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One More Type I Gold Dollar to Go ... + A Quick Review of the Five Mints That Made Them
BillJones
Posts: 34,773 ✭✭✭✭✭
The auction at the recent summer FUN show afforded me the opportunity to almost complete my set of Type I gold dollars. Ironically the one coin I have left is the 1852-P, which is one of the most common coins in the set. I had that date in my type set for number of years, but sold it when I found an upgrade.
I did bid on one in the auction. NGC graded it MS-65, and it had a CAC sticker. I put up a bid ($3,500 + the buyers' fee) that was almost equal to the "Coin Facts" price for a PCGS MS-65 graded piece, and didn't come close to winning it. It went for a hammer price of $4,700 which surprised the devil out of me.
So now two "common" coins are on my list to complete a couple of sets, the 1852-P dollar and an 1875-P Mint State Twenty Cent piece. Both have been surprisingly elusive in the grades I would like, which are MS-64, possibly MS-65 in both cases. I'd even consider MS-63 if I happened to like the piece.
Here are my general observations about the surviving coins from each of the mints that produced Type I gold dollars.
Philadelphia - Harder to find in the attractive Mint State grades than you might think. If you wanted a roll of 1853-P gold dollars, you could put one together fairly fast. The rest of dates are tougher. The 1849 with "No L" has a real mintage of 10,000 pieces, not 1,000 as has been reported by some sources. It is easier to find than you might think because many were saved as "the first of their kind." The 1850 is kind of a "sleeper date" as is the 1854. I think part of the problem here is that a lot of the nice coins are in collections and not available for purchase.
Charlotte - The 1851-C is fairly easy to find. The rest are a lot tougher. The 1852-C is probably the next most common, but a lot of the offering have been cleaned are over graded IMO. Many 1852-C dollars have a struck through on the reverse through the date. I don't mind that, but if you don't want it, that will make your search harder. I had tough time finding the 1849-C with the close wreath. I got lucky with the 1850-C and found a sharply struck example in AU with original surfaces. Duplicating that would be difficult.
Dahlonega - The 1849-D is around and can be located in Mint State. If you want to own ONE Dahlonega coin in Mint State and don't mind a piece that is quite small, this is the way to go. A great many of the pieces that are on the market have been cleaned. Finding pieces with the original surfaces is hard. The 1852-D is much harder to find than reference sources might lead you to believe.
New Orleans - These coins are around, often in MS-61 or 62, but it requires some searching. The strikes are generally quite good. The hardest date is the 1850-O. It is on a par with the Charlotte and Dahlonega coins for rarity, but since it is not as exciting as the C and D coins, the prices are lower.
San Francisco - Only one date, the 1854-S. This coin is not rare, but I found it most often in auctions. It can be found in grades up to MS-62, but anything higher than that is tough.
I did bid on one in the auction. NGC graded it MS-65, and it had a CAC sticker. I put up a bid ($3,500 + the buyers' fee) that was almost equal to the "Coin Facts" price for a PCGS MS-65 graded piece, and didn't come close to winning it. It went for a hammer price of $4,700 which surprised the devil out of me.
So now two "common" coins are on my list to complete a couple of sets, the 1852-P dollar and an 1875-P Mint State Twenty Cent piece. Both have been surprisingly elusive in the grades I would like, which are MS-64, possibly MS-65 in both cases. I'd even consider MS-63 if I happened to like the piece.
Here are my general observations about the surviving coins from each of the mints that produced Type I gold dollars.
Philadelphia - Harder to find in the attractive Mint State grades than you might think. If you wanted a roll of 1853-P gold dollars, you could put one together fairly fast. The rest of dates are tougher. The 1849 with "No L" has a real mintage of 10,000 pieces, not 1,000 as has been reported by some sources. It is easier to find than you might think because many were saved as "the first of their kind." The 1850 is kind of a "sleeper date" as is the 1854. I think part of the problem here is that a lot of the nice coins are in collections and not available for purchase.
Charlotte - The 1851-C is fairly easy to find. The rest are a lot tougher. The 1852-C is probably the next most common, but a lot of the offering have been cleaned are over graded IMO. Many 1852-C dollars have a struck through on the reverse through the date. I don't mind that, but if you don't want it, that will make your search harder. I had tough time finding the 1849-C with the close wreath. I got lucky with the 1850-C and found a sharply struck example in AU with original surfaces. Duplicating that would be difficult.
Dahlonega - The 1849-D is around and can be located in Mint State. If you want to own ONE Dahlonega coin in Mint State and don't mind a piece that is quite small, this is the way to go. A great many of the pieces that are on the market have been cleaned. Finding pieces with the original surfaces is hard. The 1852-D is much harder to find than reference sources might lead you to believe.
New Orleans - These coins are around, often in MS-61 or 62, but it requires some searching. The strikes are generally quite good. The hardest date is the 1850-O. It is on a par with the Charlotte and Dahlonega coins for rarity, but since it is not as exciting as the C and D coins, the prices are lower.
San Francisco - Only one date, the 1854-S. This coin is not rare, but I found it most often in auctions. It can be found in grades up to MS-62, but anything higher than that is tough.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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Very cool set, hope you post pictures when it is complete.
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Top 10 Cal Fractional Type Set
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Tom
Designed it and had it made in 1980. Wear it daily.
<< <i>Very nice set, Bill. I once made a half-hearted attempt to put together a set of one dollar gold coins of all types from San Fransisco in au+. I found it very difficult and quickly gave up. This set, however, seems quite a bit more challenging. Congratulations. >>
I am guessing the 1870-S gold dollar was one of the stoppers. Although the mintage was reported to be 3,000 coins, it was my understanding that the reverse die was shipped to San Francisco without a mint mark. The mint letter was added, but not before 2,000 coins were struck without it, leaving just 1,000 with the official San Francisco Mint symbol.
<< <i>
<< <i>Very nice set, Bill. I once made a half-hearted attempt to put together a set of one dollar gold coins of all types from San Fransisco in au+. I found it very difficult and quickly gave up. This set, however, seems quite a bit more challenging. Congratulations. >>
I am guessing the 1870-S gold dollar was one of the stoppers. Although the mintage was reported to be 3,000 coins, it was my understanding that the reverse die was shipped to San Francisco without a mint mark. The mint letter was added, but not before 2,000 coins were struck without it, leaving just 1,000 with the official San Francisco Mint symbol. >>
That was certainly one of them. However, with the rather steep cost differentials in grades between au-55 and ms-63, and my lack of experience with gold, I found it difficult to find what I considered quality pieces for the grade. Admittedly, part of that was due to my lack of experience with gold. I am much more comfortable with silver and copper and I tend to over-deduct for marks on this soft substance. I have not given up but I decided that I needed more of an education and more time before I would venture back into the gold arena. I've re-looked at your photos. While they are only photos, they generally well struck and very wholesome for the grades assigned.
Tom