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Sale 51
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Lot 1609
1869 $20 Liberty. PCGS graded Proof 64 Deep Cameo. An absolutely exquisite brilliant Proof with superb deep frosted cameo surfaces. Only 25 were minted.
Close upon the heels of the 1868 Proof comes this exquisite Proof 64 1869 $20 whose beauty inspires nods of appreciation within the collecting community. For the truth is, the cameo contrast is very strong, much more so than one usually finds with coins struck in the 1860s. Deep Cameo is too limiting a term to capture the true performance of this coin's rich beauty and pageantry. To say that the devices are merely "richly frosted" gets nearer the truth; what's more the finish is set against glittering, smoothly mirrored fields that go very "deep," as they say, when the coin is held at an angle in the light. The brilliant reddish gold shade along with an appreciable absence of marks or hairlines puts it near the forefront of the few Proofs remaining in collections.
Proof Double Eagle issuance at the Philadelphia Mint was the same as in 1868: only 25 were sold in 1869. Perhaps half as many remain. That being said, this is one of the most beautiful specimens of a Proof 1869 Double Eagle to come along in a long while, something we feel privileged to auction. Its sale will be watched keenly by specialists in the double eagle series. Pop 2, none finer. PCGS has graded just two Proofs with the Deep Cameo designation, possibly the same coin. (PCGS # 99084) .
The Gold Panic of 1869: A famous gold market "corner" took place on Wall Street on a Friday in the autumn of 1869. Two cunning speculators, Gould and Fisk, parleyed their "position" in gold into a near corner. They would have succeeded, too, had not President Grant instructed his Treasury Secretary to release some of the government's gold into the market to stem the buying frenzy. Prices in the metals markets, which had gone to a premium of 42% over par during the heat of the action, plummeted. And it took many months for international trade to return to normal afterwards. The Gould-Fisk manipulation would go down in the history books under the name of Black Friday.
Estimated Value $90,000 - 100,000.
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| Realized $106,375 |
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