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

August 2011 Chicago ANA - Rarities Night

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

7572

等级

AU50

价格

51,421

详细说明

1861 Clark, Gruber & Co. $5 Gold. K-6. Rarity-4. AU-50 (PCGS). Medium golden surfaces with deeper orange highlights. We note a few marks, the most obvious of these a dig between stars 2 and 3 on the obverse; any other marks are commensurate with the grade and faint in appearance to the unassisted eye. Styled after the federal gold issues of the era, though Miss Liberty's tiara proudly proclaims PIKES PEAK to signify the origin in Colorado Territory. A federal-style eagle with the legend CLARK GRUBER & CO DENVER FIVE D. comprises the reverse design. First struck in 1860, the issues of Clark, Gruber & Co. were coined from native Colorado gold and at a gold value 1% above that of federal coins of the same denomination; heeding the happenings of a decade earlier in California, the firm insisted on maintaining the small overage so that no one person or firm could ever accuse them of underhanded dealings or falsehoods, though no doubt accusations flew anyway. The principals of the firm were Austin M. Clark, his brother Milton Edward Clark, who served as the firm's attorney, and Emanuel H. Gruber. Brother Milton Clark traveled to Philadelphia in 1859 to procure dies and coinage presses, later traveling to New York City for various other minting equipment. Early in January, 1860 the firm purchased property in Denver upon which to establish their "Assay and Coinage Office," and by July of that same year their first coins rolled off the presses to great fanfare in the local press. The present coin is a tangible link to America's third major gold find and will see spirited bidding by those who seek to expand the boundaries of "territorial" gold within their cabinet.