The D. Brent Pogue 1880 $3 is a prooflike deep yellow-gold specimen with lively luster throughout. Pools of bright orange and soft yellow iridescence enliven both sides. The devices are frosted and the fields are modestly mirrored, with a pleasing cameo-like appearance on both sides. This spectacular $3 is boldly struck throughout with full details on both sides. The date didn’t circulate widely and many pieces spent time in storage, accounting for the availability of Mint State coins. Just 1,000 circulation strikes of the date were produced. Henry Chapman insisted that many remained at the Mint and were later melted. The Bowers-Winter reference suggests some 140 to 170 Mint State pieces may be extant today, mostly in the lower reaches of the grade range, but the estimate for circulated pieces is only 35 to 45 coins. Thomas L. Elder was famous for repatriating $3s from banks and the like in the early years of the 20th century, and his efforts may have resulted in “several hundred” pieces dated 1879 and 1880 being sold to Chicago coin dealer Ben G. Green and collector John Beck. The Richard Jewell Collection (American Numismatic Rarities, March 2005) featured a Mint State-65 PCGS example of this rarity, while the Harry Bass coin was graded Mint State-66 by PCGS. PCGS# 8002. NGC ID: 25N3.
