We present a truly fantastic coin, a superb Gem from our sale of the Battle Born Collection and earlier from the Eliasberg Collection. This is the finest known Carson City Mint gold coin of any denomination. This truly phenomenal piece offers technical quality and eye appeal more akin to what one would expect to see on a common date Liberty half eagle, but not on a key date rarity from the Carson City Mint. The vibrant, satiny mint luster is full and there are modest hints of reflectivity in the open fields around the central devices. Those same devices are sharply, if not fully defined from a well-executed strike that is equally strong around the peripheries. Rich rose-gold patina enhances the virtually pristine surfaces. The 1876-CC half eagle is extremely popular among Carson City Mint specialists. Survivors are elusive in all grades with Mint State pieces the stuff of numismatic legends. The original mintage is 6,887 pieces, the lowest of any half eagle issue from the Carson City Mint. Estimates of survivors have varied somewhat in recent decades, with Doug Winter providing a figure of 80 to 90 coins in all grades in the 2001 edition of his book Gold Coins of the Carson City Mint. Taking a slightly more liberal approach, Rusty Goe estimated that 135 to 160 coins are extant in his cataloging for our August 2012 sale of the Battle Born Collection (based on data compiled as of July 2012). Both estimates confirm that the 1876-CC is a prime rarity at all levels of preservation and is challenging to locate even in circulated grades. Rusty Goe and Doug Winter agree, as do other gold coin experts, that only two or three Mint State 1876-CC half eagles have survived, with the present Gem far and away the finest known. Rusty Goe further elaborated in our Battle Born Collection catalog: "Gold coin experts recognize the extraordinary 1876-CC half eagle, graded MS-66 by PCGS, as not just the finest example known for this date, and not just the finest known half eagle of any of the 19 dates issued at Carson City; but as the finest surviving gold coin of any denomination from that mint." The only other Mint State 1876-CC half eagle positively known to exist is certified MS-61 by NGC. The provenances of the two known pieces are as follows: 1 - PCGS MS-66. Ex Chapman brothers, 1893; John H. Clapp Collection, 1942; Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr.; our (Bowers and Ruddy s) sale of the United States Gold Coin Collection (Eliasberg), October 1982, lot 540; Herbert Melnick s Grand Central sale of November 1983; Joe Kuehnert; Andy Lustig; David W. Akers session of Auction 89, July 1989, lot 1395; Superior s Father Flanagan s Boys Home Sale, May 1990, lot 5598; Superior s sale of May 1991, lot 1390; Bowers and Merena Galleries, June 1991, to the following; our (Bowers and Merena s) sale of the Henry S. Lang Collection, July 2002, lot 613; our sale of the Battle Born Collection of Carson City Mint Coinage, August 2012, lot 11007. The present example, pictured on the front cover of our Battle Born Collection catalog, and the plate coin for the issue on the PCGS CoinFacts website. 2 - NGC MS-61. From Heritage s sale of the Ashland City Collection of Branch Mint Gold Coins & Other Rarities, January 2003, lot 4823; our (Bowers and Merena s) Baltimore Auction of June 2008, lot 3685; Heritage s Los Angeles, CA U.S. Coin Auction, July 2009, lot 1264; Heritage s FUN U.S. Coin Auction of January 2010, lot 2190. David W. Akers cataloging of this coin in his session of Auction 89 is a fitting summation of the rarity, quality and importance of this Gem Mint State 1876-CC half eagle: "This has long been one of our very favorite coins, ever since we first saw it in the Eliasberg Sale back in 1982. It is so much better than any other 1876-CC Half Eagle that to call it only the ‘Finest Known’ doesn’t seem to do it justice. In Walter Breen s Encyclopedia he notes that this issue is Prohibitively rare above EF and then goes on to mention this piece specifically. "We have never seen another example graded as high as MS-60 and so it is our feeling that this coin is not only Unique in this gem condition but possibly unique in Mint State as well… [A]s Q. David Bowers said in 1982 in the Eliasberg catalogue, ‘this certainly will be one of the issues attracting the greatest attention (in this sale). Everyone likes to own something no one else has, and here is a good opportunity." Those words are as true today as they were in our 1982 Eliasberg sale, and as true as they were when we offered this coin in our July 2002 sale of the Henry S. Lang Collection and our August 2012 Battle Born Collection sale. We are extremely fortunate to be able to offer this coin at auction for a fourth time -- an opportunity to add the finest Carson City Mint gold coin of any denomination to your collection. It will serve as a leading highlight, if not the centerpiece, for as long as you choose to own it. ， Provenance: Ex Chapman brothers, 1893; John H. Clapp Collection, 1942; Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr.; our (Bowers and Ruddy s) sale of the United States Gold Coin Collection (Eliasberg), October 1982, lot 540; Herbert Melnick s Grand Central sale of November 1983; Joe Kuehnert; Andy Lustig; David W. Akers session of Auction 89, July 1989, lot 1395; Superior s Father Flanagan s Boys Home Sale, May 1990, lot 5598; Superior s sale of May 1991, lot 1390; Bowers and Merena Galleries, June 1991, to the following; our (Bowers and Merena s) sale of the Henry S. Lang Collection, July 2002, lot 613; our sale of the Battle Born Collection of Carson City Mint Coinage, August 2012, lot 11007, pictured on the front cover of the catalog. The plate coin for the issue on the PCGS CoinFacts website. Est. $400,000-$550,000
*拍品信息由各家拍卖公司提供，首席数据中心刊载出于传递更多信息之目的，并不意味着赞同其观点或证实其描述。
