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Description

Scarce 1868 Gold Dollar From the Pittman Collection

1868 G$1 PR 62 PCGS. Ex: Pittman. As Akers noted in his write-up for this piece in the Pittman catalog, the 1868 is by a small margin the scarcest proof gold dollar from the decade of the 1860s. It is a little scarcer than the 1864 or 1867, as well as being more difficult than the 1865 and 1869 which have identical mintages. Only 12-15 proofs of this date are believed to exist today from the original mintage of only 25 pieces.
In the Pittman catalog, David Akers ably described this piece as, "Reverse die rotated 180 degrees, as on all Proof Gold Dollars of this date. (Breen mentions the existence of Proofs with normal die alignment, but I have never seen such a Proof.) This specimen is sharply struck with a partial wire rim. It has cloudy, lightly to moderately hairlined fields, and attractive medium orange and greenish-gold color. There are a few tiny contact marks in the fields in addition to the light hairlines. Struck from the same obverse die used for all Proof Gold Dollars from 1862 to 1873...as in 1867, there are two diagnostic features for a Proof 1868 Gold Dollar, the polished area within the first feather of the headdress and, for 1868, the rotated reverse, although it is possible that Proofs exist without the latter feature." Since that time four spots have arisen on the reverse.
Ex: Grand Central Sale (Paramount, 1975), lot 498, for $875; in the Akers sale from 10/97 the coin brought $3,750.

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 25EB, PCGS# 7618, GSID# 8142)

Metal: 90% Gold, 10% Copper
Weight: 1.67 grams
AGW: 0.04838oz
Mintage: 25


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Auction Info

Auction Dates
October, 2000
5th-7th Thursday-Saturday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 5
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 1,009
Sold on Oct 6, 2000 for: $3,220.00
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