1849-C G$1 Closed Wreath MS64 PCGS Secure CAC. Variety 1. ...

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Sold on Aug 12, 2015 for:

$49,350.00 Bid Source: Live: Floor bidder

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1849-C Closed Wreath Gold Dollar, MS64
Probably the Finest Known

1849-C G$1 Closed Wreath MS64 PCGS Secure CAC. Variety 1. Ex: Duckor. Delicate greenish hues appear on the brilliant lemon-yellow surfaces of this satiny Choice Mint State gold dollar. Both sides show scattered, grade-consistent marks.

Variety and Die State: Breen-6008, Winter-1. Closed Wreath. Minuscule die lines are evident over ERI of AMERICA.

Population (6/15): One and none finer, the finest PCGS-certified 1849-C gold dollar. NGC adds two submissions in MS64 to the total population.

Commentary: Although the U.S. Mint considered a gold dollar coin in 1836 and even produced patterns for such a coinage, nothing came of that proposal. Meanwhile, the Bechtler family had been producing gold dollars in North Carolina since 1831. Congressional legislation in 1849 finally authorized the gold dollar along with double eagles, a direct result of the California Gold Rush.

Two different MS64 NGC examples have appeared on three occasions in our past auctions. The present offering is the first appearance of an MS64 PCGS coin in our sales.

Douglas Winter Commentary: The 1849-C Closed Wreath is significant as the first collectible gold dollar from the Charlotte Mint. There are a few hundred known, mostly in Extremely Fine and the lower About Uncirculated grades. I believe that there are around 10 to 12 known in Uncirculated, most grading MS60 to MS62. I am aware of three different MS64 NGC coins, but none compare to this piece that is fresh to the market and, in my opinion, clearly the finest known.

When I began working with Steve on his gold dollar set, it was implied that he would likely never own a Charlotte coin (except maybe an 1851-C), as there are so few specific pieces from that mint that are of "Duckor quality." I was offered this 1849-C Closed Wreath dollar by a prominent Southern dealer who told me that the coin had just been bought over the counter at a coin shop and had never appeared at auction or for sale before 2014. I immediately bought it and offered it to Steve who bought it, sight unseen, based on my comment that it was, by far, the best 1849-C dollar I'd ever seen and that it was "Duckorish."

The current auction record for the 1849-C Closed Wreath is $34,500, set by Heritage in February 2010 for lot 1360. That coin was impressive but the current example is, in my opinion, close to a full point nicer and far more appealing from a visual standpoint. It will likely set a new record price for this date and become a centerpiece of a world-class collection of Charlotte gold dollars.

Provenance: Purchased from Doug Winter.

The Charlotte Mint in 1849: The Act of Congress of March 3, 1835, established branches of the United States Mint at Charlotte, North Carolina; Dahlonega, Georgia; and New Orleans, Louisiana. The Charlotte and Dahlonega mints were to limit production to gold coins, initially just quarter eagles and half eagles, while the New Orleans Mint produced silver and gold pieces.

Gold was discovered in North Carolina in 1799, and mining operations started in earnest just a few years later. The discovery was located in Cabarrus County, about 25 miles east of Charlotte, and the location is known today as the Reed Gold Mine, a North Carolina historic site.

Coinage operations began at the Charlotte Mint in 1838, and the gold dollar was added to the coinage lineup in 1849, being authorized by Congress 14 years to the day after the establishing legislation.

The Register of the Officers and Agents of the United States for September 30, 1849, records four individuals: Superintendent James W. Osborne, Assayer John H. Gibbon, Coiner Emmon Graham, and Clerk William F. Strange.

A dozen years after the initial gold dollar production, the Civil War closed operations at Charlotte, and the facility reopened after the war as a United States Assay Office, never again to produce coinage.
From The Duckor Family Collection of Gold Dollars.(Registry values: N7079)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 25BC, PCGS# 7505, Greysheet# 8053)

Weight: 1.67 grams

Metal: 90% Gold, 10% Copper

View all of [The Duckor Family Collection of Gold Dollars ]

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