Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 81

The Pre-Long Beach Sale

$10 Liberty/With Motto

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 1308		1877-S. PCGS graded AU-58. Untoned. Only 17,000 struck. Among eagles of this era the 1877-S is infrequently auctioned. Period. However, when examples are encountered they tend to fall far short of the presently offered About Uncirculated 58 specimen. The coin presents a pleasing appearance to the eye, some contact marks on the portrait and nearby probably not affecting the grade. We would put the luster at 60% to 70% if not slightly more, and all of it fresh, frosty. The highest graded 1877-S Eagles certified by PCGS comprise the 8 AU58 specimens in the most recent census (not a Mint State coin in sight). Presumably most, if not all, have contact marks of one sort or another but we suspect this, since it gives a splendid account of itself, could well be one of the best among the 8 pieces. The striking is fairly sharp for a San Francisco Eagle of this decade, with the usual lightness at the highest center hair details, but with most star centers sharp, and with the eagle on the reverse better than sometimes seen. The color is a reddish gold, nicely impacted by the mint frost. For low mintage $10 gold coin specialist this will nicely answer, perhaps forever, the call for a high quality 1877-S -- unless, perchance, a choice Mint State piece were to happen along, a remote possibility. Pop 8; none finer at PCGS. (PCGS # 8679) . Estimated Value $10,000 - 11,000. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold
Lot 1309		1885. PCGS graded MS-62. Delicate natural toning. Pop 118; 59 finer at PCGS. (PCGS # 8706) . Estimated Value $600 - 650. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $793
Lot 1310		1887. PCGS graded MS-61. CAC Approved. Frosty surfaces; normal light bagmarking. Attractive color (PCGS # 8710) . Estimated Value $750 - 800. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $969
Lot 1311		1887-S. NGC graded MS-64. A hint of gold tone and boldly struck. A few minor marks of Liberty's cheek otherwise an MS-65. Pop 11; 1 finer in 65 (PCGS # 8711) . Estimated Value $4,250 - 4,500. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold
Lot 1312		1888-S. PCGS graded MS-62. Attractively toned (PCGS # 8714) . Estimated Value $650 - 700. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $823
Lot 1313		1888-S. Sharpness of AU-58. Estimated Value $600 - 650. View details	Realized $646
Lot 1314		1889-S. NGC graded MS-63. Nice light gold tone. Pop 89; 10 finer, 1 in 63 Star, 8 in 64, 1 in 64+ (PCGS # 8716) . Estimated Value $1,250 - 1,300. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold
Lot 1315		1890. PCGS graded MS-63. Only 57,980 minted. Frosty mint luster and lightly toned. A much undervalued coin in Mint State. This is a lovely, healthy-glowing Choice specimen, whose full-color obverse and reverse being all-original, beams with frosty luster. Some normal light bagmarks. Regarding this date, the clearest details are found throughout the peripheral areas including full stars, and also encompassing the key centers which are well struck as well. Pop 19; 1 finer in 64 (PCGS # 8717) . Historic Note: Monetary history of the period from 1890 to 1896 encompasses every sort of chaos, from banking panics in England, to gold runs in the U.S., a worldwide Great Depression, to problems with the newly printed U.S. Coin Notes payable in either silver or gold, whose authorization law had to be quickly rescinded in 1893 due to the trouble they caused. The year 1890 was only the beginning. Estimated Value $4,000 - 4,500. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold
Lot 1316		1891. NGC graded MS-62. The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the "Mauve Decade," because William Henry Perkin's aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion, and also as the "Gay Nineties", under the then-current usage of the word "gay" which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, without the connotations in present-day usage. The phrase, "The Gay Nineties," was not coined until 1926. It has since gone into abeyance. Pop 210; 50 finer, 47 in 63, 1 in 64, 2 in 65. (PCGS # 8719) . Historical Note: Off and on in US history, there were periods of monetary stress and gold coin shortages. "Treasury officials were faced with distress in 1891, as foreign demand for U.S. gold coins threatened to deplete reserves to critically low levels, a crisis which grew worse during the next few years before beginning to improve," explains Randy Goe, author of a book on Carson City Mint coins. "At the same time, the Philadelphia Mint was burdened with the task of providing millions of minor coins. San Francisco was called upon to fill the insatiable demand for double eagles and the Carson City Mint was given the responsibility of restocking diminishing reserves of gold eagles and half eagles." Estimated Value $650 - 700. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $881
Lot 1317		1891-CC. PCGS graded MS-62. Well struck and frosty. Only 103,732 struck. The most popular and affordable CC-mint Eagle for collectors. As a result of unprecedented mintage of gold eagles a the Carson Min in 1891, more examples of this date are extant in all grades than all of the other 18 years of "CC" gold Eagles combined. In a sense, the 1891-CC is a gift to the collecting community. Pop 370; 72 finer, 3 in 62+; 65 in 63; 1 in 63+; 3 in 64. (PCGS # 8720) . Estimated Value $2,000 - 2,100. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $2,938
Lot 1318		1892-S. PCGS graded MS-62. Delicately toned, lustrous, and very select appearing. Pop 85; 75 finer at PCGS. (PCGS # 8724) . Estimated Value $600 - 650. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $940
Lot 1319		1893-S. PCGS graded MS-62. A desirable and frosty S-mint Eagle. Pop 158; 57 finer at PCGS. (PCGS # 8728) . Historic Association: 1893 was a year of Panic in the US, Britain and Europe. On the 30th of June, President Grover Cleveland called an extra session of Congress for the 7th of August "to the end that the people may be relieved through legislation from present and impending danger and distress." In recent years, the fact has come to light that his health was at that time in a condition so precarious that it would have caused wild excitement had the truth been known, for only his life stood in the way of a free silver President, William Jennings Bryan. On the same day on which he issued his call for the extra session, President Cleveland left for New York ostensibly for a yachting trip, but while the yacht was steaming slowly up the East River, he was in the hands of surgeons who removed his entire left upper jaw to remove a cancerous lesion. On the 5th of July they performed another operation in the same region for the removal of any tissues which might possibly have been infected. These operations were so completely successful that the President was fitted with an artificial jaw of vulcanized rubber which enabled him to speak without any impairment of the strength and clearness of his voice. Immediately after this severe trial, which he bore with calm fortitude, Cleveland had to battle with the raging silver faction, strong in its legislative position through its control of the Senate. When Congress met, the only legislation which the President had to propose was the repeal of the Silver Purchase Act of 1890, the so-called Sherman Silver Purchase Act that had caused the economy untold grief and brought the Treasury department to the brink of ruin. The law Congress repealed had provided for the purchase of 4,500,000 ounces of silver a month, "or, so much thereof as may be offered at the market price" with most of this being coined into silver dollars as backing for silver certificates and Treasury notes. Estimated Value $700 - 750. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $940
Lot 1320		A pair of U.S. gold coins. Consists of: 1894 $10, Polished AU Details; 1915 $2.5, Cleaned XF. Lot of 2 coins. Estimated Value $700 - 725. View details	Realized $823
Lot 1321		1899. NGC graded MS-64+. CAC Approved. Well struck and very frosty (PCGS # 8742) . Estimated Value $1,700 - 1,800. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Unsold
Lot 1322		1906-O. PCGS graded MS-61. Toned. Later issue New Orleans Mint Eagle. This Southern branch mint resumed striking coins in 1879 and ceased operations in 1909. To this day, New Orleans remains an important port facility and gateway to the interior of the country at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Housed in an Old Green Holder (PCGS # 8761) . Estimated Value $600 - 650. View details and enlarged photos Check results on similar lots	Realized $911