1885 $3, CAM PR(PCGS#88049)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

3272

Grade

PR64CAM

Price

28,800

Lot Description

Beautiful medium gold surfaces are fresh, vivid, and display impressive field to device contrast. An expertly produced, carefully preserved Choice Cameo specimen that will hold great appeal for advanced Proof gold enthusiasts.<p>The Proof 1885 has a similar mintage to the Proof 1884 (110 vs. 109 or 106 coins), and both issues are among the more frequently encountered Proof three-dollar gold coins in today's market. The 1885 is actually a tad more obtainable, using John W. Dannreuther's estimate (2018) of 65 to 80 coins extant, but in an absolute sense such a total is extremely small and in keeping with the rarity of the Proof three-dollar gold series as a whole. Nevertheless, the collector seeking a single Proof example to represent the type would be well served by this premium quality Choice specimen. It is also an outstanding representative of the date, and would make a fitting addition to the three-dollar gold set of an advanced collector who is unable to acquire a survivor of the year's 800-piece circulation strike mintage.<p>This coin traces its provenance to the 1950 "Adolphe Menjou" sale of Abner Kreisberg and Abe Kosoff, a partnership known as Numismatic Gallery at the time. The sale was named for the popular film star who had only a modest consignment in the auction. Most of the coins were owned by the catalogers; they purchased them from Charles M. Williams, a well known collector from Cincinnati, who acquired coins from the Newcomer and Green collections in the 1930s. This piece may well have an even more august provenance than what is known and indicated below.