I have only seen one Unc.: Davis-Graves 670. — Walter Breen, 1964 From our record-setting offering of A Gentleman s Collection, sold in June 2005, where your cataloger (JK) described this piece as Rich yellow gold with some coppery toning on highly lustrous surfaces. The obverse periphery shows especially strong cartwheel lustre, while the reverse lustre is satiny and unbroken throughout. A remarkable and eye appealing specimen of a unique variety in American coinage—the obverse was used to strike a coin of a totally different date (i.e. 1805, a situation like the 1823 and 1827 quarters) while the reverse was used to coin a totally different denomination (namely dimes)! The toning and lustre bespeak originality. The obverse fields show some handling marks, including a nearly vertical scratch under Y of LIBERTY and some scattered hairlines, while the reverse is of essentially gem quality aside from a dig under the eagle s sinister wing. The detail is impeccably bold with only the most minor softness at central reverse. A die crack joins the bases of stars five through seven, while another joins star seven to the tops of LI. An exquisite quality specimen of this rarity which, when found at all, is apt to be EF or lower. The sole specimen Harry Bass owned was purchased as an EF in 1975, and no duplicates appeared in any of the three Bass gold sales. Akers recorded only two specimens called Mint State in the long purview of his survey, including the 1954 Davis-Graves coin, the piece offered here. When Breen wrote his seminal monograph on varieties of quarter eagles, he noted under this variety ‘I have only seen one Unc.’ namely this coin. In 1965, Norman Stack termed this coin ‘possibly the finest known of a great rarity.’ Today, it appears his speculation has been borne out. This variety is so fascinating and desirable not just for its rarity, but for its technical aspects. Few dies in the American series have been used one year, altered, and used again, but this obverse die was used on every 1805 quarter eagle ever struck before being altered into an 1806/5 overdate. The reverse was used on quarter eagles in 1805, twice in 1806, again in 1807 and also on dimes of 1807! What an interesting and unique situation, and a great story to go with one of the great rarities of the gold series. With its hints of copper and pale green around peripheries, this coin is a text on how early gold with original surfaces should look. This coin offers students of the series so much: the best preserved specimen of a technically notable variety, superb provenance and publication history, and absolute rarity. This piece is struck from an earlier die state than most, with a thin crack and complete lowest curl that has been unaffected by lapping, or a filing of the die face. Breen identified this coin in 1964 as the only early die state seen; today there are others, but needless to say none are as fine. This is the sole example certified as Mint State by PCGS. PCGS CoinFacts estimates that none survive in grades higher than Mint State-60, an estimate that clearly deserves upward revision to account for this coin. This coin was only recently certified by PCGS, having been acquired as NGC MS-63. There are either four or five coins currently certified by NGC as Mint State, none graded higher than MS-62, plus the former NGC MS-63 now in a PCGS MS-62 holder, the coin offered here. Though around 30 specimens survive in all grades, including the John A. Beck-Harry W. Bass, Jr. coin at the American Numismatic Association and the Josiah K. Lilly and Mint Cabinet coins at the National Numismatic Collection, PCGS CoinFacts ranks the 1806/5 as the most difficult of the 11 major varieties of quarter eagles of this design type to find in Mint State.
