1867 $5 PR65 Cameo PCGS. JD-1, High R.6....

Description

1867 Half Eagle, PR65 Cameo
Only 14 to 16 Pieces Believed Known
Ex: Garrett-Bass

1867 $5 PR65 Cameo PCGS. JD-1, High R.6. Ex: HW Bass, Jr. Collection. This is a prize proof half eagle, surviving from a mintage of just 50 coins, struck in evenly divided batches of 25 coins each in the first and third quarters. Today, probably only 14 to 16 examples can be traced, and the present specimen is clearly one of the finest. The fields are deeply mirrored around frosted and highly lustrous devices, with light orange toning over brilliant yellow-gold surfaces on the obverse, and deeper rose toning over much of the reverse. The surfaces are unimpaired, with a tiny curved lint mark at the base of Liberty's neck. A tiny copper toning spot is confined to the obverse border at star 2, convenient for pedigree tracking, yet small enough to be hidden by the holder.

This specimen from the Garrett and Bass Collections combines rarity and quality, as well as an excellent pedigree dating to just 16 years after the coins were struck. The 1867 proof five is a major 19th century rarity, yet it has been thoroughly researched. Population: 2 in 65 Cameo, 1 finer (12/23). The following are the finest 11 coins known to us:

1. PR66 Cameo PCGS. Amon G. Carter, Jr. Family Collection (Stack's, 1/1984), lot 681, $16,500; Auction '85 (Paramount, 7/1985), lot 1438; Minot Collection (Stack's, 5/2008), lot 4233, $80,500; Dallas Signature (Heritage, 10/2008), lot 2169, $86,250; Los Angeles Platinum Night (Heritage, 7/2009), lot 1265, $69,000; Houston Signature (Heritage, 12/2009), lot 1704, $74,750; Cody Brady Collection, Part II (Heritage, 1/2022), lot 4713, $126,000; D.L. Hansen Collection PCGS Set Registry.
2. PR65 Cameo PCGS. Hebbeard Collection (Harlan P. Smith / Bangs & Co., 4/1883), lot 380 (part of a complete six-piece gold proof set); John Work Garrett Collection; Johns Hopkins University Collection (Stack's, 3/1976), lot 418; Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection, Part IV (Bowers and Merena, 11/2000), lot 495, $43,700; Denver Platinum Night (Heritage, 8/2006), lot 5514, $60,375; Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 9/2023), lot 3123 (as PR65 PCGS), realized $78,000. The present specimen.
3. PR65 PCGS. Major William Boerum Wetmore Collection (S.H. & H. Chapman, 6/1906), lot 151 (as part of a complete six-piece gold proof set, $41.50 face value, that sold for $80); John H. Clapp Collection, sold intact via Stack's in 1942; Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection (Bowers and Ruddy, 10/1982), lot 515, $11,550; Kenneth C. Long Estate Collection (Bowers and Merena, 5/1995), lot 1327, $40,700. Following the purchase of the Clapp Collection in 1942, Eliasberg owned two proof 1867 half eagles simultaneously. Eliasberg's duplicate appeared in Stack's H.R. Lee sale (10/1947, lot 1289), but no provenance was recorded, nor did the catalog contain an image of that lot. The provenance recorded in the Eliasberg sale (Bowers and Ruddy, 10/1992, lot 515) was incorrect, as the cited H.P. Smith sale (S.H. & H. Chapman, 5/1906) did not contain an 1867 proof half eagle, either as a single lot or as part of a proof set. However, the Wetmore sale (S.H. & H. Chapman, 6/1906, lot 151) did contain a complete six-piece gold proof set and Clapp is shown as the buyer in the named and priced catalog on the Newman Numismatic Portal. Thus, the Wetmore connection is tentative, but most likely the correct one.
4. PR64 Deep Cameo PCGS. Ed Trompeter Collection (Heritage, sold privately circa 1968); ANA Signature (Heritage, 8/2015), lot 4357, $39,950.
5. PR64 Ultra Cameo NGC CAC. King Farouk Collection (Sotheby's, 2/1954), lot 255; Abe Kosoff; John Jay Pittman Collection, Part I (David W. Akers, 10/1997), lot 1033, $27,500; Entlich, White Oak, Gross & St. Andre Collections (Stack's, 3/2009), lot 5929, $48,300.
6. PR64 Cameo NGC. Nathan M. and Louis G. Kaufman Collection (RARCOA, 8/1978), lot 836; Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 2/2002), lot 6836, $26,450; Pre-Long Beach (Goldberg Auctions, 2/2006), lot 1175, $63,250; Ohringer Family Trust Holdings, Part I (Goldberg Auctions, 5/2008), lot 4436, $71,875.
7. PR64 Cameo, Uncertified (grade per Jeff Garrett). National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution (accession #1985.0441.0694), presumably acquired by the Mint Cabinet in the year of issue.
8. PR63 Cameo PCGS. James A. Stack, Sr. Collection (Stack's, 10/1994), lot 1186, $9,350; Set Shahbabian, M.D., Collection (Bowers and Merena, 1/1996), lot 1946, not sold; Summer FUN Signature (Heritage, 7/2012), lot 4945, $19,550; FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2013), lot 5884, $19,975; Chicago ANA (Stack's Bowers, 8/2014), lot 13221, $21,150.
9. Brilliant Proof Uncertified. Theodore Ullmer Collection (Stack's, 5/1974), lot 451.
10. Proof Uncertified. J. Colvin Randall Collection, acquired directly from the U.S. Mint in the year of issue; J.P. Morgan Collection; donated in 1908 to the American Numismatic Society (accession #1908.93.289).
11. PR62+ Cameo PCGS CAC. Central States Signature (Heritage, 4/2021), lot 5127, $28,800.(Registry values: P4)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 28C4, PCGS# 88462, Greysheet# 9186)

Weight: 8.36 grams

Metal: 90% Gold, 10% 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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