Lot 1805
1901 Barber Quarter Dollar. NGC graded Proof 67 Cameo. Fully white gem. Virtually ice-white fields like sleek mirrors stream light out in well defined directions rather than dispersed as it would be on a frosty Mint State coin. All this is perhaps obvious from the photos. What we need to emphasize also is that the strike is customarily crisp and detailed for this desirable Proof issue with the usual sharp metal flows into the deepest recesses of the dies on both sides. Devices are cameo frosted. 813 proofs issued. Pop 8; 4 in 68 Cameo.
The year 1901 was an historic one with ramifications far into the future (although few Americans realized it at the time). The Spindletop oilfield, discovered on a salt dome formation south of Beaumont, in eastern Texas on January 10, 1901, marked the birth of the modern petroleum industry. At first, mud began bubbling from the hole newly drilled at Spindletop. The startled roughnecks who worked the field fled as six tons of four-inch drilling pipe came shooting out of the ground. After several minutes of quiet, mud, then gas, then oil spurted forth. The Lucas geyser, as it was called, found at a depth of 1,139 feet, blew a stream of oil over 100 feet high until it was capped nine days later and flowed an estimated 100,000 barrels a day. The workers finally controlled the geyser on January 19, when a huge pool of oil surrounded it, and throngs of oilmen, speculators, and onlookers had transformed the city of Beaumont. A new age was born. The world had never seen such a gusher before.
Estimated Value $4,000 - 5,000.
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