Stack’s Bowers Galleries is pleased to offer a fantastic 1795 eagle in our upcoming Baltimore auction, June 26-27, 2014. This is the scarce Bass-Dannreuther-2, Taraszka-2, Rarity-4+ die pairing for this year and is graded AU-58 by PCGS, housed in an older, green-label holder. The sale is the official auction of the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Summer Expo, to held at the Baltimore Convention Center from June 26 through June 29, 2014.
This attractive and highly appealing early gold eagle is of premium quality and worthy of a strong bid. Both sides are attractively toned in warm, olive-gold patina that lightens to rose-gold (obverse) and medium gold (reverse) as the surfaces dip into a light. Virtually complete satin luster remains in a modestly semi-prooflike finish, and the definition is bold to sharp. There are few singularly mentionable abrasions, especially for such a large size pre-1834 U.S. gold coin; a trace of adjustment marks (as made at the Mint) in the center of the obverse are hardly worth mentioning.
Only 5,583 1795 eagles were reportedly struck, perhaps a few more during early 1796 (dated 1795), although certainly not many. Today these are highly sought after by specialists as the first year of issue and the first of this denomination. The elegant design features Liberty in a tall cap with a large strand of her hair wrapping forward from behind to the front of her cap. LIBERTY is boldly stated above, with the date located below her bust. For the reverse, a standing eagle is central, perched on a palm branch, holding a small closed laurel wreath in his beak. Here the branch has 13 leaves, a reference to the 13 original states in the colonies. No denomination is stated; the edge was lightly reeded.
There was great demand in our country for our own coinage, and it needed to be of full value and weight to earn local as well as international respect. Most of these early eagles circulated in the major cities of America, but were seldom seen in the smaller towns and villages, especially west of the major Eastern cities. In later years, most were melted and made into current gold coinage. For this die pairing, there are believed to be 90 to 110 known, a tiny sum considering the number of collectors that desire to own one. This is an incredible opportunity for one collector to finally obtain this elusive and challenging issue, in a sparkling, near Mint State grade.
Would you like to include your coins in one of our future auctions? Please call our offices at 800.458.4646 or me personally and I’ll walk you through the consignment process. We are currently taking consignments for the American Numismatic Association Auction to be held August 5 to 9, 2014 in Rosemont, Illinois as well as for several other auctions noted on our website www.stacksbowers.com . The June Baltimore Auction will be available online as soon as cataloging and imaging is completed. If you want to order a copy of this auction catalog, please call Auction Services at 800.458.4646.
