The superb state of preservation of the United States coins will be a source of great pleasure to collectors who have here an opportunity to purchase many of the finest coins formerly contained in other cabinets long since dispersed. - Henry and S. Hudson Chapman, presale announcement for the Cleneay sale, November 1890Toned in deep gray and gold on the obverse with sparse pastel blue at the rims, violet gray and the same bright blue across the reverse, this piece displays the luster and visual appeal of a higher grade. The cartwheel is bright and unbroken on both sides, cascading around lightly reflective fields. Design elements are mostly bold, though stars 1 through 4 lack full centers. On the reverse, the softness of the star cluster and clouds 6 and 7 is typical of the issue. A streak in the planchet has been struck firmly enough to nearly obliterate it right of stars 1 through 3. Some granularity persists above Libertys drapery, and some depressions caused by detritus on the die at the moment of striking are noted behind Libertys head. Besides some minor hairlines, the surfaces are free of significant defects, and the aesthetic appeal is strong. The crack between stars 10 and 11 is barely visible, placing this as either Bowers Die State I or Bowers Die State II; the crack is subtle enough that it would be very easy to miss on even a high grade coin.High grade specimens of this variety often appear somewhat prooflike. The finest known from these dies, the Green-Newman MS-65 (PCGS), was described as "nearly prooflike." Both of Bolenders specimens, including one from the Brand Collection and the other from the 1914 Gable sale, were noted as having "some Proof surface." The two examples from these dies in the 1955 DeCoppet catalog were also described as being prooflike. Despite this, Walter Breen penned a letter stating that the example sold as lot 1780 in Auction 89 was a "special presentation striking," though such determinations rarely hold up to modern scrutiny.This example has been cherished for its fine quality for well over a century, dating back to its placement in the famed cabinet of Thomas Cleneay of Cincinnati, Ohio. Active in numismatics as early as the 1840s, Cleneay was one of the first condition connoisseurs among American coin collectors. "His aim was to secure specimens of all the United States series either in Proof or Uncirculated condition," the Chapman brothers wrote in the introduction to their December 1890 catalog, explaining "the coins are so uniformly fine that it is a difficult matter to make a selection to which the especial notice of collectors should be drawn." The 2,777 lots realized over $16,000. At $14.50, this coin brought more than any other Heraldic Eagle early dollar, aside from the 1801 Proof Restrike that brought $18.50 to Peter Mougey. The 1802 and 1803 Proof Restrikes brought $12.50 and $12.25, respectively.The dollars of 1803 are composed of five die marriages and two major varieties, the Large 3 and the Small 3. Only three examples have ever been graded finer than this one by PCGS: the Green-Newman example from these dies and two specimens of BB-254, one of which is offered in the preceding lot. Among those three, only the example in the previous lot has a traceable provenance to the 19th century, when it sold exactly one lot before this coin 127 years ago. Their offering together here is both an opportunity and an unlikely historical reconvergence.
