1838 $1 J-84, Gobrecht Restrike PR(PCGS#11352)

December 2020 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

1096

等级

PR63

价格

275,275

详细说明

Highly Elusive 1838 Gobrecht Dollar Judd-84 Restrike Early State, Circa 1859-1863 1838 Gobrecht Silver Dollar. Name Removed. Judd-84 Restrike, Pollock-93. Rarity-5. Silver. Reeded Edge. Die Alignment IV. Proof-63 (PCGS). CAC. OGH. Here is a beautiful and premium quality 1838 Gobrecht dollar, the rarest date in this challenging series. Both sides are lightly and attractively toned in iridescent golden-gray. The strike is razor sharp over the features in and around the centers, and the surfaces are exceptionally nice at the assigned grade level. The finish is well mirrored overall. Really a lovely coin, just right for an advanced silver dollar cabinet. For the collector assembling a complete date set of Gobrecht dollars, the 1838 will likely prove to be the most challenging to acquire. While traditional numismatic wisdom states that a small number of originals were struck that year in Die Alignment I, modern scholarship has discounted this theory. In fact, no Die Alignment I examples of this date are known to exist. The website gobrechtdollars.comcontains the most in-depth and up-to-date scholarship on this series, the authors of which (Craig Sholley and John W. Dannreuther) have confirmed that only two original 1838 Gobrecht dollars are known to exist: the Mint Cabinet-Smithsonian Institution specimen in Die Alignment IV and the Eliasberg-ANS coin in Die Alignment III. Exactly when those coins were struck is not known, but it was sometime after July 1838. Obviously, original 1838 Gobrecht dollars were exceedingly rare in their time, and it is likely that they were unknown outside of a small circle of Mint and other government officials. With the growth of numismatics in the United States during the late 1850s, demand for rare early issues soon reached a level where the Mint saw an opportunity to provide such coins to collectors for its own benefit. Indeed, the earliest restrikes of the 1838 Gobrecht dollar were made ca. June 1859 to 1863, most of which were used by Mint Director James Ross Snowden to trade for Washingtonia for the Mint Cabinet. These are the Early State Restrikes, per Sholley and Dannreuther. Two additional striking periods followed: Middle State Restrikes ca. 1867 to 1869, and Late State Restrikes ca. 1873 to 1874. The final two striking periods are attributed to Henry Richard Linderman, who served two non-consecutive terms as mint director from April 1867 to May 1869 and April 1873 to December 1878. The Linderman era is widely known for having spawned large numbers of restrikes, novodels, so-called patterns and fantasy pieces that were made expressly for distribution to collectors. The 1838 Gobrecht dollar offered here dates to Snowden's tenure as mint director. It is an Early State Restrike, the obverse with an area of die rust below Liberty's left elbow and extending right into the field. On the reverse, the letters are granular due to die rust. Light die polish lines are evident in the fields on both sides, especially the reverse, with particularly heavy concentrations through the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and along the back of the eagle's right wing. Provenance: From the Larry H. Miller Collection. PCGS Population: 17; 18 finer (Proof-65 finest). PCGS# 11352. NGC ID: BLXE. Click here for certification details from PCGS.