Lot 1783
"Ultra Cameo" Gem Proof Half Eagle of 1901. NGC graded Proof 65. Ultra Cameo. Several of these scarce Proofs have been given higher numbers than the presently offered specimen, but--studying this coin--one is reduced to wondering what those coins possess in terms of quality that this coin lacks. For it seems to lack nothing--nothing at all. It just could not be prettier. The cataloguer sees no hairlines. The appearance is just splendid--splendid! So bid accordingly on this superb gem.
The year 1901 was an eventful one for the United States of America. It was a turning point, too. President William McKinley, whose policies had started leading the nation to new prominence, was assassinated in September, shortly after his reelection, and a powerful new leader was about to emerge--the "bully" Theodore Roosevelt. There has probably never been a president who demonstrated more pride of country than Teddy Roosevelt. Simultaneously, America's industrial and military might was all set to showcase itself to the world. The "Steel Navy" was about to be built, and it would soon take American dominance across the seas for the first time. But the U.S. Army was already in Cuba, the Panama Canal was in the heady planning stages, our grasp was out to control Puerto Rico and the Philippines, U.S. Steel was incorporated as the first billion-dollar American corporation, pools and panics flustered investors in Wall Street, and in a little town in Texas ugly bubbles percolating for years to the surface were at last tapped by the now-famous Spindletop well--which was soon to gush with the "black gold" that would fuel that Steel Navy and all the commercial enterprises which were just peeking into the future in 1901.
This splendid Proof gold coin symbolizes all this, and is justifiably a prize of considerable worth.
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