The June 4, 2000, Dr. Jon Kardatzke Collection Parts II & III, Sale 5
Lot 1122
1849. Open wreath. MS-60. Tiny incuse L on truncation. An attractive, nicely toned example.
Lot 1123
1849. Open wreath. AU-50. A frosty, original coin that has well struck devices and only moderate handling marks. One minute scratch on the lower neck of Liberty.
From The Charles Kramer Sale, Stack's/Superior, November 30, 1988, lot 1.
Lot 1124
1849-O. Open wreath. AU-58. Lustrous and well struck on the obverse; however, the reverse is weak on the date, with the last two digits barely visible. Strong mintmark. Production of the tiny coins seems to have been a challenge for the various branch mints, many display weak areas, particularly the central reverse, which is opposite the head of Liberty. As these tiny coins were struck, there was only so much metal to move around to fill the details in the dies. Liberty's curls are usually well struck, but the reverse is often weak on many of these branch-mint Gold Dollars.
Lot 1125
1849-O. Open wreath. VF-25. Old dirty surfaces suggest this little gold dollar from down South has probably come out of somebody's drawer, rather than from a collector. And that's exactly the case. Clean surfaces, date weak as always.
Lot 1126
1850, 1853-O and 1857. Extremely Fine to About Uncirculated. The 1850 has a moderate scrape on Liberty's neck, the other two are nice for the grade. Lot of 3 coins.
Lot 1127
1850. AU-58. Full luster in the fields and with some original toning. Typical surfaces, with a scattering of marks, but none worthy of note. We note that this is a very appealing coin for the grade.
Lot 1128
1850-D. Sharpness of EF-40 but scratched. A scarce date and mint; however, there are some minor circulation marks, mostly on the obverse near the rim. Probably cleaned, but still with some luster and well struck for the mint. There is an irregular rim on the upper left obverse, as struck.
Lot 1129
1850-O. Sharpness of EF-40 but cleaned. There is some verdigris on the reverse, which may be removable, and there are some hidden scratches around the lettering of the reverse. Moderately scarce as a date.
Lot 1130
1851. EF-40. Weakly struck on the date, but pleasing otherwise for its original surfaces and hints of luster.
Lot 1131
1851. Sharpness of EF-40 but cleaned. Excellent surfaces for the grade, with only a whisper of wear on Liberty's upper hair curls. Lustrous and well struck, just lightly cleaned some time ago.
Lot 1132
1852. AU-50. No problems, just some wear. Good color.
Lot 1133
1852. EF-40. Lustrous near the devices, a touch weak at the center of the reverse on the top of the 5.
Lot 1134 
1852-C. ANACS graded EF-40. A scarce date that boasts a mintage of just 9,434 from the Charlotte Mint in 1852. There is a dark toning spot in Liberty's hair, and a few tiny ones nearby. Turning to the reverse, we note some other mottled dark toning, but mostly just plain old original gold color.
Lot 1135
1853. PCGS graded MS-63.
Lot 1136
1853. EF-40. Original and pleasing throughout.
Lot 1137
1853. EF-40. Lustrous.
Lot 1138
1853. VF-20. Pleasantly original, but there are some minor circulation marks in the fields.
Lot 1139
1853-O. AU-50. Nice mellow coin with small abrasions on reverse.
Lot 1140 
1854-D. PCGS graded AU-55. Mintage of just 2,935, very few of which remain today. One of only 10 so graded by PCGS, with 10 graded higher. A foremost rarity in this grade, and well worth a strong bid. Boldly struck on Liberty, with full curls that frankly show no wear at all. Blazing mint-fresh luster on both sides. There are a couple of light hairline scratches on the obverse, and a couple others on the reverse near the denomination. Struck from sharply clashed dies, with a rotated reverse.
Lot 1141
1854. Type 2. AU-55. "Settled" surfaces showing old-gold color and a minimum of marks. Accompanied by a PCGS label for an AU55 coin of this type; we don't know if this was the coin it went with or not.
Lot 1142
1854. Type 2. AU-50. Sharply impressed and original in color, but there is a minor staple scratch on the upper left reverse.
Lot 1143
1854. Type 2. Sharpness of VF-20 but harshly cleaned. Well struck, with only a hint of weakness on some of the central reverse devices. Cleaned with resulting hairlines in the fields and devices, still a popular and scarce Type-2 design.
Lot 1144 
1855. Type 2. AU-55. Well struck on both sides, even on the date, with the usual clashed dies evident. Frosty luster in the fields, and important as one of the only available type II gold dollars. A few hairlines from cleaning or circulation, but no other problems worthy of note.
Lot 1145
1855. Type 2. EF-45. Choice and original for the grade, with some luster in the fields and well struck for the variety.
Lot 1146 
1855-C. Type 2. Sharpness of VF-20 but lightly cleaned. The cleaning resulted in hairlines and "washed" surfaces. Low mintage of 9,803 in total, few of which remain in any collector grades. Weakly struck on LL of DOLLAR and the first two digits of the date. Always in demand even with the minor problems noted, and a worthy coin for the date collector.
| More |