Lot 1150
1875 $5 Liberty. PCGS graded EF-40. The Dr. Jon Kardatzke coin, described (in part) by us in our June 2000 sale of his collection, as follows: "One of the rarest coins in the entire sweep of United States Numismatics. Only 200 were struck for circulation, of which Breen estimated that 'fewer than 5 are known.'…This particular coin does not appear to be the Wolfson coin (Stack's, October 12-13, 1962, lot 511) but it is hard to tell with the old half-tone photographs (this same coin was resold in the 1974 ANA sale, Lot 884). Perhaps it is the Boyd coin which was offered in the World's Greatest Collection Sale, 1945, lot 429.
This is a date which is offered perhaps two or three times a decade [although the recent sales of the Bass collection have skewed this number upwards for the 1990's], and is more common in proof than other grades. The Dr. Kardatzke coin is a superb example for the grade, with very little wear even on the highest devices. The fields, rims and devices show light bagmarks, fewer than usually seen on common date coins of this era in this grade. Fully struck and a delight to behold…
For identifying marks from which to trace pedigreees, this one has a tiny bagmark above and right of the upper olive leaf, and there is a very small mark on Liberty's lower neck above the 8. In PCGS holder #407023."
Today, three years later, this is the only EF-40 graded by PCGS, with 4 coins finer (the best being a pair in AU-53…or possibly the same coin submitted twice). For comparable pricing, we point to two "raw" EF-45 examples that sold in two separate Heritage sale in 1997, for $40,250 and $43,125.
A remarkable opportunity for the advanced collector (PCGS # 8336) .
Estimated Value $25,000 - 30,000.
Ex: From our sale of the Dr. Jon Kardatzke Collection, June 4-6, 2000, Lot 1350.
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| Realized $34,500 |
