 1854'S' Fine, or a bit better in terms of wear. An incredibly rare coin that is seldom offered and exudes the historic Gold Rush era. The surfaces have some light verdigris on Liberty in her hair curls and crown close to her ear. Pleasing for the grade, with no distracting problems expected for a coin with this much circulation. Identifiable by a minute 'V' shaped indentation nearly touching Liberty's head between stars seven and eight, and a very thin scratch between stars 6 and the point of Liberty's crown. On the reverse there is a shallow rounded dent between the stop and the 'U' of UNITED and some dark copper toning is found on the rim above 'CA' of AMERICA. The reverse die is clashed with the outline of Liberty's head present above the right wing.
The California Gold Rush was in full swing by the time our government figured out it would be far more efficient to just set up a branch mint in San Francisco instead of several assayers competing with each other to strike private territorial coinage. As soon as the new San Francisco Mint opened, gold flooded in to be coined. Naturally it was much easier to coin larger Eagles and Double Eagles instead of smaller gold denominations. It took virtually the same amount of work to make a Double Eagle as a single Quarter Eagle, and eight times more gold would be ready for circulation. However, the demand for small change was strong, so a few bankers requested the small Quarter Eagle during that first year.
Another difficulty was the lack of parting acids needed to purify the California gold up to the standards needed for coinage. These obstacles were overcome in late 1854, enough so to produce coinage with some efficiency. The Quarter Eagles ordered came to a total of 246 pieces for the year, and with a survival rate of approximately 5%, that leaves us with about a dozen coins to represent this first year of issue. That is simply amazing - a mere dozen or so surviving coins to represent the entire issue for the year. Obviously, these are infrequently offered and hotly contested when they do cross the auction block. The surfaces are attractive for the grade, with substantial detail remaining on Liberty's head while the reverse appears at least a full grade lower, as is typical of this issue. This coin was purchased 16 years ago and put away since that time. A most important opportunity for the specialist. NGC F12.
The following is a list of the known 1854'S' Quarter Eagles. There are likely duplications within those numbered and further research is highly recommended to plate match the 10-12 specimens likely known. Early auctions dating prior to 1950 often used ''stock'' photos of rare coins and thus some guesswork is required unless a pedigree was noted in a particular sale and confirmed by research. The present example is in the middle range of those known and its importance and rarity can not be overstated.
1. AU50 and Finest Known. F. C. C. Boyd ''World's Greatest Collection'' ''J. F. Bell Collection'' (Jacob Shapiro, Stack's, October, 1944); Memorable (J. F. Shapiro, Numismatic Galleries, March 1948); Adolphe Menjou (Numismatic Galleries, June 1950, lot 837) (possibly a different specimen, old stock photos were used and the truth may never be known); New Netherlands 51st Sale (June 1958, lot 837); Rio Rancho (Superior October 1974:89); Harry Bass Jr. Collection (Bowers and Merena, October 1999, lot 472); Elite Sale (Superior January 2004, lot 792). Identifiable by a short scratch from the top arrow to the right serif of M.
2. NGC EF45. The C. L. Lee Sale (American Numismatic Rarities, September 2005, lot 1128 at $253,000). This coin was recently numismatically discovered after being held as a family heirloom since the late 1850's.
3. NGC VF35. Davis-Graves (Stack's, April 1954, lot 826); Norweb Collection (Bowers and Merena, 1987, lot 2025); Richmond Collection Part I (David Lawrence Rare Coins, July 2004, lot 1149 at $86,250); Identifiable by a nick below star 7 and a small dark area above the 'T' of UNITED in the dentils.
4. ANACS XF40 Details, Damaged and Cleaned, Net VF20. William Cutler Atwater Collection (B. Max Mehl, June 1946); Grant Pierce Collection (Stack's, May 1965, lot 1154); Miles Collection (Stack's, October 1968, lot 166); scale removed from surfaces in this period, 1973 ANA Sale (Jess Peters, August 1973, lot 826); 1974 MANA Sale, lot 1547; MANA Sale (Kagin's 304th Sale, lot 1547); Arthur Lamborn ''Fairfield'' Collection (Bowers and Ruddy, October 1977, lot 1544); Scott-Kinnear Sale (Sotheby's, 1982, lot 13); Long Beach Sale (Heritage, October 1995, lot 5527); Long Beach Sale (Heritage, September 2005, lot 4337 at $69,000). Identifiable by surface porosity on the top left obverse, lower left reverse and a nick above star 13.
5. NGC VF25. Long Beach Sale (Heritage, February 2005, lot 7584 at $97,750). Nick below '54', scratch left of truncation and neck, possibly listed below.
6. Fine/Very Good reverse. Samuel W. Wolfson Collection (Stack's, October 1962, lot 165). Identifiable by moderate wear but no surface marks readily apparent in that vintage halftone plate.
7. Fine, Very Good reverse. Gilhousen Sale (Superior, February 1973, lot 184); Rio Rancho Sale (Superior, October 1974, lot 90) identifiable by a rough area on the left central obverse. Possibly the present specimen.
8. Very Good. Auction '81 (Paramount's session, August 1981, lot 1405); May Sale (Stack's, May 2000, lot 1194). Identifiable by two rim nicks, one by the first two stars and the other at the base of the reverse.
9. Very Good/Good reverse. Coin Auction (Elmer Sears, August 1915); John H. Clapp; Louis Eliasberg (1942 privately); Gold Collection Sale (Bowers and Ruddy, October 1982, lot 170); Stetson Sale (Bowers and Merena, 1993, lot 587). Identifiable by wear, no other surface problems noted.
10. Very Good/Fine. Kreisberg/Schulman Sale (February 1960, lot 2592); ANA Sale (New England Rare Coin Galleries, August 1979, lot 82). Possibly the present specimen.
11. Very Fine. Auction '86 (Paramount's session, July 1986, lot 1867); Chicago Sale (RARCOA, 1991, lot 937).
12. Obverse Very Fine, Scratched and jewelry shank removed affecting 'NITE' and 'AMER' on the reverse.
13. Another jewelry piece, listed as ''loop removed, traces of solder, Texas private collection.'' Not seen.
Ex The Ezra Cole Sale (Bowers and Merena, 1986 lot 2546); Jascha Heifetz Collection (Superior, October 1999, lot 4037); Boys Town Sale (Superior May 1990) lot 5431 at $11,000. The present coin is likely number 7 or 10 above or possibly a coin not enumerated above, and some of those may be the same specimen. Early photographs make plate matching difficult at best.
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| Hammer Price: $140,000.00
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