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Sale 69
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Lot 1851
1883 Hawaiian Dollar. NGC graded Proof 65+Cameo CAC Approved. The finest known Hawaiian proof dollar. This amazing coin's beautifully frosted deep cameo devices seem to float on the essentially flawless deep liquid-mirror fields. Put on a pair of those funny 3D glasses that movie-goers wear and we fancy you’ll see so much dimensional depth that the designs will appear to be jumping out into space at you! A few subtle hairlines are seen in the obverse field, but these are essentially trivial where the generally magnificent eye appeal is concerned. The gleaming silver fields subtly contrast with a hint of pale gold that follows the denticles and the sharply defined outer rims. One of 26 Proofs struck at the San Francisco Mint.
The broad diameter of the dollar allowed Engraver Charles E. Barber to place the complete royal emblem and supporters on an elaborate mantle on this reverse, flanked by the abbreviated denomination 1 - D. The full Hawaiian denomination AKAHI DALA follows the lower rim. This denomination was affected by the early growth of world Crown collecting in the 1960s which focused the attentions of a wide variety of collectors on dollar-sized pieces. The wholesale destruction of 453,652 of the 500,000 business strikes and the damage inflicted on many survivors through jewelry fabrication certainly helped direct avid attention toward the small Proof population. The subsequent sky-rocketing interest in Hawaiiana has propelled the interest in such pieces to ever greater heights.
Only a few Proof dollars have appeared at public auction in the recent past, several of them repeat offerings, with, according to the now out-of-date Dannreuther-Garrett compendium of auction records, none graded higher than Proof-63. This specimen is by far the finest certified by NGC. PCGS has certified one dollar as Proof-65, its highest grade with none finer. It is perfectly possible that the present glittering Proof is the finest known or at the very least a mere whisper from the finest.
(Originally part of a five-piece 1883 Hawaiian silver Proof set that appears to have been kept intact since the time of striking. The other coins from this set are offered singly in the Gerald Forsythe consignment.) Pop 1; none finer at NGC.
Estimated Value $40,000 - 50,000.
The Forsythe Collection.
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| Realized $89,125 |
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