Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 74

June Long Beach Coin Auction

Seated Liberty Dollars

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 2885		1840 Liberty Seated Dollar. NGC graded Proof 63. Well struck with even gun-metal and dark bluish-grey toning. The date is minutely above center in its space, and properly centered left to right. The shield point is directly above the center of the upright of the 1. The reverse has a defect on the outside right edge of the final A, a characteristic common to many proofs of this decade. Recent research suggests that many original Proof Seated Dollar dies were used over a span of many years, being carefully preserved and stored from one year to the next. The Proof 1840 dollars are known to a greater extent than some later dates of the decade, logically because the demand for the first year of issue coinage is higher than for the later issues. (Logic can be a dangerous thing.) This lovely Choice Proof 63 example has light contrast with satiny and muted devices on both sides visible under the dusky color. The fields are slightly milky and a touch hairlined. Both sides of this piece show bold impression, with considerable evidence that the coin was actually struck more than once. A major rarity in the Seated Liberty Dollar series. Pop 9; 7 in 64. Estimated Value $20,000 - 22,000. View details and enlarged photos	Unsold
Lot 2886		1841 PCGS graded Genuine AU Details. Cleaning. Still a nice untoned coin. Lustrous with a normal quotient of circulation marks. The devices, Liberty and the eagle in particular, are frosty as they are set against a slightly reflective field (PCGS # 6927) . Estimated Value $500 - 550. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $748
Lot 2887		1849 Liberty Seated Dollar. PCGS graded AU-55. Well struck with nice mottled toning, a slightly scarcer date and in this condition, desirable to say the least. While not many Seated Dollars were made, and while most saw extensive circulation, a few it seems like this handsome coin were saved early on. Possibly only by happenstance (PCGS # 6936) . Estimated Value $900 - 1,000. The George C. Follis Collection. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $1,380
Lot 2888		1860-O Liberty Seated Dollar. ICG graded MS-63. A brilliant white untoned frosty mint example. An outstanding lustrous and frosty example with nice rotating cartwheels free of toning or heavy bagmarks. The reverse and obverse centers play host to a brilliance and originality always appreciated by the stronger buyers of Seated Liberty coinage. In short, a lovely MS63, one that certainly meets the qualifications for the grade. An export dollar, the 1860-O dollar was probably intended primarily for the export trade, which was active through New Orleans (America�s largest port at the time). Most were used in this way, although probably several tens of thousands were held domestically. As to its availability of Mint State grades, it was believed by Walter H. Breen that 6,000 coins were released by the Treasury during the 1962-1964 silver dollar distribution, "although other opinions as to the quantity vary widely," explains Bowers-Borckhardt in their Silver Dollar encyclopedia. Nearly all of these were heavily bagmarked and today fall in the MS-60 or slightly finer category. One uncouth coin dealer (since deceased) -- one hesitates to call him a numismatist -- once said tongue-in-cheek of this issue: "The average BU 1860-O dollar earned the nickname of 'Quaker Oats dollar,' because it looks like it was shot from guns." (PCGS # 6950) . Estimated Value $2,300 - 2,500. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold
Lot 2889		1863 Liberty Seated Dollar. PCGS graded Proof 65 PQ CAC Approved. Only 460 minted. Well struck with lovely light gold toning. This coin presents two markedly different "looks" depending on the angle of incidence. At indirect angles, rich antique toning frames more-or-less central swirls of tan and silver tinting. When the viewer dips the coin into a light, however, the first two colors give way to vivid reflective quality shaded by the toning, respectively. Fully original in finish, both sides sparkle with deep mint reflectivity. Neither the razor-sharp strike nor the silky-smooth surfaces are worthy of even the most trifling criticism. From originality to strong technical merits, this coin has it all. A simply beautiful Gem-quality Proof 65 survivor from a combined Proof and business strike mintage of just 27,660 pieces. Pop 5; 9 finer, 8 in 66, 1 in 67 (PCGS # 7006) . Historic Note: Honest Abe Lincoln, an Illinois railroad lawyer from top to bottom, invested in land in Council Bluffs, Iowa, of all places, in 1857. To this day this piece of land is known as "Lincoln�s Hill." When he became president one of his first official acts was to call a special session of Congress to begin work on the Pacific Railway Act that would shower railroad corporations with government subsidies while they constructed a transcontinental railroad line. When Congress finally passed the bill in 1862 it gave the president the exclusive right to decide the eastern terminus of the line. And guess what? Lincoln chose Council Bluffs, Iowa! Some say it was a coincidence. Others call it an example of savvy political insider trading. Construction began in 1863, the year of this Gem Proof Seated Dollar, and was completed with the pounding-in of the Golden Spike at Promontory, Utah in 1869. Estimated Value $10,000 - 11,000. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $14,950
Lot 2890		1869 Liberty Seated Dollar. PCGS graded Proof 65+ DCAM. Only 600 Proofs struck. A wonderful well struck white coin. The Proof 1869 Seated Dollar was struck to the extent of 600 specimens -- a mintage figure that is comparable to that of the other Proof Silver Dollars from the 1860s. Although also popular with type collectors and investors, this issue enjoys its greatest demand from Seated Dollar date collectors who understand its rarity and conditionally challenging nature of the pretty much unavailable Mint quality business strike 1869. Apparently spurred on by the ease with which destinies along with cities were destroyed during the Civil War, a religious revival swept much of the United States in the 1860s. This revival touched the Seated Dollar in 1866 through the addition of the motto IN GOD WE TRUST to the reverse design. The first Proofs of this new type were struck that year, as they would be every year through the series' end in 1873. There is little difference between the rarity of the eight Proof deliveries in the Motto Seated Dollar series. Nevertheless, some of these issues are more popular with collectors than others due to the rare, conditionally challenging nature of their identically dated business strike counterparts. Excellent examples are the 1866 (particularly) 1867, 1868 and 1869, which enjoy greater demand among date collectors than the 1870, 1871, 1872 and 1873. On the other hand, the final four issues are perhaps a bit more desirable with Proof type collectors. Pop 1; 4 finer, 3 in 66 and 1 in 67 (PCGS # 97017) . Commentary: A coin issued during one of the more hectic years on record, 1869. First, there was a nearly successful attempt to corner the New York gold market by speculators which confounded money men world-wide; then, too, the first cross-country railroad link was completed with the pounding-in of the golden spike at Promontory, Utah to similar world-wide news coverage. It is interesting to note that the mintage of silver and gold coins at the Philadelphia Mint continued at relatively low levels due to the impairment of contracts from the Federal greenback paper money in circulation. The East was recovering from the devastating effects of the Civil War while things were "business as usual" on the West Coast. As this coin demonstrates, silver Proofs were sold in limited numbers by the Philadelphia Mint and apparently for a long time since few Gems survive. If only it could speak; if only it could tell the tale of its years formation of the United State industrial giant this country would become in the 20th Century. Estimated Value $10,000 - 12,000. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $17,250
Lot 2891		1870-CC PCGS graded Genuine VF Details. Tooled. Only 11,758 minted. Even grey toning. Of the four CC-mint Seated Liberty Dollars minted (1870-73), only the 1870-CC is readily available. Scarce (PCGS # 6964) . Estimated Value $550 - 650. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $1,064