Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 4

The Dr. Jon Kardatzke Coin and Currency Collection, Part 1

Liberty Seated Dollars

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 1394		1840 Liberty Seated Dollar. PCGS graded AU-55 Premium Quality. There's AU's and there's AU's. Here's one of the prettiest of them this cataloguer has seen in 25 years of doing this. The obverse is like looking at a rainbow: a ring of bright aqua-blue iridescence around the stars, and rings of rose-gold iridescence inside and outside of that circle. The reverse has only the pale-champagne color on top of frosty white. A visual treat! Oh, that's right. We were so enchanted by the color we forget the rest. Okay, the strike is sharp on the eagle, whose feathers exhibit pockets of frosty luster within each. On the obverse, 11 of the 13 stars show detail right into the center of the points, while the other 2 are 90% struck up. Liberty's locks, face, hands, feet and the clasp on her gown are sharply delineated by the strike. The wear is evident but slight. Some scattered ticks take nothing away from this coin's immense appeal. The upper left reverse field shows some concentrated action mixed with some rolling lines. But this is a coin among coins--one for a true connoisseur collector. We hope it goes to such a person. View details	Realized $1,380
Lot 1395		1841 Liberty Seated Dollar. MS-60. Boldly struck from polished dies which give the fields prooflike reflectivity. Minor handling marks as one expects for the grade, but nothing deep or worthy of note. Toned a lovely light gold around the periphery and very original in appearance. Tough to find in unmolested condition. View details	Realized $1,150
Lot 1396		1842 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-55. A frosty, original coin that boasts a full strike and blazing luster. Around the obverse rim there is an arc of toning on the left side, and just a whisper of gold around the reverse rim. One tiny planchet flake on the extreme edge of the rim near the upper arrowhead appears to be a rim mark, but a glass shows that a tiny piece of silver fell out of the planchet at that location. As this is mint caused, and scarcely visible, it shouldn't affect the value. Minor handling marks in the fields, but this is a really beautiful coin for the grade. View details	Realized $633
Lot 1397		1843 Liberty Seated Dollar. EF-40. Pleasing in every way, with light golden toning and reflective fields. There is a small dig in the right reverse field, close to the eagle's wing, and a small knee nick on Liberty. Clean rims and surfaces otherwise. View details	Realized $265
Lot 1398		1844 Liberty Seated Dollar. EF-45. With the curious quadruple stripes in the shield from a slightly double die, the reverse has its own funny story, the eagle has numerous file marks that were on the die, hence this is known as the "armpit" variety. Nevertheless, this is a rare coin, with a mintage of 20,000, few of which were saved in high grade. There are a couple of minor rim marks, which scarcely show with the large flat area surrounding the dentils. Always in demand, this date is certain to find a new home where it will be treasured. View details	Realized $604
Lot 1399		1845 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-53. What a gorgeous coin! The surfaces are steel-gray with sea green around the periphery and some hints of natural rose hues. The strike is full and complete, with excellent details on Liberty's head. No rim problems and only a scattering of minor tick marks from a brief time in circulation. If you have been searching for a really choice example of this rare date, then here is a coin that will fit the bill. Nearly impossible to find better. View details	Realized $1,265
Lot 1400		1846 Liberty Seated Dollar. EF-45. A fabulous coin for the grade, mottled gray toning on the obverse and reverse, with fiery sunset colors near the devices. Semi-prooflike in the fields, and still reflective. Clean rims and fields, which is unusual on these large, heavy coins. Perfect for the date collector. View details	Realized $575
Lot 1401		1846-O Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-50. Light hairlines on both sides. We have netted the grade even though there is little if any discernible actual wear. The coin was sharply struck (for New Orleans in 1846) with the reverse crisp and the obverse showing perhaps 90% of the details everywhere. The rims are big and squarish and nearly free from marks. The surfaces remain semi-prooflike, but they are dull from the cleaning--still in all, this is pretty decent for an 1846-O, of which just 59,000 were minted and few exist today with so much design so boldly impressed. View details	Realized $1,265
Lot 1402		1847 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-58. Boldly struck and mostly untoned aside from an even gray haze with golden highlights at the rims. The fields have some reflectivity and show virtually no signs of circulation or handling problems, just the faintest hairlines. An outstanding coin for the grade. View details	Realized $661
Lot 1403		1848 Liberty Seated Dollar. EF-45. Probably dipped as the surfaces are mostly untoned, save for a touch of gold toning at the lower reverse. Well struck and preserved, and without the usual problems from circulation. A rare date, with a scant 15,000 coined in all, most of which circulated down to lower grades--or even worse--the melting pot. Satisfying in every way. View details	Realized $1,265
Lot 1404		1849 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-55. Gunmetal-gray in color with original surfaces and some prooflike reflectivity in the fields. Clean surfaces, with minor hairlines in the fields. Delicate rose hues when held under a light. Well stuck and preserved. View details	Realized $776
Lot 1405		1850 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-50. This coin shows some hairlining, the kind which appears so very often on the Seated Liberty dollar series. We've seen some scrubbed coins in AU55 slabs, but we've decided to be conservative with this coin. Both sides are somewhat prooflike, which of course emphasizes what hairlines there are. There is no toning to hide anything. Take the piece out of harsh light and you see glittery luster. The rims are square, with a small "fin" (if you're unfamiliar with this term, read the description of the 1851-O dollar in this sale) on the left obverse. The design is deeply impressed on both sides. No major marks or cuts--only a short scratch between stars 2 and 3, a few chattermarks, and a faint flaw beneath the eagle's left wing (our left, its right, actually). Oh, what a little natural color would add to this coin! The 1850 Philadelphia Mint silver dollar has long been touted (and we mean long, and we mean touted) by auction cataloguers and retailers as extremely rare, based on its mintage of 7,500 pieces. But, while rare, it's not extremely so. Glance at the PCGS Pop Report to see what we mean. That's surely flawed by resubmissions, but the report on 1850 shows 92 coins reviewed, while many dates (the 1860s are loaded with rarities) show fewer reviewed--and some of them are certainly spent Proofs. By way of comparison, the 1850's brother, the elusive 1850-O, with a mintage of 40,000 and long ignored by touters, shows only 77 pieces submitted. It's easy to figure. The Philly issue was made in a civilized place of bankers and industrialists who saved coins each year. The New Orleans piece was struck in a relative backwater; although it was a port town, it wasn't a place where the wealthy necessarily saved coins each year. Those forty thousand 1850-Os got spent! They are rarer than the 1850 Phillies, period, despite mintage figures. Of course, 1850 is still an elusive date; 92 coins in all are not many to choose from, are they? And the date has a certain appeal as the mid-century issue. So it will always be a good coin to own. If you want one, and don't want to pay the moon, here's an attractive example for your bidding consideration. View details	Realized $1,898
Lot 1406		1850-O Liberty Seated Dollar. PCGS graded AU-50. Sparkling silvery luster. Obverse strike is normal for this issue, lacking some details. Reverse has the usual deep strike and gleaming frost in the eagle's wings. Rims are nice, fields are not too baggy. All in all, a good example of this, one of the rarest New Orleans silver dollars ever minted (PCGS has graded 77 of these versus 1,028 '95-O Morgans, the rarest in that series). View details	Realized $2,070
Lot 1407		Very Desirable 1851 Seated Liberty Dollar. PCGS graded AU-58. High date of the Original strikes. This is a really appealing coin, one that most collectors of silver dollars and of type coins alike covet but rarely get a chance to own. The mintage was 1,300 coins. NGC has graded 7. PCGS has graded 14. That's 21 total coins. Rarity is not a question here. Only opportunity to acquire. PCGS has given the nod to 10 of them in MS, from 60 through 65, with the greatest concentration on MS64, oddly enough. So it is not the very best we are offering here. But this is decidedly a coin of considerable charm and visual appeal. We'd like to check the slabbed MS60 through MS63 coins against this one, to see just how much "wear" this one has compared to those. Because there is just the barest hint of friction here. This coin did not ever circulate, more than likely, but rather acquired some rubbing on Liberty's knee and boobs from being in trays owned by collectors. The fields just sparkle with semi-prooflike luster. The strike is exceptional, bold in all respect, including 13 deeply detailed stars. The rims are clear of any significant mark. Marks are few and far between, mostly hidden well in the design, and all light except for some abrasions on Liberty's face--a central but small part of the design. Curiously, die-clashing shows just to the right of Liberty's bent arm. And then there's the color--oh, the color! It is a dream for a coin of this grade. Bright iridescent blues and greens and olive golds, all dancing like phantoms at dusk upon a still lake. You must like this coin, or you just aren't a collector at heart. Its appearance here is a wonderful opportunity to buy something precious. View details	Realized $28,750
Lot 1408		The Unique 1851-O Silver Dollar. ANACS graded Proof 62. First auction appearance of this extraordinary rarity, essentially unknown to the collecting fraternity until 1990, when it was shown to the celebrated Walter Breen by a private collector. Breen reported the discovery in the Gobrecht Journal some years ago. We quote from his report, as it is the only source of reliable information on this coin. Breen declared that "the 1851-O is a proof; and though genuine, it was not made where or when it claims to have been." He says the obverse on this piece is "identical to that of the 1851 Philadelphia restrike," and of the reverse he says this: "Heavy O mintmark, from the same punch as in 1859-O and similarly placed"; it was not from an 1860-O reverse, he decided, for it is "higher and slightly larger than that on 1860-O revs." Also this: "Shield does not have the same internal details as the 1858-59 proof rev. regularly used with the 1851 restrike obverse." Of the crucial O mintmark, Breen found under 20x magnification that "it shows plain evidence of having been chiseled off, carefully so as not to disturb any more of the proof surface than necessary". The coin is also very slightly underweight (at 400.3 grains or 25.94 grams, Breen said--against a standard of 412.5 grains), the cause being the filing off of the knife-rim, and perhaps a substandard planchet as well. How was it made, and when? Breen surmises that the nephew of Adam Eckfeldt, one George J. Eckfeldt (foreman of the Engraving Department at the Philadelphia Mint into the 1860s), together with his own son, Theodore, some time in 1858 or 1859 "opened the Coiner's Vault and Engraver's Vault, retrieving the 1851 proof dollar obv. from the former and the nearest dollar reverse from the latter. Both dies had to be degreased, inspected, cleaned and polished; this was within George Eckfeldt's capacities as foreman of the Engraving Dept. The other accomplice (probably in the Coiner's Dept., as he would have to know how to set dies into a press) may have prepared the blanks, most likely foreign dollar-size coins polished down and with edges shaved off, rendering them lightweight. Unlike Mint Director Snowden, the Eckfeldt gang could not use regular silver planchets; like gold planchets, these were counted as money in inventories." What happened next is sheer speculation, but it makes sense. Breen reasons that the "gang" spotted the O mintmark on the secret coin they had just made but had no time, for some unknown reason, to locate and prepare another reverse die, one without a mintmark. They intended to make more restrike 1851 Proofs, and perhaps they did--without the incriminating O mint letter. Breen thought they probably never had another opportunity, but who knows? He concludes his tale as follows: "Too valuable to melt down, too dangerous to sell as is: what to do with the 1851-O dollar? The obvious expedient: remove the mintmark along with the unpleasantly sharp fin [mint terminology for the knife-rim), offer the coin as a regular proof 1851, and hope that buyers would not notice the traces of mintmark--or weigh the coin." Breen's numismatic conclusions are usually thought of as decisive, so we have given him the final word here on this controversial and exciting rarity: "The unprecedented 1851-O silver dollar is, beyond doubt, one of the most extraordinary coin rarities of the 1850s, and one of the most important coin discoveries of the century; most likely the first and most valuable of the 1851 restrikes; certainly the only coin minted in Philadelphia with an O mintmark; the only 1851-O silver dollar, unique and likely to remain so." What does it look like? Fairly graded as a Proof-62, we'd say, and having slightly iridescent, medium gray surfaces. The mirrors are nicely reflective and the overall appearance is that of an 1851 Restrike Proof Seated Liberty dollar. Even in the slab the "softened" knife-rim (or fin) on each rim is obvious. No marks on the reverse. The obverse is similarly clean, except for some identifying, notable marks on Miss Liberty: a chattermark (!) just below her throat right on her breastbone; a cut on her throat and another right on her chin; a small abrasion right below her left wrist (her right arm to the viewer); and another just to the left of her shoulder clasp on the other arm. Beneath the toning are some hairlines, as one would expect on a PR62. And what of the O mintmark itself, the all-important feature of this fabulous item? It is soft but very evident, the inner and outer outlines of the O absolutely clear and undeniable. Curiously it looks as if somebody tried to scratch off what exists of it, for there are some fine hairlines right across it, but these are not heavy and the effort must have been brief. What it actually looks like is that the mintmark was partially lapped off the die it was made from; so it is possible that the "Eckfeldt minters" did indeed see the mintmark on the die they used, despite Walter's surmise, and just thought they did a good enough job. Without magnification, the mintmark is easily missed--in fact, this coin may well have passed into the collecting fraternity and traded for years as a Philadelphia Proof restrike. That would explain how it came to be in a collector's hands, after all--the man who brought it to Breen's attention in 1990. Whoever he was, he was the true discoverer of this rarest of all items--a unique, if clandestinely made, silver dollar rarity for the ages! View details	Realized $161,000
Lot 1409		Very Rare 1852 Seated Liberty Dollar. AU-50. Very light hairlines from an old cleaning, and the strike is somewhat soft, as often seen on the Originals of this really elusive year. Mintage was just 1,100 coins. PCGS has graded just 13 of them. Thirteen in all. NGC has graded one. One! If that doesn't spell r-a-r-e, what does? Overall the coin is pleasing. The field behind the eagle's head shows some extended action, but even this is fairly light. Half the stars are flat-topped. Miss Liberty seems to have gone bald. But most of the design details do show quite well. The rims are very clean. Held in natural light, the surfaces have some sparkle left. A light golden rose toning is just starting to form. When it's deeper, this coin will take on a new appeal. As is, it's still one of the best silver dollars, of any age, one can own. View details	Realized $14,375
Lot 1410		1853 Liberty Seated Dollar. EF-45. Cleaned and retoned to a very natural appearing dark-gray, especially near the devices, with lighter gray toning in the fields. Boldly struck throughout, and without the usual circulation problems that are often seen on these. View details	Realized $483
Lot 1411		1854 Liberty Seated Dollar. EF-45. Well struck on Liberty's head and on the eagle, but the date is weakly punched into the die as seen on all coins of this date. Toned a light silver color with some gold colors in the fields. Minor hairlines from circulation or possibly a gentle cleaning, but no other surface detriments. The rims are rounded a bit, and it may be as struck. View details	Realized $2,990
Lot 1412		1855 Liberty Seated Dollar. EF-40. A scarce date with only 26,000 struck in all, most of which were shipped to California according to Breen's wonderful Encyclopedia. This one has been cleaned and retoned to a medium steel gray in color, with some darker highlights near the devices. Identifiable by a trivial rim tick above the M of AMERICA. Fully struck and pleasing for the grade. View details	Realized $2,990
Lot 1413		1856 Liberty Seated Dollar. EF-45. Mostly untoned with some luster in the fields on the obverse, with a delicate rose hue on the reverse. Well struck, with full details on Liberty and the eagle. A few unimportant tick marks from circulation, but very appealing and worthy of a top-notch date set. View details	Realized $1,495
Lot 1414		1857 Liberty Seated Dollar. EF-45. Probably cleaned and retoned to a natural appearing gunmetal gray and lighter silver. Some areas of toning have the reflective blue color which is always appealing on early silver, other areas are more rose or gold in color. Scarce and always in demand. View details	Realized $1,783
Lot 1415		Important Key Date 1858 Proof-Only Dollar. PCGS graded Proof 63. Technically better than the PR62 we just described? Decide for yourself. This one is brighter and has dappled toning on top of a film of golden iridescence. The eagle's right wing is softly struck at the top. The surfaces are glassy. View details	Realized $6,613
Lot 1416		Another 1858 Proof-Only Dollar. PCGS graded Proof 62. Once in a while over a span of years, the most active dealers will see an original or even carefully assembled 1858 Proof set. But that has become increasingly rare; in effect, numerical grading, with its vast differences in values between 63 and 65, say, has in effect pulled these sets apart. Because most of those sets, even the original matched ones, never had coins of consistent quality. This year, of course, was the first for sets issued intentionally by the Philadelphia Mint for sale to collectors, and those collectors were sparse. In 1858, evidently, only about 300 of them wanted sets--or maybe, just maybe, some of them bought multiple sets. Okay, more than maybe. The first coin investing? A few dozen have been graded--or more likely the number's distorted by multiple submissions. Whatever, we are dealing with a fairly rare and very desirable coin here. A Proof struck just prior to the Civil War. A big silver Proof, too. Doctor Jon's has some swirling hairlines beneath the color, and a tiny planchet flaw just northeast of the E in ONE on reverse. But all this is swept away in the viewer's mind by the lovely, lovely golden gray iridescence of the surfaces, evenly flowing over the mirrors, intense but not deep, elegant. We've looked at and sold tons of silver Proofs, some truly sensational and awe-inspiring for their perfection, but this specimen appeals to us--and should excite many a devoted collector. View details	Realized $5,923
Lot 1417		1859 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-58. Prooflike in the fields, which are still quite reflective. However, the usual hairlines and tiny tick marks are magnified by these delicate surfaces. Toned with deepening shades of blue and rose on the obverse, similar on the reverse, but more gold overall. The eagle really jumps out from the fields with its frosted wings and bold feather detail. Close examination notes some very, very faint initials over the eagle's head. View details	Realized $920
Lot 1418		1859-O Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-53. Well struck and toned a deep gray color throughout. Nice surfaces for the grade, and probably original. View details	Realized $460
Lot 1419		1859-S Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-50. Although only 20,000 were struck, it is apparent that most were lost or melted, as few exist today. The fields and devices are reflective and show no circulation problems. The rims are free of the usual bangs and bumps, and remain in collector-friendly condition. One of very few S mint Seated dollars produced, a few more in the 1870s which are very rare indeed. A high grade coin that most collectors will cherish. View details	Realized $2,990
Lot 1420		1860 Liberty Seated Dollar. EF-40. Untoned and probably dipped at some time recently. Nice surfaces that still have luster in the fields and are free of annoying marks or bumps. View details	Realized $460
Lot 1421		1860-O Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-50. Prooflike fields that have been diminished by minor circulation marks. An appealing example of this scarce date, and will probably start to tone if given a chance, which would help hide the tick marks. View details	Realized $460
Lot 1422		1860-O Liberty Seated Dollar. EF-45. Retoned to a dull, somber gray color on both sides. While technically a high grade coin, the color diminishes it somewhat. An excellent comparison to the previously offered 1860-O from untoned to deeply toned. View details	Realized $414
Lot 1423		1861 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-50. Probably dipped and still a bit bright in color, with a hint of gold starting to form along the obverse rim. A scattering of tick marks in the fields. View details	Realized $1,725
Lot 1424		1862 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-50. With some prooflike surface remaining near the devices, the balance of the open fields show tiny circulation marks as expected for the grade. Well struck on Liberty, while the feather tips are not quite full on the reverse. Only a bit over a dozen bags were struck in all, as demand plummeted during the Civil War, and very little silver was brought to the mint for coinage. Starting to tone with lovely colors clinging to the devices, and a swath of steel gray on the reverse. View details	Realized $1,668
Lot 1425		1863 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-55. Sharply struck throughout, with bold device details even on top of Liberty's curls. The fields are reflective and appear to have been cleaned, as some hairlines are now present. Toned a steel-gray color with some dullness in the fields. Another low-mintage date that is tough to find nice. View details	Realized $1,093
Lot 1426		1864 Liberty Seated Dollar. PCGS graded Proof 64. Childs. A visual treat! Frosted eagle and Seated Liberty surrounded by deep mirror fields, creating the "floating effect" so sought by minters of the day. Only faint hairlines show in the color, the kind caused by delicate coins being turned on velvet pads, as was once the fashion of display (until slabbing threw velvet-pad makers into bankruptcy!). The color is a bright tawny gold enlivened on the obverse by splashes of vibrant iridescent blues. Oh sure, Seated dollar Proofs come technically closer to flawless than this one, but not many of them can claim such a colorful relief for the eye to enjoy. Historical note: Perhaps a third of the Proofs of these war years seem to have survived in conditions warranting certification, according to the various Pop Reports at any rate. As we have said elsewhere, it was not the common man who was applying to the Mint to collect these. No, these were saved by the wealthy industrialists of the day, possibly using moneys gained by war profiteering to enjoy their various hobbies and luxurious lifestyles. These collectors were few and far between in 1864, no doubt about it. Meantime, the common man was dying by the thousands upon the fields of battle. Two of the worst conflicts of the entire Civil War, in point of fact, took place while this sort of coin was being made by gentle workers at the Philadelphia Mint for the pleasure of other gentlemen, of means. The first was at Spotsylvania, Virginia, starting on the 8th of May and ending four days later. Five days of fighting resulted in a stalemate, with the troops of both colors sunk in their trenches, too exhausted even to retrieve the dead and dying from the field, where the wounded lay moaning for days. General Grant now saw in Lee an opponent who would not give up. A month later, they faced each other again, this time at Cold Harbor, Virginia--possibly the most gruesome fight of the entire war. It was June 3rd and Lee's line was impregnable this time, Grant discovered while losing more than twelve thousand of his army on just this one day. Place the miraculous survival of this distinctive memento of those times--the ultimate symbol of Union strength--into this perspective, and those few hairlines become as nothing. It's the history that makes coins such as this precious and worth collecting. This wonderful coin has all the history you could want. From the celebrated Walter H. Childs Collection, Bowers and Merena, August 30, 1999, lot 485. View details	Realized $6,900
Lot 1427		1864 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-55. Cleaned with resulting hairlines in the fields and these are all too present when examined under a light. The coin is well struck and free of other signs of contact, no significant rim marks or other contact marks. Starting to tone with a whisper of gold around the edge. View details	Realized $1,351
Lot 1428		1865 Liberty Seated Dollar. PCGS graded Proof 64. 500 minted as Proofs during the last year of the Civil War. Faint lines show on the mirrored surfaces beneath very appealing, original greenish gold iridescence streaking over silvery flash. No problems, very pretty! View details	Realized $4,830
Lot 1429		1865 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-50. Steel gray in color with mostly untoned surfaces. Cleaned with resulting hairlines in the fields, which distract the eye when examining with a loupe. Boldly struck throughout, with full details on Liberty's curls and feather tips on the eagle. A tough date to find in high grade. View details	Realized $920
Lot 1430		1866 Liberty Seated Dollar. With motto. AU-55. The first year of the "with motto" reverse. Untoned from a cleaning, with myriad hairlines in the fields. Sharply struck and well preserved otherwise, with clean rims and fields from circulation. The fields are prooflike and retain some reflectivity. View details	Realized $978
Lot 1431		1867 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-50. Cleaned and retoned to a natural appearing gray color. A scarce date that reflects a low mintage of 47,525. Well struck and preserved for today's date collector. View details	Realized $690
Lot 1432		1868 Liberty Seated Dollar. EF-45. Sharply struck and with clean rims and devices. Apparently cleaned, but with a bit of luster near the devices, the fields now a bit dull. View details	Realized $633
Lot 1433		1869 Liberty Seated Dollar. PCGS graded Proof 64. Smoke-silver in color throughout, with reflective fields when held under a light. Only 600 were struck, few of which can possibly measure up to the quality offered here. View details	Realized $3,680
Lot 1434		1869 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-50. A choice appearing, uncleaned example of this date. The fields retain some original prooflike mirroring, and the surfaces are untoned. With frosty devices and appealing in every way. View details	Realized $748
Lot 1435		1870 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-50. Nice for the grade, with satiny luster in the fields and light golden toning around the edge. Decently struck, with minor weakness on Liberty's curls and the eagle's thigh. Problem free fields and seldom found better. View details	Realized $518
Lot 1436		1870-CC Liberty Seated Dollar. Sharpness of AU-50 but dull due to cleaning. The devices show nearly complete detail and this coin scarcely circulated, if at all. However, there appears to have been a rubber band burn extending from left of the date up to the star just past Liberty's hat. The reverse has a rose hue from retoning, and the surfaces are pebbly from an acid bath. The coin has a nice appearance at arms length and it has few surface problems aside from the excessive cleaning. A scarce date and still desirable despite its problems. View details	Realized $1,495
Lot 1437		1871 Liberty Seated Dollar. NGC graded Proof 66. Superb Cameo Proof! The seated Liberty figure and the eagle are both dripping in white frost, as are the legends and all the stars. Deep mirrored reflectivity complements the cameos, which are set off against brilliant fields showing a patch of mauve iridescence above Liberty's head, and light golden blue on the reverse periphery. Precious few Seated dollars possess this one's appeal. View details	Realized $17,825
Lot 1438		1871 Liberty Seated Dollar. PCGS graded MS-64. Frosty and original, with soft-gray toning deepening slightly to tawny-brown with a hint of pinkish gold--all evenly distributed on both sides. Excellent fields and devices which display minimal signs of contact. Scarce in this grade, and worth a strong bid. In fact, this is a really exceptional, truly Choice example of this date. View details	Realized $4,715
Lot 1439		1871 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-53. This coin must have been carefully dipped, as it is too bright for its age. Abundant luster in the fields, and decently struck for the date. Free of annoying marks or bumps, this is a coin most collectors will appreciate. View details	Realized $460
Lot 1440		1871-CC Liberty Seated Dollar. PCGS graded AU-53. Want absolute proof that numerical grading can never be a substitute for a good pair of eyes and/or a thorough physical description? Compare this lot with that containing the PCGS AU55 1840 dollar. Are they 2 points apart? Is one almost choice and the other just plain choice? Decide for yourself. We will say this: the 1871-CC is a classic rarity, mintage just 1,376 coins all those years ago in the Wild West, and few reviewed by the experts. NGC's seen only 17 of them. PCGS has blessed 53 with dewdrops from Newport Beach. This is one of theirs. Tied with 2 other AU53s. Only 7 assigned higher numbers (only 1 Unc., a 63). That's pretty rare, huh? On this one, the strike's very satisfying, the fields are fairly clean, the rims are nice, and the color is a mixture of reflective gold and medium gray. There's a fine scratch down Liberty's long arm and another across her belly. Want the pure truth? This coin's more AU50 and that wonderful 1840 is AU58 with extraordinary appeal. But the experts hath spoken. Whatever you think, you will have to agree that this is a darn good coin that's far better than most of the scant survivors of that place in Carson City which still stands in red brick and mortar but whose glory days are now nothing but phantoms. View details	Realized $13,225
Lot 1441		1872 Liberty Seated Dollar. AU-50. Frosty and untoned, with just a bit of gold around the periphery. Clean fields, rims and devices, and very pleasing overall. View details	Realized $437
Lot 1442		1872-CC Liberty Seated Dollar. PCGS graded AU-50. Nice gray surfaces with few noticeable marks. Good rims and strike. The magical CC mintmark could not be clearer. Mintage was only 3,150 pieces, all those ages ago. Fewer than 2% of them have gotten slabbed. The overall survival rate was slim, shall we say. This piece has no luster left but the sharpness of its details is undeniable. Pleasing. View details	Realized $6,900
Lot 1443		1872-S Liberty Seated Dollar. EF-40. Here is one of the key dates to this series in choice collector grade EF-40. Toned a medium gray throughout with some darker highlights on the devices. Clean fields and rims, with a single rim bruise (not very large) over the ninth star on the obverse. This is a coin that any specialist will love for its original color and surfaces, and low mintage. View details	Realized $1,035

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