1864 $3, DCAM PR(PCGS#98027)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

3253

Grade

PR63DCAM

Price

43,200

Lot Description

Deep yellow-gold color with strong contrast between mirrored fields and frosty motifs. The strike detail is impressively sharp, full in most areas, in fact, and the eye appeal is strong. Many of the light lines in the fields are as made, but some signs of handling are noted, although the design elements remain largely untroubled. A pair of obverse alloy spots, at the first letter S in STATES and in the lower right field along the back of Liberty's hair, and a lint mark on the reverse that engages the bottom of the digit 3 in the denomination are the most useful provenance markers.<p>The Philadelphia Mint struck 50 Proof three-dollar gold pieces in 1864, the highest yearly total for the type during the Civil War after only the 113-piece delivery achieved in 1861 (when Proof singles were still obtainable from the Mint). While a mintage of 50 coins is certainly small by any measure, it is remarkable that the Mint struck any Proof gold coins in 1864 for, with the War Between the States approaching its climax, attentions in the North were focused on more pressing matters than the pursuit of numismatics. Even so, some gold and complete Proof sets were obviously distributed in 1864, as evidenced by the existence of Proof three-dollar and other gold coins of this date. Exactly how many specimens survive for this denomination is debated; John W. Dannreuther provides a range of 14 to 16 specimens that, if accurate, places the Proof 1864 $3 on the same level of rarity as the lower mintage Proof 1862 and Proof 1863. An offering such as this - a fresh-to-market specimen with an impressive provenance - deserves the utmost in attention and aggressiveness in bidding from advanced Proof gold enthusiasts.