LOT #3171 |
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1857 $1 MS65 Prooflike NGC. OC-2, R.3....
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Sold on Aug 26, 2025 for:
$44,400.00
Bid Source: HA.com/Live bidder
Description
1857 Seated Liberty Dollar, MS65 Prooflike
Elusive Date, Most Examples Exported
Condition Census Example
1857 $1 MS65 Prooflike NGC. OC-2, R.3. Osburn-Cushing Die
State a/a. While the Mint's official 1857 Annual Report and
the Guide Book both list the mintage of the 1857 Seated
Liberty dollar as 94,000 pieces, research by R.W. Julian indicates
a delivery of 490 pieces on May 29, 1857 was mistakenly omitted
from the total. Q. David Bowers speculates the small delivery may
have been a special striking for unknown purposes. Because the
silver dollar contained a $1.046 melt-down value in silver, the
coins rarely circulated domestically. Most examples were used in
the China trade, and ultimately melted in the Orient, with the
result that the issue is much rarer than generally supposed today.
Bowers estimates a few hundred coins may still exist in circulated
grades, with Mint State examples "quite rare." At the MS65 level,
PCGS has certified three specimens (one in 65+), with none finer;
while NGC has seen only this MS65 Prooflike example in this grade,
but has graded three MS66 examples finer (4/25).Most early auction appearances of the 1857 dollar were as part of silver proof sets, which seems to be the way most collectors obtained an example of the date. One early offering of a business-strike 1857 was in a fixed price list issued by Augustus B. Sage in June 1859. Sage was asking $1.50 for a very fine example, quite a markup for a circulated coin that was only two years old at the time.
The present coin is a magnificent Gem Prooflike example that shows a touch of the usual softness on Liberty's head and foot, and the star centers. Like most examples seen, the reverse devices are much sharper. Many silver dollars of 1857 were produced with prooflike surfaces. Even coins in circulated grades as low as XF sometimes show this feature. The fields of the coin offered here are nicely mirrored, with modestly contrasted devices. The surfaces are mostly brilliant, but there is a slight overlay of pale reddish patina on both sides. Pedigree markers include two tiny marks in the right obverse field and a mark below E in UNITED. Census: 1 in 65 Prooflike, 0 finer (4/25).
Ex: FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2010), lot 2598.
From The Pelican Bay Collection, Part II.
Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 24YW, PCGS# 86945, Greysheet# 213900)
View all of [The Pelican Bay Collection, Part II ]
Auction Info
2025 August 26 - 31 ANA US Coins Signature® Auction #1385 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
August, 2025
26th-31st
Tuesday-Sunday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 15
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 457
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
20% of the successful bid per lot.
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