Lot 1862
1884 $3 Gold. PCGS graded Proof 64. Quality Proof gold coins are a deluxe item, some of the best things ever made inside mints that have come down through the years with little disturbance to their fragile surfaces. This coin is delightful, even with its obvious but faint hairlines. The orange-peel nature of the mirrors is all there, and the Indian Princess head and other devices on both sides are moderately cameoed against the mirrored fields. The color here is a rich orange gold, something acquired over a period of years of exposure to the air. 106 Proofs were coined in 1884, along with only a thousand others meant for commerce--but in reality commerce called for few such coins at the time. Most were saved by the wealthy or farsighted as special curios of a time in America which was fast fading into oblivion.
Historical note: A little-remembered event of this year was the opening on December 16th of the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, which extended into much of 1885. Placed in New Orleans, it became a bigger event in its day than the much better remembered Philadelphia Centennial Fair back in 1876, the buildings of which still exist, in part, in that city's Fairmont Park along today's Schuylkill Expressway. The Louisiana fair occupied a third more ground than the Philly show had, and had exhibits from near and far--including China and Japan, then somewhat remote and romantic locales in the minds of Americans. While the 1884-1885 fair allowed the Nation to show off its numerous industrial and farm products, it became something of far greater significance for the South--a re-emergence of the former Confederate states as part of a vigorously growing America, again united as a force for the coming century to reckon with. How those presages proved themselves in the 20th century!.
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| Realized $11,500 |
