1863 MS-63 (PCGS).
Lustrous rich medium yellow gold with prooflike surfaces and frosty devices against reflective fields. A beautiful specimen. Minor abrasion near star 13. The 1863 eagle circulation strike is one of the great rarities of the eagle series, with somewhere between 8 and 30 pieces known in all grades. As anti-intuitive as it may seem, the Proof specimens of this date actually cross the auction block more frequently than the circulation strikes.
Many great gold collections that tended towards complete¬ ness (Eliasberg, Norweb, as well as Cleneay and Atwater from an earlier epoch) have had only Proof representatives of this key date, which may in fact survive in equal quantities to the circulation strikes despite the widely disparate mintage figures
for the issues. The presently offered specimen is the only Mint State specimen certified by PCGS and a splendid one at that. One of the highlights of the Bass Collection, and one of the most important No Motto eagles a collector could ever hope to acquire. Once sold, it may be a generation or more before this opportunity recurs.
PCGS Population: 1 ; none liner.
One MS-63 is noted in the NGC Census report as well. We believe the MS63 noted in that report is in fact this coin, as it was described as an NGC MS63 in the Mid-American sale from which ffarry Bass purchased it in 1991.
Obverse die same as the Proof issues. Raised die rust pimple on bottom of bust over left side of 8. Reverse retains die finish lines. Short lapping lines from rim near left wing tip and under TEN D.
From Mid-American’s sale of August 1991, Lot 755.