Heritage World Coin Auctions
CSNS Signature US Coin Sale 1254 26-28 Apr 2017
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Seated Dollars
1867 $1 MS65 PCGS. Breen-5478, OC-1, R.2. Repunched Date. Seated Liberty silver dollars were largely absent from American commerce in 1867, as large quantities of the 46,900 coins produced that year were exported for international trade purposes, primarily with China, where they were becoming more competitive with the heavier and previously preferred Mexican dollar. This shift in the standard silver dollar's effectiveness as an international trade coin was partly a result of Mexico adding a 12 percent tax on the exportation of its silver coins, which reduced the Mexican dollar's appeal to Oriental merchants and by default boosted that of the American dollar.
The 1867 Seated dollars that were paid out in the Oriental trade were presumably melted in bulk by their recipients, who traded with silver by weight, not necessarily by the number of coins present. Few examples were retained by American collectors, and most of those that did survive were only in marginal states of preservation. This largely accounts for the issue's rarity in Choice and Gem grades -- and for its corresponding popularity among modern-day specialists who seek the few finest-known examples.
Ever since Walter Breen reported proof 1867 dollars with a repunched "Large over Small" date as Breen-5478, there has been controversy over the exact nature of the repunching. Current research suggests no proofs were struck with the repunched date; rather, only circulation strikes show this characteristic. A few prooflike or nearly prooflike circulation strikes exist (such as the present coin). Others debate whether the repunching is really a large date over a small date. In actuality, the date may show a third repunching to account for the visible underdigits.
The remarkable Gem example offered here is noticeably prooflike beneath rose-gold patina, with deeper rings of reddish-violet and cobalt-blue at the margins. The strike is sharply executed throughout the stars, Liberty's head, and the eagle's talons and plumage, and the overall preservation is exceptional, even for the Gem grade level.
Over the years, we have handled just three individual examples of the 1867 business strike in Gem condition. We consider the current example -- the former Eugene H. Gardner coin -- to be superior to the others in several respects, both in eye appeal and in technical grade. The opportunity to acquire an 1867 silver dollar of this caliber may not come again for a long time. Population: 3 in 65, 0 finer (1/17).
Ex: Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 6/2006), lot 2079; purchased from Legend Numismatics (4/2011); The Eugene H. Gardner Collection, Part III (Heritage, 5/2015), lot 98569; New York Signature (Heritage, 10/2015), lot 3381.
From The Mesquite Collection.
HID02901242017
1867 $1 MS65 PCGS. Breen-5478, OC-1, R.2. Repunched Date. Seated Liberty silver dollars were largely absent from American commerce in 1867, as large quantities of the 46,900 coins produced that year were exported for international trade purposes, primarily with China, where they were becoming more competitive with the heavier and previously preferred Mexican dollar. This shift in the standard silver dollar's effectiveness as an international trade coin was partly a result of Mexico adding a 12 percent tax on the exportation of its silver coins, which reduced the Mexican dollar's appeal to Oriental merchants and by default boosted that of the American dollar.
The 1867 Seated dollars that were paid out in the Oriental trade were presumably melted in bulk by their recipients, who traded with silver by weight, not necessarily by the number of coins present. Few examples were retained by American collectors, and most of those that did survive were only in marginal states of preservation. This largely accounts for the issue's rarity in Choice and Gem grades -- and for its corresponding popularity among modern-day specialists who seek the few finest-known examples.
Ever since Walter Breen reported proof 1867 dollars with a repunched "Large over Small" date as Breen-5478, there has been controversy over the exact nature of the repunching. Current research suggests no proofs were struck with the repunched date; rather, only circulation strikes show this characteristic. A few prooflike or nearly prooflike circulation strikes exist (such as the present coin). Others debate whether the repunching is really a large date over a small date. In actuality, the date may show a third repunching to account for the visible underdigits.
The remarkable Gem example offered here is noticeably prooflike beneath rose-gold patina, with deeper rings of reddish-violet and cobalt-blue at the margins. The strike is sharply executed throughout the stars, Liberty's head, and the eagle's talons and plumage, and the overall preservation is exceptional, even for the Gem grade level.
Over the years, we have handled just three individual examples of the 1867 business strike in Gem condition. We consider the current example -- the former Eugene H. Gardner coin -- to be superior to the others in several respects, both in eye appeal and in technical grade. The opportunity to acquire an 1867 silver dollar of this caliber may not come again for a long time. Population: 3 in 65, 0 finer (1/17).
Ex: Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 6/2006), lot 2079; purchased from Legend Numismatics (4/2011); The Eugene H. Gardner Collection, Part III (Heritage, 5/2015), lot 98569; New York Signature (Heritage, 10/2015), lot 3381.
From The Mesquite Collection.
HID02901242017