Lot 698
Gold Three Dollar. 1857. PCGS graded Proof 64. An incredible specimen of this great rarity, with a pedigree to match. It is believed that only five or six examples exist, of which three have been so graded by PCGS, with only a single coin graded a notch higher. Perhaps this coin has been submitted before and is counted more than once in the Population Report, but we can't be sure. The surfaces have delightful cameo contrast, with deeply frosted devices and reflective mirror fields.
In order to properly identify this piece in the future, there is a tiny "S" shaped lint mark below Liberty's lowest curl in the field below the bust, and another lint mark on the reverse through the wreath and left adjacent to the D of DOLLAR. It is currently in PCGS holder #8323931.
Most recently, this coin was offered in the Michael Keston Collection as Lot 44, by Superior Stamp & Coin Company, January 30, 1996, prior to that there seems to be a discrepancy. Superior called this coin the Eliasberg coin from the famous 1982 Gold Sale by Bowers and Ruddy Galleries, however, the plate doesn't seem to match to that sale. Furthermore, the Eliasberg coin is later identified as having a lint mark on the chin and another above the 3 on the reverse, neither of which the present coin has. This is not the Trompeter coin either, which has the polished area on Liberty's neck, and a tiny planchet flake near the F of OF on the obverse. Perhaps this is the Jerome Kern, Samuel Wolfson coin, but further research is needed to straighten out the true pedigree chain of the few specimens known. In any event, only a few are known, of which this is certainly one of the two or three finest. Two of the known population are off the market, one in the Smithsonian, and another in the Harry Bass Collection.
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