1834 25C MS66 ★ Prooflike NGC....

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1834 B-1 Quarter, MS66 ★ Prooflike

1834 25C MS66 ★ Prooflike NGC. B-1, R.1. The first star is distant from the forward tip of the bustline, and star 7 is repunched. On the reverse there is no period after 25 C on this available variety. This is the so-called O/F (in OF) reverse, one carried over from the 1833 B-2 die pairing, according to both Steve Tompkins and Breen-Browning before him. The Guide Book lists the O/F variety and therefore many series aficionados separately collect it, but there is little premium over other variants due to its commonplace nature. Tompkins' new work identifies this die as produced from a "unique master hub, Reverse-F," the only one that shows two line stripes in the reverse shield and an eagle with no tongue. Another new master hub, Reverse-G, was also employed to make the 1834 B-2 and B-5 and 1835 B-2 varieties. Tompkins mentions the possibility that someone other than Chief Engraver William Kneass engraved those hubs. Kneass would suffer a debilitating stroke in August 1835.
Christian Gobrecht, Kneass' successor and the most logical engraver of the new master hubs, had worked for the Mint off and on since 1823, after the death of Robert Scot and before Kneass' hiring in January 1824. Of course when Kneass had his stroke, Mint Director Robert Maskell Patterson immediately asked for permission to hire Gobrecht full-time as a second engraver. Regardless, after the use of Reverse F in 1834, no later Bust quarters show the two-line stripes. The working dies were obviously used to a great extent, judging by the number of survivors of the B-1 variety.
Clearly the present coin is an early strike off of the new working die, earning it the Prooflike designation from NGC. The surfaces are highly reflective on both sides, with much contrast between the devices and the mirrored fields. There is no discernible color, and the piece is only a few small contact marks away from an even finer grade. NGC has rightly seen fit to award its Star designation for superior eye appeal. For the 1834 date this piece is the second-finest graded at NGC, behind a single unattributed MS67 piece. This piece is also, in MS66 ★ Prooflike, by far finer than the two other 1834s certified as Prooflike. A wonderful and historic coin from the early days of the Mint, suited for the finest type or variety set.(Registry values: P1)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 23RZ, PCGS# 5353, Greysheet# 5088)

Weight: 6.74 grams

Metal: 89.24% Silver, 10.76% Copper

View Certification Details from NGC