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Sale 81
The Pre-Long Beach Sale
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Description |
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Lot 689 |
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1857. NGC graded MS-66. Nice blue and gold toning. About as close to watertight perfection as can be expected, this vibrant and well toned Type 2 example is without peer in terms of aesthetic appeal and originality. Even this condition of the luster isn't enough. The supporting strike is just as strong, with clear definition to the high points. The shield and shield outline bold and complete.
According to Donald Taxay in his U.S. Mint and Coinage p.219, on March 2, 1851, mint engraver Longacre, having prepared the design and cut the dies for the first type of this denomination, wrote to Treasury Secretary Corwin to explain the designs (of which he enclosed trial strikes, possibly uniface): ". That portion of the act referred to which prescribes my duties in relation to the coin is in these words: 'The said coin shall bear such devices as shall be conspicuously different from those of the other silver coins and from the gold dollar, but having the inscription United States of America, and its denomination and date.' On so small a coin it is impossible that the device can be at once conspicuous and striking unless it is simple -- complexity would defeat the object. For the obverse I have therefore chosen a star (one of the heraldic elements of the National crest) bearing on its centre the shield of the Union, surrounded by the legal inscription and date. For the reverse I have devised an ornamental letter C embracing in its centre the Roman numeral III, the whole encircled by the thirteen stars ." Pop 13; 1 finer in 67.
Estimated Value $4,000 - 4,300.
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