1858 G$1 PR(PCGS#7608)

December 2025 Showcase Auction - The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection Part I

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

22168

Grade

PR62

Price

15,600

Lot Description

A visually appealing example of this classic early U.S. Mint Proof gold rarity, and one with an impressive numismatic provenance. Light greenish-gold in color with moderately deep mirrored fields contrasting lightly frosted motifs. Wispy hairlines and other signs of minor handling are present to explain the Proof-62 numeric grade, but none are sizable enough to warrant individual mention. Both sides are sharply struck with all details fully defined and crisp.<p>The year 1858 represents the first in which the United States Mint marketed Proof coinage to contemporary collectors in earnest, although mintage figures for gold and silver coins were not recorded until the following year. (Proof minor coin mintages were not recorded until 1878.) Commensurate with these enhanced commercial offerings, mintage figures increased over totals achieved in previous years, although tentatively at first, and especially for gold coinage which (then as now) appeal to only the most advanced collectors with sufficiently deep pockets. The mintage for the Proof 1858 gold dollar is often estimated in the range of 25 to 40 pieces, John W. Dannreuther taking the most conservative approach with an estimate of 25 coins struck in his 2018 reference <em>United States Proof Coins, Volume IV: Gold</em>. The author accounts for just 14 to 16 survivors, but more in-depth provenance work by Saul Teichman published at the <em>Newman Numismatic Portal</em> has traced 22 specimens, including the two coins impounded in the Smithsonian Institution and the ANS coin, also not available for private ownership. Teichman does caution that "duplication is likely as well as a few missing," so a good estimate on the number of Proof 1858 gold dollars extant is 20 coins. Regardless of the exact number known, of course, this is a genuinely rare issue. It is also a numismatically significant one that enjoys strong demand from advanced collectors.<p>Only a single die marriage is known for this issue, perhaps not surprisingly so given the extremely limited estimated mintage. The obverse is readily attributable by the presence of a tiny die chip on Liberty's forehead above the eye.<p>