Lot 1288
1873 Arrows. NGC graded Proof 68 Star. Only 540 minted. Wonderful rainbow toning on both sides. Perhaps the Finest Known. This lovely NGC Star-certified marvel of coin preservation is the finest example of its class known to NGC, trumping the previous record-holder, a lone Cameo Premium Gem; in addition, PCGS has no contender. The coin, easily one of the most beautiful, indeed strikingly beautiful survivors out of the 540 pieces struck, offers pleasing, distinct contrast despite ample patina over the fields and devices. Lighter gold shadings grace the richly frosted devices ringed with a halo of incredibly iridescence blue on the obverse while on the reverse, blending smoothly into light pinkish hues. The flickering mirrors, perfection personified, show resilience unlike any we have offered before. Struck with determination by the Proof dies and virtually flawless in the passage through 140 years, even when viewed under strong magnification. An prime opportunity for the Proof Seated quarter admirer. Pop 1; none finer at NGC .
The Coinage Act of 1873 changed the United States policy with respect to silver. Before the Act, the United States had backed its currency with both gold and silver, and it minted both types of coins. The Act moved the United States to the gold standard, which meant it would no longer buy silver or mint silver coins from the public on demand, but instead only from approved (that is, politically connected) Western mine owners who were not averse to tendering bribes to those in control.
In 1873, the year in which this scarce With Arrows Seated Liberty Quarter was struck, Congress sat down in a long session and hammered out a new coinage bill. Shortly after the bill was passed, silver miners discovered they had been given short shrift. They nicknamed it the Crime of 1873. What Congress had done, among other things, was to rationalize America's coinage system; gone was the Two-cent Piece, the Three-cent Silver, the regular issue Silver Dollar; added was a new Trade Dollar for use in the Orient. This piece is therefore a wonderful legacy of those times, and an important one, for that matter, because it is so spectacular.
Estimated Value $20,000 - 25,000.
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| Realized $29,900 |
