Lot 1391
Gleaming Proof 1838 Gobrecht Dollar. PCGS graded Proof 63. J-84. Stark, silver mirrors offset the perfectly minted, crisp images of Peter the Mint Eagle (inspiration for this model) and Christian Gobrecht's original conception of Liberty seated upon the rock of America, with her shield of state and cap of freedom. The 13 orbs of the original states surround her like beacons. Poor Peter the Mints living eagle model, he was killed one day while perched haplessly upon a flywheel in the Coiner's Room at the old mint. He was stuffed and used to "fly" from a steel rod high on a wall at the Mint (the cataloguer once saw him there in the 1960s). That was Gobrecht's inspiration for this marvelous design, one of the greatest coins to come out of early America. The two images symbolically represented the highest aspirations of the young Nation. This coin is one of our national treasures. How many have been graded and where does this one fit in among them? Who cares? Really. This is a great coin. Go for it!
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| Realized $20,125 |
