Lot 1392
1870. NGC graded Proof 65. The brilliant, totally untoned mirror surfaces of this coin, having the opportunity to hide nothing, reveal some faint, wispy lines--probably from having lain on velvet pads years ago, when that's how neat coins were shown at conventions. A thousand Proofs were struck of this dollar coin, but only 116 of them have made it to NGC for review. Of those, 22 were given the 65 designation, and another 8 made 66. There aren't any nicer ones, so here we have one of the nicest survivors of the year.
This coin hails from what is known as the Reconstruction period of our history. What does that mean? Well, five years after the Civil War ended, Virginia and Texas and Mississippi were finally readmitted to the Union. Yet the future's equalities were still a long away: Utah Territory granted sufrrage to women, the first black man was elected to the U.S. Senate (from Mississippi!), and the Ku Klux Klan at last came under federal scrutiny, while the Department of Justice came into existence. In October, Robert E. Lee, former commander in chief of the Confederate army, died in his beloved Virginia at the age of 63. "Type coins" may be just type coins, but they are much more to those who appreciate the times which issued them.
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