1854-D Three-Dollar Gold Piece. Winter 1-A, the only known dies. MS-62 (PCGS). CAC. The offered 1854-D is a pleasing, deep yellow-gold specimen of this highly respected rarity. Lively luster shines forth throughout, especially among the design motifs and sheltered surface areas. The satiny surfaces are somewhat frosty and very attractive for the assigned grade. No marks of any consequence can be seen with the unaided eye, and even low magnification brings forth not a solitary mark that warrants individual description. Struck from clashed dies with evidence of the reverse wreath present at Libertys neckline while, at the center of the reverse wreath, a reversed impression of Libertys portrait is seen. The overall impression from the dies is crisp on both sides, especially so for the date. The tops of the feathers of Libertys headdress are nearly complete, as are the hair details. On the reverse Longacres wreath design is bold with even the tiniest details present.<p>As seen on nearly all genuine 1854-D $3 gold pieces, the edge reeding is light in places, especially at the top of the obverse, though the tab of the PCGS holder covers that area of the present specimen. Also in keeping with virtually every known example of the date, there is softness throughout the denticles that ranges clockwise from a point just above the letter U in UNITED on the obverse and ending at a point just past the final letter A in AMERICA. The reverse denticles are soft in places as well. One may be able to imagine a finer specimen than the present coin, but it is unlikely that such an example will ever be seen.<p>Advanced cabinets of Indian Princess $3 gold pieces are often judged by the overall quality of the 1854-D issue. A Chapman brothers listing at lot 334 in their December 1897 sale noted: "1854. Dahlonega Mint. Very Fine. Extremely rare. Probably not over six known." Among the most famous $3 Indian Princess collections to cross the auction block was the Richard Jewell Collection, offered by us (American Numismatic Rarities) in May 2005. The Richard Jewell 1854-D was a PCGS AU-58 coin that still ranks among the finest examples of the date extant. The Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection, Part II, that we (Bowers and Merena) sold in October 1999, offered a pleasing PCGS AU-55 for this issue.<p>The Pogue specimen offered here is far and away the most widely heralded 1854-D $3 gold coin. It was part of the legendary collection formed by Ed Milas and sold in RARCOAs session of Auction 81, in which it was unequivocally declared the "Finest Known" for the issue. It retains that title today, sitting alone at the top of the <em>PCGS Population Report</em> and also the only certified Mint State 1854-D approved by CAC. It is believed that fewer than a half dozen examples can accurately be called Mint State today, and this is the finest. PCGS# 7970. NGC ID: 25M4. PCGS Population: 1; 0 finer. CAC Population: 1; 0. Ex Ed Milas; RARCOAs session of Auction 81, July 1981, lot 386; Mid-Americans sale of January 1987, lot 1814; George Elliott; Kevin Lipton; Winthrop Carner; Superiors Piedmont Sale, January 1996, lot 2277; Larry Hanks; Great Lakes Collection; Larry Hanks, October 2005; D. Brent Pogue Collection; our sale of the D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part III, February 2016, lot 3090.
