1795 $10 BD-1, 13 Leaves MS (PCGS#45710)
The Cardinal Collection/A Gentleman's Collection
- 拍卖行
- American Numismatic Rarities
- 批号
- 1014
- 等级
- MS64
- 价格
- 3,426,456
- 详细说明
- 1795 Breen 1-A, Taraszka-1. Rarity-3+. 13 Leaves. MS- 64 (PCGS). While we have seen our share (perhaps more than our share) of high quality early gold coins, rarely do we encounter a piece with such originaUty, such eye appeal, such abundant and natural appeal as this coin. If quahty were the only desirable aspect of this coin, collectors would srill fight to own it, but as the historic first issue of a denomination that lasted longer than any other in the gold series, this 1 795 eagle is a landmark. Its surfaces show rich orange-yellow gold toning, the reverse perhaps a shade lighter, with abundant satiny lustre on both sides. The obverse is especially frosty, particularly the central design element, while the reverse is bright and a bit reflective. The strike and detail are magnificent, sharp from center to rim, with only the tiniest area of flatness in a portion of the eagle’s chest that betrays a single short diagonal vestige of an adjustment mark. All feathers are round and outlined, and the leaves are especially crisp. A few flat denticles above E of LIBERTY suggest a tiny clip that is obscured by the holder. There are no significant marks or major hairlines, just some widely scattered evidence ofhandling, and we feel comfortable saving that the overaO quality of this coin is that of a gem. This piece is stmck from a somewhat late die state, with all of the cracks mentioned by Taraszka and an additional one joining the centers of 9 and 5. A thin crack connects the bases of the date numerals to stars 1 through 9, another connects stars the reverse. This variety was the very first eagle variety struck, beginning in September 1795. No gold denomination lasted longer than the $10 eagle, the key large denomination in the Jeffersonian decimal coinage scheme. Holding forth until 1933, the long saga of the eagle began in 1784 and was codified by law in 1786. Its issuance was one of the few things Jefferson and Hamilton ever agreed upon (Jefferson famously put a bust of Hamilton in his house across the room from a bust ofhimself so the two men could be “opposed in death as they were in life.”) The longest gap in its production was the era between the 1 804 eagles struck in 1804 and those stmck ca. 1834; the issuance of the denomination recommenced for circulation in 1838. Like the gem quality 1796 No Stars quarter eagle from this collection, this eagle stands as a landmark and one of the very best survivors of the ver\' first issue of an avIdly-collected denomination. Its quality matches or surpasses the other magnificent coins offered herein, and its purchase will delight any collector for the term of his or her ownership and long after. PCGS Population: 6; 2 finer (MS-66 finest). This piece is housed in a green label PCGS holder, the same one that housed it in 199*).
The superb Oliver Jung specimen, graded MS-63 (PCGS) nwlizod $230,000 in July 2004. A MS-65 (PCGS) specimen of this variety sold in the 2003 ANA sale for $506,000.
From Bowers mid Men’iui ’s Siile ofAt^^iist 1999, Lot 41 \