Lot 1234
1865 Pattern Quarter Dollar. Silver, reeded edge. Judd-425. Pollock-497. High Rarity 6. NGC graded Proof 65 Cameo. Hint of light gold tone. With motto transitional. Pop 1; none finer at NGC. The only example graded as Proof Cameo by NGC.
Historic Note: It was long assumed that all of these "In God We Trust" Patterns were truly struck in the same years they were dated, but as research evolved, it was generally concluded that the 1863 and 1864 dated pieces were probably struck in later years, perhaps in 1868 or 1869 by mint employees for sale to collectors. Die characteristics and die rust on the reverses of the 1863 and 1864 Quarters tend to reinforce this conclusion. However it was still widely believed that those dated 1865 actually were from 1865. In fact the 1949 Red Book even included the 1865 "In God We Trust" Half Dollar as a regular issue.
Then in 1977 one of these 1865 transitionals, an 1865 "In God We Trust" Dollar (listed as Judd no. 434 in one of the standard Pattern references, United States Pattern, Experimental and Trial Pieces by J. Hewitt Judd) appeared in the Fairfield Collection sale. This cataloguer, who was working for Bowers & Ruddy then, was the one who first called attention to the fact the coin was overstruck on an 1866 dollar! The coin was bought by Harry Bass Jr. and today resides in the Bass museum at the ANA in Colorado Springs. The eminent numismatic scholar Walter Breen summarized the impact of this discovery in his Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins published in 1988:
"For generations the silver and gold coins (of 1865) were accepted as true transitional issues. but in recent years their status has been flung into doubt because of a single silver dollar dated 1865 with motto, over struck on another dollar dated 1866."
Estimated Value $6,000 - 6,500.
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| Realized $7,050 |
