Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 4

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

$2.50 Gold

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 1838		1845 $2.50 Liberty. NGC graded MS-62. A tough coin to find in Mint State, only a handful of this date remain for collectors in this state of preservation. Most were well circulated. The fields and devices have minor tick marks from bag handling, but far fewer than one would expect. The fields show some reflectivity, especially near the devices. A later die state on the reverse, with several minor cracks on the lower portion. View details	Realized $2,300
Lot 1839		Eliasberg's 1845-O $2.50 Gold. PCGS graded AU-55 Eliasberg. A famous coin, though a few better ones seem to exist. Eliasberg often had the best money could buy, and if he could never locate an Uncirculated 1845-O he must have felt this piece was not a bad compromise. Its surfaces are mellow golden yellow and without much in the way of abrasion, other than a fairly fresh-looking but short scratch at the bottom of the reverse. On the front the strike is quite sharp, while the other side shows softness in the center. The date and mintmark are big and bold. And a lot of sparkle and even some satiny luster remains. PCGS has graded only 4 better. Tiny mintage of 4,000 quarter eagles, from the days when New Orleans was a bustling port town and nearby plantations enslaved millions for life, planting and harvesting them cotton fields and serving their masters in every other way. "Romantic"? Some cataloguers say so, frequently, but the reality was a mixed bag. If you were free or a landed gentryman, life was generally good, even luxurious for the luckiest. If not, the comforts of "life employment" were diminished by the horrors of enslavement. These forces conflicted of course for reasons of money mostly and were brewing towards the Civil War, but before that would come we would briefly fight Mexico in Texas and the Gold Rush would flame America into a moneyed land. At the time this little treasure was struck, down in the South, however, that gold was but a dream; there just was not much yellow metal to make into money for commerce in the early and mid 1840s. Hence the meager issuance at New Orleans in 1845. In this coin, the new owner will capture that past and may even recall it, if his imagination is vivid, every time he sees that distinctive "O" mintmark below our eagle. View details	Unsold
Lot 1840		1854-O $2.50 Liberty. AU-55. Light hairlines on this sparkling little coin. Well struck and the color is bright yellow. There's a tiny, tiny edge nick at the top of the obverse. We like this coin a lot, despite all we've said. View details	Realized $633
Lot 1841		1857 $2.50 Liberty. EF-40. Lightly cleaned some time ago. Well struck and a coin that should recover nicely if given a chance. View details	Realized $129
Lot 1842		1881 $2.50 Liberty. PCGS graded AU-58. One of the rare dates in this series. Only 691 minted, including 51 Proofs. This coin glitters and charms and is extremely bold on its obverse, with a hint of softness on the eagle's legs. Careful study is recommended as this piece has orange-peel surfaces characteristic of a Proof, and true mirrors--especially evident when held out of strong light. But we cannot see the edge in this holder. Either way, this is a rarity and of about equal value as a business strike or a spent Proof. One of 2 so graded with 10 graded higher. View details	Unsold
Lot 1843		Gem Cameo Proof 1885 $2.50 Gold. NGC graded Proof 65 Cameo. Think you know what rarity means? Really? Not "rarity" as in "Pop 1, none higher" or anything like that. No, we mean sheer rarity. As in, hardly any were made and almost none exist. As in, almost impossible to locate and own. Understand now? We truly hope so, for in this lot we are staring at something rare in the absolute sense. Mintage in Proof: 87 coins. Eighty-seven! Mintage for commerce: 800 coins. Eight hundred. In other words, in the 1885 quarter eagle we have one of the rarest American gold coins. How many may exist? NGC has graded 36 business strikes, ranging from EF45 to MS64. And 15 Proofs. How many are resubmissions? Doesn't matter a whole lot. And what of PCGS? 53 business strikes ranging from EF40 to MS65, and only 16 Proofs, including 5 in PR65 and just one in PR66. Only the most naive collector could imagine that each of these numbers represents a single coin. It's probably a mere handful going back and forth, seeking some commercial number. NGC has supposedly seen 1 PR66Cam and 7 PR65Cam coins. We doubt it. Show us all 8 of them. Our argument points out the fallacy of this entire marketing scheme. Populations are twisted versions of reality. But some coins are obviously rare, like this one. If you just have to have the highest number, go find that PR66. If you are a true fan of lovely and rare coins, though, this coin should scream "own me!" at you. For here indeed is a wonderful gold Proof coin. The portrait of Liberty and that of the eagle are brightly frosted, in deep contrast to the mirrored gold fields surrounding them. They float like hoarfrost on a still winter pond. They cause this coin to gleam! A few stray hairlines, of the very lightest sort, show up upon tilting this marvelous coin at various angles, but nobody could call this piece less than Gem. Nobody. We have just one more word to utter here: Wow! View details	Realized $15,525
Lot 1844		1896 $2.50 Liberty. PCGS graded Proof 63. We are proud to offer this delightful 1896 Proof Quarter Eagle. No, it's not some mind-blowing gem that will cost the GNP of some minor country, but an honest to goodness rarity that a really serious collector could aspire to own. The fields and devices show trivial contact marks, but nothing distracting or annoying. The 1890s saw some of the finest Proof gold production yet seen from the Mint. The quality of the planchets, the strikes, and the overall presentation were superb. Deeply frosted devices seem to have a faintly white color, further separating them from the deep reflective orange-peel fields. Only 132 were produced of this denomination in Proof this year, more than half of which apparently were lost, spent or otherwise impaired. View details	Realized $6,900
Lot 1845		Gem Cameo Proof 1897 $2.50 Gold. NGC graded Proof 66 Cameo. Just a hint of haze on the orange-peel surfaces. Delightful mellow-gold color. With only 136 Proofs coined this year, how many could be this nice? About a dozen between the services, though a few have been given higher numbers (and who can say how many of the PR65-68 coins represent multiple submissions?). View details	Realized $13,800
Lot 1846		1898 $2.50 Liberty. NGC graded Proof 64 Cameo. An old fine staple scratch surrounds the 7th star, but this coin has a deep black-and-white appearance and is one of only 165 coined in this otherwise low-mintage year. View details	Realized $9,775
Lot 1847		1902 $2.50 Liberty. MS-63. This coin looks like a satiny MS66 until you turn it over, to discover a slightly grainy look caused possibly by a slightly pebbly or porous reverse die. A wonderful chance for an appreciative collector to buy an unusually pleasing coin that the dealers will shy away from because it probably won't "grade" and make them money. View details	Realized $776
Lot 1848		1904 $2.50 Liberty. PCGS graded MS-62. The coin could easily grade higher, but there is a shallow dig under the D of UNITED. Nice color and surfaces otherwise. View details	Realized $311
Lot 1849		1905 $2.50 Liberty. MS-65. A raw coin just in from an old estate. Looks like a solid Gem to us, if not finer. The luster is perfect. The strike is fully detailed, both sides. The color is a mellow gold, attesting to its being "lost" in a drawer for decades. No stains or spots. Truly lovely, this one! View details	Realized $1,495
Lot 1850		1905 $2.50 Liberty. PCGS graded Proof 61. As a date, 1905 gold Proof production continued with the prior year's less contrasting mirror finish on the devices. In the 1890s, the devices were more heavily frosted, and thus showed greater contrast from the fields. A mere 144 dribbled from Philadelphia's coining press to fill collector orders for the year. Many of these were later lost, spent or mishandled. This particular coin has minor handling marks, accounting for the grade, but none deep or serious. From Superior Galleries "Northwood Institute and Dr. H. Gladys Spear" Collections Sale, October 1979, lot 803. View details	Realized $2,185
Lot 1851		1906 $2.50 Liberty. PCGS graded MS-61. Choice and original for the grade, and still in an old PCGS holder. View details	Realized $552
Lot 1852		1908 $2.50 Indian. PCGS graded MS-64. Struck from a worn reverse die, as the top tip of the eagle's left wing and some feathers, while gleaming with luster, are soft. The surfaces are lovely and bright with a rich golden glow. View details	Realized $863
Lot 1853		1909 $2.50 Indian. ICG graded MS-66. Yeah, this is a nice coin all right, but we think the grade is exaggerated. Obverse really clean, but the reverse upper right field has a number of abrasions--too many to warrant a Superb label. The color is a delightful mix of greenish gold and some iridescent hues. View details	Realized $2,875
Lot 1854		Perfection - A Superb 1913 Matte Proof $2.50 Gold. PCGS graded Proof 66. We are proud to offer this magnificent Gem Matte Proof Quarter Eagle. This coin has rich, golden toning. Production of Proofs stopped as the counter ticked off 165 coins from the coining press, of which more than half were spent, lost or otherwise diminished in grade. PCGS has only graded 10 this high, with a single coin graded a notch higher. Hence, this is one of the very best known. The Pratt design of incuse devices sunk into the coin instead of raised was certainly an entirely new idea for coin production and the public greeted this coinage with mixed reviews. Today, collectors highly value the incuse design innovation, and highly value the few Gem Proofs that remain. An outstanding Proof rarity with sensational surfaces. View details	Unsold
Lot 1855		1915 $2.50 Indian. PCGS graded MS-62 Premium Quality. A lustrous and nearly choice example of the date. View details	Realized $483
Lot 1856		1915 $2.50 Indian. AU-58. Never dipped, this coin is handsome and without abrasions. Just a hint of rub. We seldom see AUs this "fresh"! View details	Realized $161
Lot 1857		1925-D $2.50 Indian. PCGS graded MS-62. Most of the original luster is present, well struck and well preserved. View details	Realized $230
Lot 1858		1925-D $2.50 Indian. PCGS graded MS-62. Some faint hairlines in the reverse field are all that discriminate this from a nice MS63. The coin has an orange golden glow far nicer than some 63s, too. View details	Realized $230
Lot 1859		1925-D $2.50 Indian. AU-58. Little abrasions, none offensive, and old-time surfaces--never dipped. View details	Realized $155
Lot 1860		1927 $2.50 Indian. PCGS graded MS-64. Clean with few noticeable marks. View details	Realized $748