An overdate no more.Frosty light yellow gold, even in shade, with abundant cartwheel luster that is particularly bold on the reverse. Long called an overdate, modern scholars have reassessed that attribution; the flaw within the 2 is likely a die break, not an under-digit. The surfaces are bright and fresh in appearance. Some hairlines are present, some scattered light marks, natural planchet chip below M of AMERICA. Very light remnants of adjustment marks are visible in the soft area of the central reverse and near the clouds above the star cluster. The obverse shows a clash mark, and the faint crack at CA of AMERICA is visible under a glass. A very handsome specimen, graced with spectacular luster and excellent in-hand appeal.Among dates of this type, the 1802 is not considered elusive in circulated grades. Many collectors choose an 1802 or 1807 to represent the design type, and with perhaps 100 specimens of the 1802 surviving in all grades, there are generally enough for collectors to at least be able to locate one. In Mint State grades, especially higher grades like this, the air is rarefied. This is the first offering of a PCGS MS-64 at auction; previously, this coin has sold just once in modern memory (2005) but never before as a certified coin. We do not expect to ever offer a finer example, nor certainly one with better originality. Previous owner Lawrence C. Licht (see provenance below), a well-regarded architect and veteran of World War I, was a native of Englewood, New Jersey and was most active as a collector in the 1940s and 1950s. Long off the market in the Licht Collection, the presently-offered 1802 quarter eagle from his collection has only sold once within the lifetimes of most modern collectors.
