This superb gem 1866 $3 from the D. Brent Pogue Collection is undeniably beautiful. The frosty medium yellow-gold surfaces exhibit warm olive and rose iridescence, and pools of satiny luster. The strike is bold and full on both sides with just a touch of weakness at the vertical line in the reverse bow. Vertical die striae, as made, are present on the reverse, more or less standard for circulation strikes. The near-flawless obverse exhibits a faint, short diagonal line in the field before Liberty’s nose that comes into view only at the proper angle to a light source. The reverse is even more pristine, appearing as fresh as the day it was struck. Of the 4,000 circulation strikes of the date produced, it is thought that perhaps fewer than 200 coins can be accounted for today in all grades, with the preponderance of the survivors well-circulated in appearance. Perhaps just 25 to 40 or so 1866 $3s are extant in Mint State. Likely, the present MS-66 piece has no peers. NGC reports a pair of 1866 $3s in Mint State-65, but nothing finer. A shipment of two $3 dies to San Francisco this year did not result in any $3 coinage at that facility. As is true of so many Pogue Collection coins the pedigree or provenance adds a quintessential element. This 1866 was once owned by Byron Reed, Omaha entrepreneur who formed one of the finest cabinets of his era. PCGS# 7987. NGC ID: 25MM.
