 1902 Choice Brilliant Proof. Here is one of the finest available specimens of a Proof mintage of only 114 pieces. The deep glass-mirror fields complement the semi-brilliant devices that first appear in this year's Proof coinage. Careful examination reveals a faint haze and a curious reverse rim bruise at 6:30. As the late Walter Breen pointed out in 1977, Proofs of this historic date have long been eagerly pursued by collectors unable to find high grade examples of the 31,140 circulation strikes produced. Gold coin researcher David W. Akers estimated that no more than 35 to 40 Proofs of this date still exist today in all states of preservation.
This extraordinary coin is accompanied by a fascinating hand-written letter of August 14, 1902 by C.J. Ryan Jr. on letterhead of the Lincoln Safe Deposit Co., 32 to 42 East 42 Street, New York City. (Document is partly split at the folds with tape repair). In this letter, Ryan records receipt of the coin by Anna U. Burke through the Merchants & Mechanics Bank of Scranton, Pennsylvania. The coin was a gift to her god daughter Ellen Marie Burke. Ryan specifies that the Scranton bank received the coin as ''the First one coined in 1902...'' The Proof then given within the family, ''Nan to Alice for Baby, given by Alice to me to put away in a safe place.'' It was obviously held very safely with its original (now fragmentary) envelope by the Lincoln Safe Deposit Co., carefully preserved in the remarkable condition that it still boasts today.
This boldly gleaming coin is comparable in strike and overall beauty to the piece that was a highlight of Stack's 69th Anniversary Sale in October 1994 and to the coin in the Harry Bass collection. The John J. Pittman example was described only as Brilliant Proof but possessed identical field characteristics to the present specimen. The 10-year Dannreuther-Garrett auction record shows only 19 appearances of Proofs of this date, which may indicate that the estimated population of 35-40 noted above may actually be somewhat generous.
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