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New 1870-cc quarter received from DLRC
rhedden
Posts: 6,616 ✭✭✭✭✭
I got an exciting delivery from FedEx this morning courtesy of David Lawrence Rare Coins, which was a very nicely packaged 1870-cc quarter for my Seated Quarter set, which is only lacking the 1873-cc No Arrows (5 known). I usually give props to sellers who provide me with nice material, so here are the props. The coin came in a very nice felt-lined box and was packaged in a most secure fashion. It is a rare example of a circulated 1870-cc 25c that has its original skin and is free from pinscratches, dings, and rim problems. These coins were terribly beat up during their lives in the old west, and most slabbed coins in the AG-VF range are actually net-graded pieces that were given mercy grades by PCGS or NGC.
This particular example has a gray obverse and a yellow-gray reverse, possibly indicating that it sat face-up or face-down in the same location for many years and acquired two-tone coloration. I picture it sitting in the drawer of an old piece of furniture, or perhaps inside the wall/floor of an old building for many years. I wish I knew its history, but as is often the case, the story did not come with the coin. I was pleased to get this one a little below PCGS price guide, as these are usually offered in big auctions, and there's someone present who wants to stretch a little harder than I do. Price guides go out the window for Seated material when the market heats up. It will replace my other 1870-cc, which has a VF35 obverse, but has some very serious scratches on the reverse, which I attribute to a little-known 1879 knife fight with Billy the Kid during a trip to New Mexico (no, not really).
In all grades combined, I think the 1870-cc is slightly less scarce than the 1871-cc, but it prices a bit higher in most grades due to the extreme rarity of AU and Unc. specimens. Larry Briggs' book designates the 1870-cc as the rarest date in the series, but auction data and pop. reports of PCGS and NGC support the idea that the 1871-cc is actually the real key (excluding 1873-CC NA), except to those well-heeled people who insist on collecting in the AU-Unc. range. Most Liberty Seated Quarter set collections I have seen lack the key dates of 1870-cc, 1871-cc, and 1873-cc Arr., including some top-5 Registry set collections. I believe most of these coins are in the hands of Carson City specialists, rather than Seated Quarter specialists, who seem to prefer semi-keys and undervalued sleeper dates. Personally, obtaining all three of the key CC dates in PCGS holders is the most satisfying accomplishment of my numismatic lifetime, and I would recommend to other collectors of Liberty Seated Quarters to at least consider taking the plunge if you truly love this series.
This particular example has a gray obverse and a yellow-gray reverse, possibly indicating that it sat face-up or face-down in the same location for many years and acquired two-tone coloration. I picture it sitting in the drawer of an old piece of furniture, or perhaps inside the wall/floor of an old building for many years. I wish I knew its history, but as is often the case, the story did not come with the coin. I was pleased to get this one a little below PCGS price guide, as these are usually offered in big auctions, and there's someone present who wants to stretch a little harder than I do. Price guides go out the window for Seated material when the market heats up. It will replace my other 1870-cc, which has a VF35 obverse, but has some very serious scratches on the reverse, which I attribute to a little-known 1879 knife fight with Billy the Kid during a trip to New Mexico (no, not really).
In all grades combined, I think the 1870-cc is slightly less scarce than the 1871-cc, but it prices a bit higher in most grades due to the extreme rarity of AU and Unc. specimens. Larry Briggs' book designates the 1870-cc as the rarest date in the series, but auction data and pop. reports of PCGS and NGC support the idea that the 1871-cc is actually the real key (excluding 1873-CC NA), except to those well-heeled people who insist on collecting in the AU-Unc. range. Most Liberty Seated Quarter set collections I have seen lack the key dates of 1870-cc, 1871-cc, and 1873-cc Arr., including some top-5 Registry set collections. I believe most of these coins are in the hands of Carson City specialists, rather than Seated Quarter specialists, who seem to prefer semi-keys and undervalued sleeper dates. Personally, obtaining all three of the key CC dates in PCGS holders is the most satisfying accomplishment of my numismatic lifetime, and I would recommend to other collectors of Liberty Seated Quarters to at least consider taking the plunge if you truly love this series.
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very nice pick up...
bob
Congrats!
A super example of a Seated Quarter rarity.
Very nice acquisition indeed!
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Joseph J. Singleton - First Superintendent of the U.S. Branch Mint in Dahlonega Georgia
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Wow, tough date! Nice coin also!!
<< <i>Looks like the Landon coin. Nice 100 year old provenance. >>
Andy,
Thanks for passing this information along. I never would have found the pedigree lurking on a Canadian auction site otherwise. It sold too cheaply in the Landon sale, IMHO. I don't know why you would auction off a U.S. coin rarity in a Canadian venue in Canadian dollars. A lot of Canadian collectors care about 1870-cc quarters as much as we care about 1875-H Canadian 25 cent pieces.
I don't know why you would auction off a U.S. coin rarity in a Canadian venue in Canadian dollars.
Landon, a Canadian, died about 100 years ago. The collection - mostly Canadian coins and tokens - was held by the family, then donated to a church, and then the church consigned it.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Link to other thread
<< <i>Much of my Seated quarter set is raw, so I never started a Registry set. I did post my set in a previous thread here if you want to look at some of the other pieces. Besides the 1870-cc upgrade, the 1871-cc has been upgraded to a PCGS F-15 and the 1842 has been upgraded to a PCGS AU50 OGH since I posted the pictures, and I added some colorful proofs in PCGS 65-66 holders. I will update the set pictures in January.
Link to other thread >>
Awesome, thanks!
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
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A good post !
<< <i>Beautiful coin! I can't think of any reason why CAC would not have stickered it. >>
CAC = Canadian Auction Company, Eh?
Looking through the Landon sales, it looks like none of the coins were sent to CAC after being certified. There is a lot of poppin' fresh PCGS material in the catalogs, but I don't see any beans. Whether Legend might have submitted this coin to CAC, or perhaps someone else, is anyone's guess.
Andy is correct, it is the Landon coin and we were privileged to own it twice in the last year. It really is a great date and a really nice coin in our opinion. We'd love to buy more coins like it!
Thanks again for the kind words and for your purchase!
President of David Lawrence Rare Coins www.davidlawrence.com
email: John@davidlawrence.com
2022 ANA Dealer of the Year, Past Chair of NCBA (formerly ICTA), PNG Treasurer, Instructor at Witter Coin University, former Instructor/YN Chaperone ANA Summer Seminar, Coin World Most Influential, Curator of the D.L. Hansen Collection
Congratulations, Ron. That's a wholesome 70-CC.
I once thought of putting together a set of Seated
Quarters, but the early CC's are virtually unobtainable.
I soon gave up my quest and then concentrated on
(What else ?) Barbers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coin collecting is not a hobby, it's an obsession !
New Barber Purchases
<< <i>While I personally do not like the look of the coin... >>
Can you produce another of the same grade that you DO like? You don't always get a choice when it comes to these things.
<< <i>Nice original coin, and the DLRC box is classy. >>
Aren't those cool boxes? I asked if they were inert.
Alas, they aren't. Sure wish they were.
Or is that being ostentatious?
<< <i>
<< <i>While I personally do not like the look of the coin... >>
Can you produce another of the same grade that you DO like? You don't always get a choice when it comes to these things. >>
I fully acknowledge the difficulty in finding a perfectly eye-appealing VG10 of that particular date. And as I said in my original post, I appreciate the rarity of the coin. That doesn't mean, therefore, that I am required to drop my own personal standards of eye-appeal and bleat with the masses, "Oh, I just LOVE the look of that coin! ZOMG!"
The coin isn't particularly attractive TO ME. That statement doesn't IN ANY WAY detract from its rarity or its importance to the owner. And as you pointed out, some people are willing to make an eye-appeal trade off for a rarity of this caliber precisely because it's such a tough, tough date. It's all a matter of what compromises a collector is willing to make when acquiring the individual pieces of his collection. To Ron, the rarity of this piece outweighed the need to have a perfectly eye-appealing example. And I fully understand that sentiment. But it's one that I personally don't share. For me, I'd rather take the same amount of money and purchase a higher graded, more eye-appealing example of a slightly less rare date because eye-appeal is more important to me than absolute rarity. Neither of those choices is right or wrong; it's all personal preference.
Congrats
BHNC #203
<< <i>Neither of those choices is right or wrong; it's all personal preference. >>
Yay! Everyone wins!
I think there can be a wrong choice depending on which way the market winds blow. Sometime eye appeal is more in vogue than rarity, sometimes a marky 66 with a lot of pop is better than a clean 65. Sometimes toning is valued over all else.
My sense on these early CC coins is that collectors going after them are motivated by rarity more than anything else. I've bought some really fugly early CC coins and it didn't matter, they were still easy to resell.
Sure, if I were collecting VG Morgan Dollars I'd be incredibly fussy about it. But I'm not about to start collecting VG Morgan Dollars.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
siliconvalleycoins.com
I owned only one 70-cc quarter in my life, an average VG8 that my friend sold me. He paid one dollar for it out of a junk silver dish in Edinburg Scotland in the 80s.
siliconvalleycoins.com