1827/3 25C Original, B-1, R.7, PR65 PCGS....

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1827/3 Capped Bust Quarter, PR65
Rare Original, B-1 Variety
Nine Examples Known

1827/3 25C Original, B-1, R.7, PR65 PCGS. According to Mint records, 4,000 business-strike Capped Bust quarters were delivered on December 29, 1827, but no regular-issue examples are known to numismatists today. All Original 1827 quarters are overdates, struck in proof format. It seems likely that the quarters delivered in late December were actually dated 1828, while the 1827-dated quarters were struck for some commemorative purpose and the mintage was not recorded.

The Original 1827/3 Capped Bust quarter has been known as a landmark rarity in the U.S. series since the earliest days of the hobby. The issue proved so popular in the 19th century that it was restruck in several formats to satisfy collector demand in later years. The 1827/3 has been known and written about since 1857, when a letter from "Outsider" was published in the September 13 edition of the New York Dispatch. Early quarter specialist Karl Moulton believes "Outsider" was either J.N.T. Levick or John K. Curtis, and he was responding to some correspondence between Augustus B. Sage (a.k.a. "Gus") and Charles I. Bushnell (a.k.a. "Numismatist"). The letter traced the ownership of one example of the 1827/3 to William W. Long of Philadelphia and another to Boston newspaper owners Graves and Weston. There are only nine examples of the Original 1827/3 Capped Bust quarter known to collectors today and all of them were known to numismatists by 1867.

The present coin was one of the last to be discovered, when it surfaced in lot 103 of the Joseph Zanoni Collection (Edward Cogan, 4/1867):

"1827 Brilliant proof, exceedingly rare - one bought at one of the sales $225, and not so fine a proof as this."

This coin subsequently passed through a succession of noteworthy late 19th and early 20th century auctions by the Chapman brothers before landing in the collection of Virgil Brand in 1906. Brand must have felt a special affinity for the 1827/3, as he owned at least four examples of the Original issue, four of the silver Restrikes, one of the two known Essay pieces, and three of the copper Restrikes at various times. He sold this coin to Baltimore collector Waldo Newcomer privately at an early date. Newcomer also had more than one specimen of the 1827/3 in his collection, as he also owned another Original and a silver Restrike. The coin passed through the hands of several more prominent numismatists in later years, including B. Max Mehl and Wayte Raymond, (see provenance below). It was last auctioned in 1989.

All 1827/3 Originals are struck from the same pair of dies, classified as the Browning 1 die pair by Ard W. Browning in his seminal series reference. The B-1 reverse die has a Curl Base 2 in the denomination, while the B-2 reverse, used on the Restrikes, has a Square Base 2. The overdate is actually 1827/3/2, although the remnants of the 2 are difficult to see.

The present coin is a delightful Gem, with sharply detailed design elements in most areas and just a touch of softness on some star centers. The well-preserved surfaces are blanketed in vivid shades of sea-green, lilac, and cerulean-blue toning, with deeply reflective fields underneath. Overall eye appeal is terrific. This coin is probably the third-finest surviving specimen of this historic rarity. It has been 29 years since its last public offering and it may be many more years before a comparable example becomes available. We expect intense competition from series specialists when this lot is called.
Ex: Joseph Zanoni Collection (Edward Cogan, 4/1867), lot 103; Thomas Cleneay; Cleneay Collection (S.H. & H. Chapman, 12/1890), lot 1339; John G. Mills (S.H. & H. Chapman, 4/1904), lot 999; William B. Wetmore; Wetmore Collection (S.H. & H. Chapman, 6/1906), lot 396; Virgil Brand, Journal number 33836; Waldo Newcomer; A.J. Allen; George H. Hall, per B. Max Mehl, but there was no example of the 1827 Original quarter in Hall's collection when it was sold by Stack's in May of 1945; Jerome Kern Collection (B. Max Mehl, 5/1950), lot 1412; New Netherlands Coin Company; Wayte Raymond; Sale 49 (New Netherlands, 6/1957), lot 1149; Dorothy Nelson; ANA Convention Sale (Stack's, 8/1976), lot 962; Auction '80 (Stack's, 8/1980), lot 1177; Marcus J. Brown Collection (Bowers and Merena, 11/1983), lot 2981; Dodson/Collier Collections (Bowers and Merena, 6/1984), lot 3975; Auction '89 (Superior, 7/1989), lot 570; unknown intermediaries; private collection.
From The Greensboro Collection, Part VII. (Registry values: P10)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 23S9, PCGS# 5373, Greysheet# 5075)

Weight: 6.74 grams

Metal: 89.24% Silver, 10.76% Copper

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