1886 Three-Dollar Gold Piece. JD-1. Rarity-4. Proof-66 Cameo (NGC). CAC. This handsome and fully original Gem Proof 1886 $3 represents the finest auction offering in a decade. Powder-blue iridescence complements the overall warm apricot toning. Sharply stuck with orange-peel texture in the fields and a sharp contrast against the satiny devices. Virtually untouched and undoubtedly superior for the assigned grade; just one has been graded finer by NGC and none rank higher at CAC. This jewel is being presented as part of a nicely matched five-piece 1886 gold proof set featured in the adjacent lots. <p>By 1886 the three-dollar gold series was rapidly approaching its end, which officially came in the Coinage Act of September 26, 1890. Although this act is dated late in 1890, the final three-dollar gold pieces were produced in 1889. Yearly circulation strike mintages had been limited throughout the entire series, in fact, and especially so after the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. By the 1880s the Philadelphia Mint was delivering no more than 6,000 circulation strikes yearly, in most cases no more than 1,000 coins. </p><p>Beginning in 1884, on the other hand, Proof mintages increased in response to heightened demand from contemporary numismatists. The 1886 was produced to the extent of 142 Proofs, surpassed by the mintages of only the Proof 1887 and Proof 1888. Most of the Proofs struck in 1886 were distributed and subsequently preserved. Numismatic experts are generally in agreement on the number of coins extant, Bowers and Winter providing a figure in the range of 80 to 100 coins, seconded by Dannreuther (2018), with <em>PCGS CoinFacts</em> offering a similar range of 75 to 90 survivors. The present Proof-66 Cameo (NGC) CAC is among the very finest known and is an important bidding opportunity for advanced gold type or date collectors.</p> From the Dr. Paul and Rosalie Zito Collection. Acquired February 13, 1998.
