Lot 1763
1840 $2.50 Liberty. PCGS graded Proof 50. Nice golden toning. First year type coin. Should be called "The Little Prince". 1841 is called "The Little Princess" Mint States of the 1840 Quarter Eagle show up regularly due to release of a small hoard fifteen years ago, but in Proof the coin is another breed of cat! Evenly balanced mirror radiance grips the smooth and dynamic golden surfaces. What also sparks our interest is the varying hues of warm orange gold color that mingle effortless across the rich gold iridescence. An attractive Proof that shows off its bold strike proudly. About the only point of departure from 100% razor-sharpness might be the 6th star, the one above Liberty's coronet point, which was insufficiently punched onto the planchet by the die. (An alternate possibility is that this star was not impressed into the die as deeply as the others, which does occur on numerous other American gold coins.) Be that as it may, virtually every point on the obverse is crisply delineated. As far as the reverse goes, the eagle shows substantial detail in the wing feathers, though less so on the neck and the leg and claw holding the branch. Bold rims and full rim dentils on either side, without even a suggestion of rim breaks or nicks found in this key area. PCGS serial #06559500.
For starters, the much talked-about 1841 Proof of this denomination has been called "The Little Princess" by generations of adoring collectors and numismatists. If that is the case, then it seems only fitting to call the even rarer 1840 Proof "The Little Prince" - a nickname we expect will, in time, be included in numismatic reference books similar to the grand old tome, Breen's complete encyclopedia. Pop 1: The only one graded; two known the other is in the Smithsonian. (PCGS # 7866) .
First year of the new design. Even Christian Gobrecht probably never suspected that his version of the quarter-eagle design would outlive him by over 60 years, becoming one of the most familiar and unchanging national concepts since the Spanish Pillar Dollar. Ever since late 1834, first chief engraver William Kneass and then Gobrecht had been experimenting with designs of all U.S. coin denominations, trying to reach a version of each which would remain satisfactory for ensuing decades. The head Gobrecht adopted for eagles in 1839 was reduced and modified for half eagles and quarter eagles, in the latter requiring no noticeable changes. Not even the adoption of the motto IN GOD WE TRUST (1866) was to affect quarter eagles, which looked in 1907 very much as in 1840. The reverse may have been by Robert Ball Hughes.
(Breen Proofs encyclopedia refers to three 1840 quarter eagles, one of which is permanently impounded in the nation museum: "Quarter Eagle. Only one variety in proofs. Small date as on the small silver, half cents, & c. (1) Smithsonian, from Mint (impaired). (2) T. L. Gaskill, NN 48:217, also impaired. (3) N.Y. Specialist.").
Estimated Value $100,000 - 125,000.
|
| |
| Unsold |
