Lot 1755
1847 Liberty Seated Quarter Dollar. PCGS graded Proof 65. Old green holder. A very rare early proof striking. In Breen's 1977 encyclopedia on Proof coinage, he estimated that perhaps 7-8 proofs of this date exist. Neither he nor Larry Briggs, the current seated coinage specialist, have estimated the number originally struck, but it probably was as few as 20 pieces. All Proofs have the plain date without repunching or recutting, and the reverse is from the same Proof die used in 1846.
When closely examined, the reverse shows to have been struck from heavily polished dies, as there are innumerable raised die polish lines running across that side. This takes a certain amount of magnification to see since the surfaces are toned in multiple layers of dappled to streaked blue, olive-green, the various "old silver" hues, and who knows what other colors. Nicely reflective fields. The strike is uniformly high, but not quite 100% as seen on post-1858 Proofs sold to collectors. A very rare opportunity as early Proofs are seen today. In PCGS holder 9696395.
Pop 2; none finer at PCGS. Only 4 graded in proof at PCGS. (PCGS # 5541) .
Estimated Value $15,000 - 20,000.
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| Realized $24,150 |
