1861 G$1 MS67+ PCGS Secure. CAC....

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$32,900.00 Bid Source: Live: Phone bidder

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1861 Gold Dollar, MS67+
The Sole Finest PCGS Example

1861 G$1 MS67+ PCGS Secure. CAC. Ex: Duckor/Akers. This frosty Superb Gem 1861 gold dollar is exceptional, showing brilliant straw-gold luster and delicate pale blue and rose overtones. Both sides exhibit exceptional design definition and pristine surfaces.

Variety and Die State: Breen-6069. Normal Dies. Prominent clash marks are visible in the usual locations on both sides. Every letter of LIBERTY is visible twice in the lower wreath on this multiply clashed example. From 1861 to 1863, the date logotype is considerably smaller than on earlier or later issues.

Population (6/15): This is the finest PCGS-certified 1861 gold dollar, slightly finer than two others in MS67. NGC also reports a single example in MS67+, ahead of nine pieces in MS66.

Commentary: The 1861 gold dollar had a substantial mintage marking the beginning of the Civil War. Most people in 1861, and even into early 1862, expected the conflict to be over in a few months, so there was little concern about the money supply. However, months turned into years, and opinions varied about the eventual outcome. As a result, silver and gold coinage began to be hoarded and paper money issues, North and South, circulated only at a discount. The high gold dollar mintages of 1861 and 1862 suddenly changed to extremely low mintages through the end of the war and beyond.

Douglas Winter Commentary: The gold coinage of 1861 is characterized by huge production runs at the Philadelphia Mint; more than a half-million gold dollars were coined. This date is extremely common in the lower Uncirculated grades, but Gems are scarce and Superb Gems, like the Duckor Collection example, are very rare. PCGS has graded two in MS67 with just this one coin finer, while CAC shows a total of three in this grade; that service doesn't distinguish between "regular" and "Plus" grades in its population figures. A coin now owned by advanced collector Bob Simpson sold as lot 1420 in the February 2010 Heritage auction for $19,550; it was graded MS67 by PCGS and approved by CAC.

This is one of the best 1861 gold dollars that I've seen, if not the best. It is fresh and essentially "as made" with noticeable clash marks. As on many examples, the letters from LIBERTY are clashed into the reverse below the date. To my mind, this adds further appeal to the coin.

Provenance: Purchased from Donald Kutz.
From The Duckor Family Collection of Gold Dollars.(Registry values: N1)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 25CU, PCGS# 7558, Greysheet# 8023)

Weight: 1.67 grams

Metal: 90% Gold, 10% Copper

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

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