Lot 1861
Truly Superb 1883 Proof $3 Gold. PCGS graded Proof 65. Not designated Cameo on the slab, but it is! In fact, this is just about as stunning as Proof gold can get. A few wispy lines float on the orange-peel surfaces, in the fields, but these are nothing on a gleaming true Gem like this. In fact, it just looks "perfect" at first glance. Microscopic inspection reveals nothing but those few wispy lines. With just 900 made for circulation and an additional 89 as Proofs, the serious collector hasn't many to select from at all. If he wants the very best, he can't hope for much more than this. It is truly Superb!
In 1883, America was bathing in riches, so much so in fact that the decade has come to be dubbed the Gilded Age. Millionaires were billionaires by today's standards. Chester A. Arthur was enthroned in the White House, and he served the Nation without a Veep. He reformed the civil service, and his arguments with his own party cost him reelection; but he was ill and died a year out of office anyway, in 1886. But in 1883 Arthur saw the Brooklyn Bridge opened for traffic (an engineering marvel, even today), and aside from a bad flood on the Ohio River the country went merrily along, making money and enjoying life. It was a rosy year--what many people assume the 19th century was like as a whole, though it surely was not. In fact, the coming century was regarded with concern, and the Congress authorized construction of the first steel-hulled warships for the Navy. Within a couple of decades, the entire fleet would become the brand-new Steel Navy. Ready for the perils of an uncertain century. And portraits of Indians like this one, and in large measure gold itself, would be remembrances of another time.
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| Realized $18,400 |
