Lot 1393
1839 Gobrecht Dollar. Designer's name omitted. Restrike. Proof 55 Light hairlines. J-104 with medal alignment of the dies. No Gobrecht dollar is ugly, for the design is too appealing. This one has been cleaned and shows harsh signs of that in its fields. The luster or mirrors are gone. Yet--yet, the design is so bold that you just have to kind of like it. You can see the fingernails on Liberty's fingers. You can count her toes. The rims are clean and the beading ("dentils") of both sides provide for an image centering that few coins have captured better. These are really nothing but the realities of Gobrecht's extraordinary design. And the eagle--we almost forgot the eagle. Good 'ole Peter, he is never better than on this dollar series (he was used again for the cents of 1856 to 1858, of course). His feathers are as detailed as a medieval French coat of chain-mail. His claws, nostril and eye are those of a fierce bird of prey. Gobrecht was saying that America, while still isolated from the "civilized" world of Europe, and flying into the wilderness of the unknown West over yonder, was a formidable force of nature, something to be both feared and respected. It's far from the best of Gobrecht's surviving images, yet its appeal remains evident even in this flawed state.
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| Realized $8,913 |
