1876 $1 J-1458a, RB PR(PCGS#71779)

1876 $1 J-1458a, RB PR (PCGS#71779)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Lot Description: Obv: An elegant cameo design of William Barber's famed "Sailor Head" portrait of Liberty facing left, set in an open field with no peripheral stars, date 1876 below. Liberty is wearing a tiara inscribed LIBERTY. Rev: An olive wreath surrounds the denomination ONE / DOLLAR with the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA above, the Latin motto E PLURIBUS UNUM below. This is a splendid specimen, light reddish-brown with delicate hints of iridescent green and blue evident. There is also modest cameo-like contrast between semi-reflective fields and lightly frosted motifs. Both sides are fully struck and expertly preserved. This is a gorgeous upper end Gem, as pretty as the proverbial picture.The so-called "Sailor Head" (which really has nothing to do with a sailor, any more than the portrait on the 1915-S Panama-Pacific commemorative gold dollar has to do with a baseball player, to give an analogy) is certainly one of the most interesting designs in the U.S. Mint's pattern and related series. The same general motif was used on patterns for twenty-cent pieces. The uspatterns.com website traces only seven examples of Judd-1458a in copper with a reeded edge, although two of those are described as "possibly one of above," so the actual extant population might be as few as five pieces. The Bass specimen is tied for finest certified and, with such an illustrious provenance, it is one of the most famous examples of this celebrated design in dollar format.