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Lot
2422

1878 8TF $1 MS64 Deep Mirror Prooflike Presentation Piece ANACS....

2008 May Long Beach, CA Signature Auction #1108

 
Sold for: $19,550.00 (includes BP )
Bid Source: N/A bidder
Auction Ended On: May 30, 2008
Item Activity: 7 Internet/mail/phone bidders
2,246 page views
Description:
Choice Deep Mirror Prooflike 1878 Eight Tailfeathers Dollar
VAM-9 "The First Morgan Dollar Die Pair" Presentation Piece
1878 8TF $1 MS64 Deep Mirror Prooflike Presentation Piece ANACS. Ex: Leroy Van Allen Collection. VAM-9. A Top 100 Variety. Fey and Oxman (1997) call this variety "ultra-rare" and give it an R.8 ("unique or nearly unique in Mint State") rarity factor. The Top 100 Morgan Dollar Varieties authors further note that "known specimens are typically proof-like as a result of the short production life of the reverse die."
The Presentation Piece designation is on the ANACS insert. Only 12 Presentation Pieces were struck and given to dignitaries, including President Rutherford B. Hayes. Four Presentation Pieces are known to survive. The Hayes specimen is a harshly cleaned AU. The current example is the finest known. Leroy Van Allen owned one other Presentation Piece, an ANACS MS62 Deep Mirror Prooflike example that brought $11,494.25 in our recent Central States Signature.
Per www.vamworld.com, "The 1878 VAM-9 Morgan Silver Dollar is the very first set of dies used to strike Morgan dollars! ... Detective work [that began with the discovery of a March 12, 1878, article in the Chicago Daily Tribune] has revealed they began striking the new Morgan coins at 3:17 PM on March 11, 1878. The combination of the die and the time is known because a reporter was present at the event and the first coins struck were presentation pieces for President Hayes. His specific coin has been preserved and studied for die features and subsequently identified as a VAM-9."
This example offers watery mirrors and decisive detail, even on the uppermost parts of the central devices. The centers are primarily silver-white, though elements of peach and blue visit the margins, and the obverse shows a measure of hazy toning. Impressive, desirable, and undeniably appealing.
This lot is accompanied by a photocopy of ANACS certificate E-5740-E from 8/8/1980, identifying the present coin as a proof, and a photocopy of a handwritten letter by Walter Breen regarding the present lot. The text of the letter states:

"Boston ANA 1982

To whom it may concern:

This certifies that I have examined the accompanying coin and that I unhesitatingly declare it a genuine 1878 eight tailfeathers proof, VAM 9, the die of the President Hayes coin and of the other presentation strikings of March 11, 1878, in the same die state (The business strikings from these dies are all later, showing cracks though letters not present on the proof.)

Respectfully submitted
Walter Breen."
From The Leroy Van Allen Collection, Part Two. (#97073)

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