1858 $3, CAM PR(PCGS#88021)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

3248

Grade

PR64CAM

Price

72,000

Lot Description

As with so many Philadelphia Mint issues in the three-dollar gold series of 1854 to 1889, the 1858 poses a challenge for collectors of both circulation strike and Proof coins. The former issue was produced to the extent of just 2,133 pieces, and practically the entire mintage saw circulation with most surviving specimens - perhaps just 125 to 150 or so - VF or occasionally EF. At AU the date becomes a notable rarity, and in Mint State the rarity increases dramatically. Fewer than 10 true Mint State 1858 $3s are thought to be extant, and among those the D. Brent Pogue specimen in PCGS MS-65 stands high above the others.<p>Proofs for the 1858 $3 rarer still, perhaps not surprising since the mintage is estimated at just 20 coins. The debut of the Floyd T. Starr specimen in the modern numismatic market brings the roster of known examples up to 14. Normally, these rarities are seldom seen, and even less frequently offered for sale. Yet remarkably, your cataloger (JLA) has already had the privilege of preparing two (!) additional Proof 1858 three-dollar gold pieces for our Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction - surely the only time in the history of numismatics in the United States when a single auction event included three Proof threes of this date. Attractive in all regards, this Choice Proof delivers orange-gold color and bold field to device contrast. The strike detail is crisp and allows full appreciation of even the most trivial design elements. A few faint, minor blemishes on Liberty's cheek and in the field before the throat preclude a Gem Proof grade for this coin, but they have no discernible effect on its awesome eye appeal, and certainly none on its profound rarity.<p>J.C. Morgenthau's Sale Number 444, from which Floyd T. Starr acquired this coin, was conducted June 16, 17 and 18, 1942. This was less than two weeks after the United States turned the tide of World War II in the Pacific Theater through a decisive defeat over the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle of Midway. The loss of the IJN carriers <em>Akagi</em>, <em>Hiryū</em>, <em>Kaga</em> and <em>Sōryū</em> dealt Japanese naval air power a blow from which it never fully recovered and allowed the Allies to switch to the strategic initiative. Compared to such an important victory in the greatest conflict the world has ever seen, the Morgenthau sale is certainly insignificant, but in the world of U.S. numismatics any auction sale that includes even a single Proof 1858 is a significant event.