1879 $4 Flowing Hair, CAM PR(PCGS#88057)

The November 2011 Baltimore Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

9439

等级

PR64

价格

930,135

详细说明

1879 Four-Dollar Gold Stella. Flowing Hair. Judd-1635, Pollock-1833. Rarity-3. Proof-64 Cameo (NGC). A brilliant and visually striking example of this classic American rarity, an example of what the proverbial ""dreams are made of"" for many collectors! This example has exceptional visual ""life,"" created by the deep reflectivity in the fields of both sides, which contrasts sharply with devices and creates the cameo effect that is so prized by collectors of nice-quality proofs. The devices are satiny and lustrous yellow gold, and very nicely defined. The typical planchet striations are seen on both sides, as with all Stellas observed. Traces of deeper orange toning are noted around the rims. The Stella was struck in two years, 1879 and 1880, and in two formats, one with a Coiled Hair Liberty, designed by George T. Morgan, and this Flowing Hair variety by Charles E. Barber. All are rare, and all are prized. The Flowing Hair of 1879 is the one usually encountered, and tends to be very nicely preserved, as here, or rather impaired. It seems that many were used in jewelry, but again, all are very much in demand by collectors with wide-ranging budgets, as to own a Stella is a mark of collecting distinction!<br /> The story of the rare and historic gold Stella begins with the desire in certain government circles to create an international coinage system that would be readily acceptable throughout the world market. Although it had surfaced earlier, this idea gained its greatest momentum in 1879 through the efforts of John A. Kasson, the United States&rsquo; minister plenipotentiary to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and a former chairman of the Congressional Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures. Kasson urged the federal government to consider creation of a four-dollar gold coin as the basis for a new international monetary system. Why a four-gold gold coin, one might ask, especially considering the widely accepted five-dollar half eagles and twenty-dollar double eagles