Lot 828
1874 Pattern Eagle. Copper, reeded edge. NGC graded Proof 66 Brown. Dana Bickford's International Ten Dollar piece. The obverse contains a bust of Liberty facing left with the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA above and the date below. In her hair there is a diadem inscribed with the word LIBERTY, ornamented with six stars. The weight 16.72 GRAMS, the standard of the metal 900 FINE, and the word UBIQUE are centered on the reverse. Around the periphery is the U.S. denomination DOLLARS 10 and the following international equivalents: STERLING (Pound) 2.1.1; MARKEN 41.99; KRONEN 37.31; GULDEN 20.73; and FRANCS 51.81. Struck in copper and a reeded edge. The Bickford $10 is one among several proposals for an international coinage; another was the 1868 half eagle pattern, the 1879-80 $4 Stellas and $20 DEO EST GLORIA pieces. While having the diameter of a double eagle, these pieces were struck on slim planchets. This particular example appears with attractive purple to blue-brown iridescence; there are one or two field marks and a hairline through the portrait into the field below the U of UNITED, that are mostly obscured by the attractive toning. No other post-striking impairments on either side and the coin is very attractive with remnants of the originally striated fields still in evidence with magnification. Pop 1; the only graded at NGC.
Estimated Value $10,000 - 14,000.
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| Realized $15,525 |
