1859 $3, CAM PR(PCGS#88022)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

3249

Grade

PR63CAM

Price

50,400

Lot Description

A significant rarity from this historic issue in the Proof three-dollar gold series. The rich orange-gold color that blankets both sides highlights this coin's originality. The devices are smartly impressed and satiny in texture, and they contrast with the mirrored reflectivity in the fields. There are some hairlines from old numismatic handling, as one should expect at the assigned grade level, but some of the lines in the fields are as made. There are a few short, shallow scuffs on Liberty's cheek - while these serve to limit the grade, they are useful identifiers to track this coin through future market appearances. The eye appeal is strong at this level, derived largely from the cameo finish, and the rarity of this issue will draw the attention of serious Proof gold enthusiasts.<p>Proof three-dollar gold coinage increased dramatically in 1859, when 80 coins were prepared in this format as opposed to only 20 or so the preceding year. Numismatics as a hobby was experiencing its first great surge in popularity in the United States during the late 1850s, and the Mint was eager to share in the profits to be made. So eager, in fact, that it widely overshot the mark when it came to anticipated demand for Proof three-dollar gold pieces in 1859. With fewer than 20 coins known today, most of the 80 Proofs struck were either melted or released into commerce. The 2018 Dannreuther reference <em>United States Proof Coins</em> accounts for upward of 17 distinct specimens in numismatic hands - Saul Teichman has traced this many - and with two permanently impounded in museum collections, at least three or four impaired, and most of the higher quality pieces already snatched up by the present generation of advanced collectors, this offering should be seen as a fleeting one, and pursued accordingly.<p>Two die pairings are known for this issue, and they share the same reverse with repunching on all four date digits that is most prominent on the 9. The JD-1 accounts for most survivors, including the Mint cabinet coin that is now part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. By comparison, only four specimens are positively confirmed for the JD-2 attribution, including the ANS coin (ex John Pierpont Morgan) and the Floyd T. Starr specimen offered here (off the market since acquired in Hollinbeck Stamp and Coin Co.'s September 1947 sale). The obverse of this variety is most readily identifiable by small die lumps on Liberty's forehead as well as on and around the letter L in LIBERTY. Additionally, the latest known state of the reverse is only known in the JD-2 pairing; further lapping of the die has resulted in a prominent clear area along the left interior of the right loop of the ribbon bow.