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Sale 74
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Lot 2743
1853. Arrows and Rays. NGC graded Proof 65 Cameo. A remarkable Proof that last appeared at auction in a Heritage sale over four years ago where a detailed provenance table of other 1853 Arrows and Rays Proofs was appended. According to the description, "Walter Breen's Proof Encyclopedia records a total of five proofs and Larry Briggs' Liberty Seated quarter reference does likewise, probably following Breen's lead. Breen identifies (while citing no reference) the occasion for the pieces' striking on March 3 as the introduction of the new Arrows and Rays subtype, whose business-strike coinage began on April 26. (This remark apparently dates to Harold Newlin in the 1880s, who pegged the striking of proof half dimes to that date. Breen leapt, rightly or wrongly, to the conclusion that all Arrows and Rays proofs were struck on that date.) The right arrow point nearly touches a dentil, while the shield point is over the right base of the 1 in the date. The left base of the 1 is about over the center of a dentil. Light recutting is visible south on the 53 and the right arrow. The bottom of the flag on the 1 is even with the left arrow shaft. On the reverse some faint die file marks are visible above the ER in AMERICA, and some die polish lines in the loop of the Q. Most of these die markers for the proof coinage are documented in either the Breen or Briggs references.
"As any serious collector of 19th century proof coinage knows, proof coins of any denomination and year before 1858 or so are quite rare. This piece should be doubly popular, as it is not only incredibly rare in its own right, but it is also a one-year proof representative of the important Arrows and Rays subtype. (While the 1853 and 1854 are often collected and considered as a single type, the 1854 Seated quarters lack the Rays reverse, technically making the two issues distinct subtypes.) The proof 1853 Arrows and Rays quarter is considered the most important proof issue in the Seated Liberty quarter collection.
"Although this coin is not attributed as such by NGC, it is clearly the specimen from the Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, where Q. David Bowers cataloged it as "MS-64, prooflike," going into extensive detail on why the piece might be a true proof--at least, as that term might apply to coins dated 1853. Among the similarities he cites that are visible on this piece are "delicate champagne toning over mirror surfaces" and the die finishing lines just inside the denticles over stars 11 and 12. A small patch of darker toning midway down Liberty's right (facing) calf is a match, as is the tiny rim crease just above the Liberty cap, between stars 8 and 9 (this is, however, apparently in the die, as some other specimens in the roster below show the same feature). The color plate in the Eliasberg catalog is also a dead match." Pop 1; 1 finer in 66CAM.
Estimated Value $80,000 - 90,000.
Ex Eliasberg; Heritage, April 2009.
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| Realized $80,500 |
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