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Sale 63
Lot 892
1798 B-12, BB-120 Rarity 4. PCGS graded MS-64 PQ. Housed in a new secure plus holder. Pop 1; none finer at PCGS for the variety. A magnificent uncirculated example. Sensational eye appeal! This coin exhibits booming mint luster and lovely toning. Golden tones blanket both sides spectacularly. A hint of iridescent blue and magenta can be seen scattered throughout.
A wonderful coin and one of the more amazing examples of this date known. The coin is toned in rich orange-gold with a patch of light silver-blue on the upper obverse. The reverse is more evenly blended and matches to orange-gold found on the obverse. The fields show substantial mint luster beneath while the strike is very sharp for this or any 1798 Bust dollar. Liberty's curls are sharp; they show the desired division not only near her temple but also below her ear, both areas which are frequently poorly struck up. On the reverse the eagle and shield are mostly full, but the stars and portions of the eagle's head are weakly struck, in part due to adjustment marks in that area, but this is also quite normal for this die pairing which is always found weak on the stars over the eagle's head. Without question, this is one of the finest 1798 silver dollars known. The fields and devices of this coin take the breath away, and such quality is rarely seen on any United States silver coin of this decade. For identification purposes, we note a very minor nick on the back of Liberty's neck just touching her hair curl below her ear, and on the reverse by a singular scratch (possibly an adjustment mark) down from the third star, through the back of the eagle's head, grazing the left side of the first U of UNUM, through the horizontal shield lines where it fades away.
From the Heritage description of 2005, we quote: "The die state is quite late for this variety and both the obverse and reverse die show several thin die cracks and these are described in detail as this may be the only coin to show some of these die cracks. On the obverse the usually seen die crack extends up from the rim between the 79 of the date, there is an additional faint crack from the rim to the right side of the 9 which extends into the field above that digit. Below the lower left curl of Liberty there is a very faint short die crack, another longer crack extends up to the second curl from the bottom of Liberty's head and is there joined by a heavier die crack which curls into the field through Liberty's neck. Yet another vertical crack branches from the previous crack very close to the dentil, through the first star at the inner two points up into the field behind Liberty's ribbon. A complex crack extends up through the last four stars on the obverse, and branches with one horizontal line through most of Liberty's bust, another branch slides down through her drapery to the rim below. One additional faint crack is seen running below Liberty's ear through her curls pointing to the rim below the first star. On the reverse a number of cracks are seen there, on through the tops of UN, middle of IT, base of ED to the tops of STA and out the rim over the final S of STATES. Another die crack through AM into the field below. There is no evidence of die clashing on the obverse or reverse die. No pedigree information was included with the present coin and plate matching was unsuccessful to a number of significant Bust dollar sales." (PCGS # 40037) .
Estimated Value $100,000 - 120,000.
Ex: Hesselgesser Collection; ex Heritage 11/2005; Jack Lee Collection III.
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| Realized $106,375 |
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