1834 $5 With Motto, Crosslet 4, BD-4, High R.8, MS64+ PCGS. CAC....

Description

1834 BD-4 Half Eagle, MS64+ CAC
Unique With Motto, Crosslet 4 Variety
'King of the Fat Head Fives'

1834 $5 With Motto, Crosslet 4, BD-4, High R.8, MS64+ PCGS. CAC. HBJ-268. Ex: Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection. Both sides are sharply struck with brilliant, highly lustrous green-gold surfaces. The few minor abrasions are inconsequential. This piece is one of the finest surviving 1834 With Motto half eagles of any variety.
Variety Equivalents: Bass-3168.
Obverse Die: This obverse die is not found anywhere else in the early half eagle series.
Reverse Die: This reverse die is unique to the 1834 BD-4 die marriage.
Bass-Dannreuther Die State a/b: The perfect obverse is combined with a clashed and cracked reverse.
PCGS Population Data (10/25): This example is tied with one other submission for the finest 1834 Capped Bust half eagles that PCGS has examined.
CAC Census (10/25): Only six submissions of 1834 Capped Bust half eagles have successfully visited the CAC examination room. Those coins grade MS63 (2) and MS64 (4). The data is evenly divided between Plain 4 and Crosslet 4 varieties.
Significant Examples: As the only example known, the provenance of this piece, recorded below, doubles as the condition census.
Breen (1966): In his New Varieties monograph (New Varieties of $1, $2.50 And $5.00 United States Gold), Walter Breen identifies a variety as 1834 I-3 with a new reverse: "1834 I-3, with crosslet 4, does come with a rev. different from foregoing; lowest arrow points to left tip of left foot of A, middle arrow to left foot of I (on the other rev. it is between IC), first A much farther from wing, period lower than on the other die. Compare Grant Pierce 379."

Breen's description does not match this reverse. Also, his notation "Compare Grant Pierce 379" is illogical as that lot was a 1915 Buffalo nickel. There was no 1834 With Motto half eagle in that auction. Although Dannreuther writes: "Breen seems to identify this variety in his supplement to his monograph series," the actual discoverer of the variety was Andrew W. Pollock, III, who contacted Harry W. Bass, Jr., about the upcoming (at the time) appearance in the Greenwald and Jackson sale in 1995.
Bass-Dannreuther (2006): Discussing this variety in the Bass Collection, Dannreuther writes: "It is ironic, poignant, and a fitting tribute to the legacy of Harry Wesley Bass, Jr. that the final variety of half eagles, his favorite early gold denomination, is unique and is a member of the Bass collection. Bass was a unique numismatist and his collecting passion for early gold was unsurpassed in the annals of numismatics."
Heritage Commentary: When Pollock was studying the early half eagles for a possible reference, he noticed that the photo of this coin in the Bowers and Ruddy Rare Coin Review (issued #30) did not match the known Crosslet 4 variety. Since the coin was sold in 1978, its whereabouts were unknown at the time Pollock was studying the series. The coin reappeared in 1995 as part of the Greenwald Collection located in Dallas. Pollock contacted Bass who bought the coin and returned it to the same bank vault where the Greenwald Collection was secured. The present cataloger described the coin in 1995, again in 2023, and once more for the present offering of Harvey Jacobson's collection.
Doug Winter Commentary: This fantastic borderline Gem set an all-time auction price record when Harvey paid $312k for it as 2023 FUN: 9051 and knowing him as well as I do, I'm going to think that he was more excited about the fact that this specific die variety is likely unique than the fact that it is almost certainly the single finest known 1834 Motto Crosslet 4 half eagle.
Provenance: Bowers and Ruddy Galleries, described and illustrated in Rare Coin Review #30; Irving and Joan Greenwald Collection (Bowers and Merena, 9/1995), lot 1400; Harry W. Bass, Jr. Foundation Collection/FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2023), lot 9051.
From The Harvey B. Jacobson, Jr. Collection of Early Half Eagles.

Coin Index Numbers: (Variety PCGS# 519958, Base PCGS# 8161, Greysheet# 198946)

Weight: 8.75 grams

Metal: 91.67% Gold, 8.33% Copper

Note for clients in the European Union: This lot is considered by the European Union to be “investment gold”. We believe that it meets the criteria established in Article 344(1), point (2) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC and thus should be exempt from import VAT regardless of the selling price. Any questions or concerns about VAT should be addressed to your accountant or local tax authority.

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