underrated early Liberty Head eagle. Fully Choice, the surfaces display vivid reddish-gold patina with tinges of pale pinkish-rose evident. The luster is original with a predominantly satin to softly frosted texture, although there are halos of semi-prooflike reflectivity in the fields around the central design elements on both sides. Liberty's portrait and the eagle are fully rendered throughout, the remaining design features boldly to sharply defined. A couple of prominent obverse die cracks (as made) meander through stars 2 to 9. There are only a few wispy handling marks, as befits the assigned grade, the most useful provenance markers a tiny reeding mark in the reverse field above the eagle's right wing and an equally small spot in the field below the same wing.
The second type of Liberty Head eagle produced in 1839, the Small Letters is distinguished from its Large Letters counterpart not only by the difference in size for the reverse lettering, but also by significant modifications to Liberty's portrait. The 1839 Small Letters was produced to the extent of just 12,447 pieces, as opposed to the slightly more generous mintage of 25,801 coins for the 1839 Large Letters. The former is by far the rarer of the two issues, although it is often overlooked (and, consequently, underrated) by collectors focused on the brevity of the Large Letters design type of 1838 and early 1839. In fact, PCGS CoinFactsprovides an estimate of only 50 to 60 coins extant in all grades for the 1839 Small Letters. The vast majority of these coins are circulated to one degree or another, and even the primary specimen in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution is an AU-55 (per Garrett and Guth, 2008).
In Mint State the 1839 Small Letters is a landmark rarity and true numismatic treasure. In his cataloging for Part II of the John Jay Pittman Collection, David W. Akers stated that he knew of only three Uncirculated examples. These are listed here, with grades and provenances updated to 2020, where possible:
1 - NGC MS-64. Ex William Woodin; Virgil Brand; King Farouk of Egypt; Sotheby's sale of the Palace Collections of Egypt, March 1954, lot 188; John Jay Pittman; David W. Akers sale of the John Jay Pittman Collection, Part II, May 1998, lot 1912; Larry H. Miller Collection. The present example.
2 - Ex our (Stack's) sale of the Charles Jay Collection, October 1967, lot 316.
3 - Ex our (Stack's) ANA 85th Annual Convention Sale, August 1976, lot 3057.
Two things will strike the astute reader even after a quick perusal of this listing: the present offering is the first for a Mint State 1839 Small Letters eagle since 1998; and the other two coins are untraced in the market of the 21st century. Perhaps either the Charles Jay or 1976 ANA Sale coin are the MS-62 currently listed in the PCGS Population Report-- the only other Mint State coin certified between the two services -- although that could be unlikely given Akers' assessment that all three of the coins in his list "are at least Choice Uncirculated quality." Neither Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth (2008), nor PCGS CoinFactsprovide any clue as to the provenance of the PCGS MS-62. Both sources also provide no auction appearances for any Mint State 1839 Small Letters eagle apart from Akers' sale of the present example in his May 1998 Pittman II Sale.
For the collector assembling a top flight collection of the extremely challenging Liberty Head eagle series, this is a must have coin. Larry H. Miller selected it to represent the Small Letters, No Motto eagle in his type set -- a bold move that is one of many examples of how advanced and discerning a collector he was. Interested parties are urged to enter very strong bids for this offering. Once this coin sells, it could be many years, if not decades, before another Mint State 1839 Small Letters eagle is offered for sale.
Provenance: From the Larry H. Miller Collection. Earlier ex William Woodin; Virgil Brand; King Farouk of Egypt; Sotheby's sale of the Palace Collections of Egypt, March 1954, lot 188; John Jay Pittman; David W. Akers sale of the John Jay Pittman Collection, Part II, May 1998, lot 1912.
Combined PCGS and NGC Population: just 2 in all Mint States grades, PCGS MS-62 and the present example in NGC MS-64.
PCGS# 8580. NGC ID: 262F.
Click here for certification details from NGC.
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