Sept. 23-24, 2002, The Pre-Long Beach Auction

Sept. 23-24, 2002, The Pre-Long Beach Auction, Sale 16
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$2.50

$3 Gold

Lot 953
1854. VF-35. This one circulated for a while.
Estimated Value $450-500.

Lot 954
1855. NGC graded AU-58. Sharply struck throughout, and clean surfaces too.
Estimated Value $800-900.

Stunning Deep Cameo Proof 1870 Three Dollar Gold

Lot 955
1870. PCGS graded Proof 64 Deep Cameo. This is the only 1870 Three dollar gold coin graded Deep Cameo by PCGS! Check out the contrast between the devices and fields. Ankle deep frost on Liberty with the mirrored fields showing the familiar deep orange peel texture. Obviously, this coin was one of the first of 35 struck, as the deep cameo frost only lasts for the first couple struck by the dies. Identifiable by a tiny lint mark below the bust near the rim, and another below the first T of STATES, and on the reverse by a tiny planchet flake below the ribbon, which lead us to believe with reasonable certainty that this is the coin we sold in our Brady Bloch Sale in September 1999. Currently in PCGS holder #50003486. An epic coin worthy of the finest collection in the land. In the last decade, we were only able to trace two offerings of this date, one in the Trompeter Sale of 1992, the same coin reappeared in the Michael Keston Sale, the other example our sale of the Brady Bloch coin in 1999.
Estimated Value $18,000-22,000.
From our Brady Bloch Collection sale, September 1999, lot 1721.

Lot 956
1870. PCGS graded MS-62. Prooflike fields as sometimes seen on this date, with minor handling marks and haze accounting for the grade. Well struck on all but the uppermost device points. Only 3,500 were struck, most of which circulated briefly. The current PCGS Population Report shows only 8 graded as such, with a meager 7 graded higher of this date.
Estimated Value $4,000-4,500.

Lot 957
1874. PCGS graded MS-64. One of 57 so graded by PCGS with just 10 graded higher! A lovely coin for the grade, with excellent color and surfaces throughout. An ever popular denomination, and this coin would be great for a type collector.
Estimated Value $4,000-5,000.

Lot 958
1874. AU-50. Lightly circulated, and a popular type coin.
Estimated Value $750-800.

Sparkling 1878 Gem

Lot 959
1878. NGC graded MS-65. A highly lustrous gem that boasts a sharp strike and clean surfaces. Examination will find a few peripheral ticks from light handling, but the devices and surfaces remain in the gem class of NGC. Rare this nice, NGC has graded 96 as such, and more importantly just 22 higher as MS-66, and the top tier goes to 4 seen as MS-67 by that service.
Estimated Value $6,000-7,000.

Lot 960
1878. MS-63. Frosty luster and sharp, but we note some fine pin scratches around the number 3 on the reverse, probably where a small speck was removed with a little too much work.
Estimated Value $2,500-3,000.

Lot 961
1878. SEGS graded MS-63, our grade MS-60+. Heavy encrustation around the central reverse, some of which has been removed with a pin. The obverse is bright and lustrous.
Estimated Value $2,000-2,500.

Choice Proof 1886 $3 Gold

Lot 962
1886. PCGS graded Proof 63. Lovely golden frost on the devices and well mirrored fields. Only 142 proofs were struck, most of which survive in grades like this or slightly better. An immensely popular denomination, originally hatched by our government for the purchase of 100 then current 3 cent stamps. Times have changed a bit today, but that's another story. Minor hairlines account for the grade, and we note the orange peel fields are particularly nice here.
Estimated Value $7,500-8,500.

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