1861 $5 Clark, Gruber & Co. MS(PCGS#10140)

The Regency Auction 50

拍卖行

Legend Rare Coin Auctions

批号

276

等级

AU58+

价格

336,680

详细说明

Kagin-6, considered to be Rarity-4. This is a CONDITION CENSUS example, the highest grade CAC-approved 1861 Clark Gruber half eagle. The typical specimen of this date/type has very weak central strikes, this is NOT your typical example. The devices are about as sharp as the PCGS MS61 that sold in March 2020 (in fact the obverse is a hint stronger at the coronet, all the letters of PIKES PEAK are fully rendered. The wear, to the extent that there is any, is limited to a few very minor friction lines, seen with the aid of a strong glass. Olive-green accents the rich golden surfaces. The eye appeal is exceptional for this usually marginally attractive type. In the late 1850s, gold was discovered in the Pikes Peak area of what became in 1861 the Colorado Territory. In late 1859 the principals of the Clark Gruber company went to New York and Philadelphia to procure equipment to begin a coining operation in what is today Denver, Colorado. The dies for the half eagle were designed after the federal coinage, with PIKES PEAK on Liberty's diadem and CLARK GRUBER & CO DENVER on the reverse. Learning from the controversies of the privately minted coins produced in and around San Francisco a decade earlier, the Clark Gruber coins actually contained marginally more gold than the federal issues of the same denomination. While the final Clark Gruber coins were struck in 1861, the facility would become the Denver mint in 1906. The Colorado gold rush represented the third discovery of the precious metal in the 19th century, after the south eastern find in North Carolina and Georgia, and in California in 1848. The coins are scarce to very rare and are tangible links to the Pioneer days, and with the 1861 date, the Clark Gruber pieces have that added connection to the Civil War. PCGS 7, NGC 15, CAC 3. This is the ONLY PCGS AU58+ graded and it has not sold in auction before. The last PCGS AU58 to sell was back in the 2011 ANA auction--that was a decade ago! More recently a PCGS MS61 sold for $31,200 in March 2020. The current Collectors Universe value is listed at $22,000, and we think that level will have to be raised after this coin hammers down! Bound for a sensational collection of Territorial gold coins, bidding will be fierce! Cert. Number 43774205 PCGS # 10140