1876 $3, CAM PR(PCGS#88040)

1876 $3, CAM PR (PCGS#88040)

The November 2011 Baltimore Auction

Lot Description: 1876 Three-Dollar Gold Piece. Proof-65 Cameo (NGC). Deeply lustrous honey gold with boldly frosted motifs and richly, deeply mirrored fields. Some minor roughness in the planchet, as struck, creates a faint, frosty crescent in the field before Liberty's portrait, with another tiny area of similar texture at the date, otherwise the surfaces are immaculate. A touch of die rust can be seen at the tops of the feathers on the obverse. From a mintage of 45 pieces, with considerably fewer than that number extant today. Curiously enough, the combined populations of the proof-only 1876 three-dollars rarity from NGC and PCGS is 75 pieces, ranging from Proof-60 and finer, and some 30 more than struck; no doubt numerous resubmissions have occurred. The present coin outshines the Harry Bass specimen offered as lot 695 in our October 1999 sale, that piece called Proof-64 by PCGS. A simply superb specimen of one of the great rarities in the design type, a coin that will be a focal point of its next steward's cabinet. Numismatic Reflections by Q. David Bowers Among famous gold rarities of the 19th century, the 1876 has long been high on the list. Over a long period of years it has attracted much attention. It is one of just a handful of federal issues with a total mintage of just several dozen pieces. The present coin combines rarity, fame, and high quality, the essential ingredients to attract a lot of attention when it crosses the block!