Some pieces here catalogued may not be offered again for many years, so it is hoped that the collectors will give this catalogue their prompt and careful attention.” — Thomas Elder, introduction to the Peter Gschwend sale, June 1909</em>With stunning aesthetic appeal and gem quality surfaces, this rarity passes all expectations invested in its assigned grade. The toning is deep azure, decorated with violet throughout, lightening to champagne gold near the peripheries of both sides. The mirrored fields are deeply reflective, and the devices are glossy and fully struck. Every star offers sculpturally detailed centers, each denticle is nicely separated from its neighbors, and the central design elements show every fine detail intended by the engraver. A tiny planchet imperfection is seen at the denticles left of Liberty’s rock, below star 1, and a more subtle planchet striation may be noted below OL of DOLLAR. Pre-striking planchet lines suggest weight adjustment or some other sort of handcraft, including one extending diagonally from the top left serif of N in ONE and a few others hiding close to the denticles near UN of UNITED and the adjacent pellet. Two minuscule planchet pits near the tip of Liberty’s cap are too small to notice with the naked eye. The surfaces show some trivial hairlines, and a single short scratch extends from the denticles near the left side of the obverse exergue, but the technical quality is superlative. Two very tiny lintmarks hang together at the right corner of the face of Liberty’s rock, while another longer and curlier lintmark may be seen above the eagle’s tail. Though described as an original by PCGS, modern research by Dannreuther, Teichman, and Sholley suggests nearly all Die Alignment III 1838 dollars are restrikes. They have identified only two certain originals: the Mint Cabinet specimen, struck in Die Alignment IV, and the Eliasberg coin, now in the American Numismatic Society, struck in Die Alignment III. Both of these coins show a total absence of die rust on design elements and legends. Restrikes, like this one, show various degrees of rust. Scattered faint die rust, seen low on the central obverse design and particularly notable in Liberty’s drapery near her lower leg, helps identify this as a restrike made sometime in the 1860s. An extremely faint die crack joins the tops of ITE, extending past the top of E on the right but apparently not reaching the adjacent D. Another die crack connects the top of MERIC, further than the crack atop MERI described by Dannreuther et al, and an even more delicate crack is seen through the bases of LAR of DOLLAR. The die line above T of UNITED is strong, but the crack below LAR is visible, albeit extremely delicate. The alignment positions the head of Liberty opposite N of ONE, with the eagle tilting ever so slightly downwards rather than perfectly level. According to Craig Sholley, “die stating J84 Restrikes is an art, not a science, and an imprecise one at that,” but the rust, cracks, reflectivity, and alignment of this example place it in the middle to late die state range of the continuum of Judd-84.This coin’s exceptional provenance matches its remarkable aesthetic appeal. The cabinet of Peter Gschwend was focused on both rarity and quality, particularly among colonial and pattern issues. Gschwend stopped collecting about 1871, according to Thomas Elder, who described his consignor as “one of the few remaining numismatists of the days when such men as Messrs. Mickley, Newlin, Cogan, Woodward, Bushnell, Haseltine, and Levick held their sway in the realm of coin collecting.” From the Gschwend sale, this coin entered the cabinet of Virgil Brand, a setting from which it would not emerge until 1983. Its rich and intact provenance allows this coin to be firmly traced to within a decade of when it was struck.Among all 1838 Gobrecht dollars, PCGS has offered a finer grade than Proof-64+ on just four occasions. The divisions between “Original” and “Restrike” among these coins have been rewritten recently, and refinement of those definitions continues to attract some of the brightest minds in numismatics today.PCGS# 11350. NGC ID: 23JW.
