A simply gorgeous Proof Liberty quarter eagle irrespective of date. Both sides of this premium Choice specimen exhibit profound cameo contrast. The devices are fully defined with a billowy satin to softly frosted texture. The fields, on the other hand, are highly reflective. Closer inspection reveals the subtle "orange peel" texture that Proof gold specialists find so appealing. The entire package exhibits bright medium gold color and technical quality that is very close to full Gem. This beautiful coin is worthy of a premium bid. The foregoing description would clearly mark this coin as an important Proof Liberty quarter eagle even if it were a more readily obtainable date. Its status as a rare, key date issue will certainly make it even more desirable to advanced collectors. In fact, this is a highly significant survivor from an original mintage of just 20 Proofs for the date. A few have been lost over the years, and the extant population is believed to number fewer than 15 pieces. The online PCGS Population Report accounts for only 12 to 14 survivors, while Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth ( Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins: 1795-1933, 2008 edition) believe that only about 10 examples are extant. In either case this is clearly an exceedingly rare issue. The present Deep Cameo specimen is the first Proof 1874 quarter eagle that we have handled in quite some time. This is an important bidding opportunity not to be overlooked. The 1874 is one of the "magic dates" in the Liberty quarter eagle series, with limited mintages for both the year s Proof and circulation strike issues. The Proof mintage is just 20 specimens, as noted, while circulation strike production amounted to only 3,920 pieces. All are attributed to the Philadelphia Mint, the only coinage facility to strike quarter eagles in 1874. With such a limited mintage, it is not surprising that several of the extant circulation strikes are semi to fully prooflike in appearance. Such pieces cannot be mistaken for Proofs, however, for the true Proofs, as here, exhibit three tiny die chips on Liberty s cheek before the ear and noticeable chips out of the denticles on the obverse between the stars 4 and 5, after star 5, above star 6, and just before star 7. ， Provenance: From our (Stack s) sale of the Samuel W. Wolfson Collection of United States Coins, Part I, October 1962, lot 211; our (Stack s) sale of May 1974, lot 374; our (Bowers and Merena s) sale of the Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection, Part III, May 2000, lot 236. The plate coin for the issue in Deep Cameo on the PCGS CoinFacts website. Est. $30,000-$50,000
