1849 $2.50 Mormon MS(PCGS#10259)

December 2020 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

1446

等级

MS61

价格

629,201

详细说明

Condition Rarity 1849 Mormon $2.50 Extraordinary Mint State Preservation 1849 Mormon $2.50. K-1. Rarity-5+. MS-61 (PCGS). The Miller Collection 1849 Mormon $2.50 is one of the very finest examples of this scarce, conditionally challenging issue available to advanced Territorial gold enthusiasts. It is lovely, with a soft satin texture to the finish. Both sides also exhibit handsome patina with iridescent pinkish-rose highlights to dominant honey-olive. The detail is exceptional for these crudely produced issues, most survivors of which are lightly struck in the centers due to bulged dies, and also well circulated with considerable wear. Not so here. Both sides are boldly impressed with all design elements nicely rendered and fully appreciable. We note particularly impressive detail in the centers, where the finer features of the all-seeing eye and the clasped hands are very crisp despite a trace of the aforementioned die bulge on the obverse. Pleasingly smooth for both the type and the assigned grade; there are only wispy handling marks and no sizable or singularly distracting blemishes. One of the nicest and most appealing examples of the type that we have ever offered, this beautiful Mint State coin is an excellent way to open the remarkable Larry H. Miller Collection of Mormon gold. The smallest denomination coin produced at the "Deseret Mint," the $2.50 was actually not the first Mormon gold piece produced. That honor goes to the exceedingly rare 1849-dated $10, of which 46 examples were struck during the waning days of 1848. Mintages of $2.50, $5 and $20 coins followed in 1849, but only the $5 would see additional production in 1850 and 1860. Like its 1849 $5 and $20 counterparts, the Mormon $2.50 incorporates the abbreviation G.S.L.C.P.G., for Great Salt Lake City Pure Gold, as part of the obverse design. Due to the limitations of the Mormons' coinage operation, however, the content of these pieces were far from "pure." Indeed, when the coins of Deseret began to creep into commerce in areas other than the State of Deseret, the weight and face value of the pieces, all denominations, were low and called into question. The $2.50 coins, for instance, were often valued at around $2.25 for gold content, and the larger denominations showed even larger disparities in value. Needless to say, the vast majority of the pieces that left the Great Salt Lake Valley for parts unknown were sent to crucibles and melted. Of course, surviving specimens today are greeted with far more enthusiasm than they were in 1849. Numismatists have long appreciated them for what they are -- an important link to the California Gold Rush as the gold used to strike the Mormon issues of 1849 to 1850 came not from the Great Salt Lake Valley, but rather from the rich fields of California. Due to the fact that these coins were devalued in contemporary commerce, the 1849 Mormon $2.50 is scarce to rare all levels of preservation. Even pleasing circulated examples can be extremely challenging to locate, as many are impaired due to damage or cleaning. In Mint State this issue, like all the Mormon coins, is a formidable condition rarity. In fact, PCGS has awarded a Mint State grade to 1849 Mormon $2.50 coins only three times; the Larry H. Miller specimen is tied for CC#2 behind a single MS-63 known to this service. A noteworthy exception to the norm for this challenging issue, the present piece will be a highlight in another advanced Gold Rush-era collection. Provenance: From the Larry H. Miller Collection. PCGS Population: 2; with a single MS-63 finer. These are the only Mint State grading events for the issue listed by PCGS. PCGS# 10259. NGC ID: 2BCD. Click here for certification details from PCGS.