1805 25C B-1 MS(PCGS#38923)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

4208

Grade

AU53

Price

8,400

Lot Description

Tompkins Die Stage 2/2, Rea et al. Die State a. A lovely coin, richly and originally toned over surfaces that retain plenty of softly frosted luster. Light pewter gray yields to bolder steel-olive in the protected areas around the design elements, the patina backlit by iridescent undertones of champagne-gold, powder blue and pinkish-rose. The vivid underlying colors have a target-like distribution that is particularly pronounced on the reverse - very attractive. Softly struck in the center of the reverse, with several of the stars in the field missing, typical of the variety, and there scant denticulation along the upper obverse border, but otherwise this is an impressively bold Draped Bust quarter at the lower reaches of AU preservation. No significant marks or other blemishes are seen, further confirming the premium quality and superior eye appeal of this piece.<p>Quarter dollar coinage ratcheted up in 1805, the result of both increased demand for this denomination from contemporary bullion depositors and the Mint's ability to concentrate on smaller coins for use in domestic circulation after dollar coinage was suspended the year before. The reported mintage for quarter dollars during calendar year 1805 is 121,394 pieces, and the 1805-dated issue was produced using four obverse and four reverse dies in five pairings. Sharing its reverse with both Browning numbers of the key date 1804 quarter, and its obverse with the 1805 B-5, the Browning-1 is the rarest die pairing of the 1805-dated issue after only B-5. Survivors are very scarce to rare in all grades and, while a few Mint State coins are known, the Condition Census extends down to the AU-53 level. The Tompkins specimen offered here was unknown at the time of publication for both author's 2008 and the 2010 Rea et al. census listings. It is now tied for CC#5 in the former, and tied for CC#6 in the latter. Our online archives going back at least 15 years are populated mostly by low grades pieces in the AG to Fine range. Prior to this sale, our best offering for the 1805 B-1 in recent decades is the PCGS/CAC VF-25 from our August 2012 Philadelphia ANA Auction. This is a significant coin, indeed, that combines absolute scarcity with condition rarity in a package that will prove irresistible to advanced early quarter variety specialists.<p><strong>Steve M. Tompkins Commentary:</strong> I carried my plate coin for the 1805 B-1 variety (see next lot) in my collection for many years hoping to acquire a higher grade example. It took 10 years before that opportunity came my way...