Lot 778
1869. PCGS graded Proof 65. Intense blue toning on both sides. Only 600 struck. A glistening Gem Proof example with a luxurious display of toning shades reflecting off the mirror field on both sides. Nicely socked by the dies, too, indeed fully and completely so at Liberty's head, her drapery and shield. Sharply struck on reverse eagle and all legends. Pop 12; 6 finer, 5 in 66, 1 in 66+. (PCGS # 6427) .
Historic Note. Four full years after the end of the Civil War and still the United States had a confused currency situation. It took a long while before the banking system and monetary metals, silver and gold, stabilized against the greenback and National Bank Note paper money. In his First Annual Message to Congress, President Ulysses Grant said, "Among the evils growing out of the rebellion [Civil War], and not yet referred to, is that of an irredeemable currency. It is a duty, and one of the highest duties, of Government to secure to the citizen a medium of exchange of fixed, unvarying value. This implies a return to a specie basis, and no substitute for it can be devised. It should be commenced now and reached at the earliest practicable moment consistent with a fair regard to the interests of the debtor class." It wasn't until ten years later that the evil of irredeemable currency was cured by a return to a circulating gold coin money in January 1879, the silver having returned in late-1877.
Estimated Value $3,400 - 3,500.
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| Realized $3,173 |
