1901-S 25C MS (PCGS#5630)
The August 2013 Chicago ANA World's Fair of Money
- 拍卖行
- Stack's Bowers
- 批号
- 4088
- 等级
- MS66
- 价格
- 594,382
- 详细说明
- Condition Census Gem Mint State 1901-S Quarter
The King of the Barber Series
1901-S Barber Quarter. MS-66 (PCGS). Secure Holder.
This date and mint has long been known as the King of the series. With a recorded mintage of 72,664 pieces it clearly has one of the lowest production runs for any silver coin of this era. In some ways it is similar to the 1913-S Barber quarter (with a mere 40,000 struck), but more of the later issue are known in Mint State grades. For the Barber quarter specialist, an advanced collection is defined by the quality of the 1901-S. At this stellar grade, any advanced collection of these quarters is instantly well known. The fields display rich mint luster and the surfaces are sparkling silver-white. Only a hint of golden toning is seen, and that is found with effort and searching. The strike is bold and sharp for this San Francisco date, with all the stars crisp on the obverse and reverse. Even the eagle's talon on the right is sharp, as are the arrows -- areas frequently found poorly struck up. Of course the most important feature here other than the date and mint is the high quality of the surfaces, and there is certainly no disappointment, as the devices, fields and rims are all of the highest quality, with only minute signs of handling. It is apparent that this Barber quarter is virtually in the same condition as the day it was struck, having been somehow preserved with great care for the past 112 years.
Walter Breen in his massive Encyclopediaspeculated that coin dealers William Pukall, A.C. Gies and Wayte Raymond managed to find rolls of all Barber coinage in the 1930s. With regard to Giess and Raymond, we do not know, but Q. David Bowers interviewed William Pukall in depth and he did not order Barber coins by the rolls for any date or mint. Breen notes a rumor that no more than one or two rolls of the 1896-S, 1901-S and 1913-S quarters could be found. While it may be possible that a roll of 1901-S Barber quarters was found, this seems unlikely as there are so few certification events recorded today -- a total of 43 Mint State coins when the PCGS Population Report and NGC Censusare combined, and it is virtually certain there is duplication in that number. If an entire 40 piece roll had been found -- let alone two or three rolls -- the reported certified data for Mint State examples would be much higher today. One has to assume that a few random coins survived in Mint State, coins purchased from the mint in San Francisco or simply saved to represent a birth year or anniversary. These certainly account for a few of those in this data. It should be remembered that in 1901 there was hardly any interest in collecting Barber quarters by mintmark variety. Although interest in such a specialty was growing, probably no more than a dozen collectors aspired to fill a set, possibly even fewer. The 1901-S remains one of the most challenging dates to find, and the offered Mint State-66 example is undoubtedly one of the finest known of this date and mint. It would enhance even the most advanced collection of Barber quarters, and is truly an historic offering.
PCGS# 5630.
PCGS Population: 3; 4 finer (Mint State-68+ finest).
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