1840-D Liberty Head Quarter Eagle. Winter 1-B. AU-58 (PCGS). This pretty piece exhibits warm olive undertones to dominant orange-gold color. Ample evidence of a satin to modestly semi-reflective finish remain, the latter feature best appreciated with direct lighting. Well struck by the standards of the issue, the central design elements are boldly to sharply rendered, the peripheries with only minor softness to a few of the stars on the obverse. In the absence of sizable marks, the appearance is pleasingly smooth for a survivor of this challenging issue.<p>Our multiple offerings of high grade examples from this extraordinary collection notwithstanding, the historic 1840-D is the leading rarity in the Dahlonega Mint quarter eagle series in AU and Mint State grades. Unlike the Mint State coin offered above, the present example represents the Winter 1-B die pairing. The obverse and reverse die states are advanced, the former side with a bisecting crack from 10:30 to 4:30, the latter side with the diagnostic crack from the border through the upright of the letter E in AMERICA. The reverse exhibits a second crack from the border through the upright of the letter E in STATES, through the eagles beak to its wing. This 2013 edition of the Winter reference on Dahlonega Mint gold coinage confirms the rarity of this die pairing with the authors comment: "The discovery coin was sold as Lot 7480 in the 1997 ANA auction, and the finest known is a PCGS AU-58 that realized $19,550 at the January 2006 Heritage FUN auction. This variety is very rare." This is the coin to which Winter refers -- the finest known 1840-D Winter 1-B half eagle. PCGS# 7719. NGC ID: 25GC. PCGS Population: 2; with a single MS-61 finer. From Heritages FUN Signature Auction of January 2006, lot 3414; our (Stacks) Orlando Sale of January 2009, lot 902.
