Three
Sold 1834 Capped Head Quarter Eagles at once
Simultaneous
sale of three 1834 Capped Head quarter eagles with the "E Pluribus
Unum" motto on the reverse was announced by Fort Lauderdale,
Fla., dealer Tom Pilitowski.
Sale price
was not disclosed, but Pilitowski said it was in six figures.
Coin Market lists the coin at $85,000 in MS-60 condition. Two
of the coins sold were graded MS-61 by the Professional Coin
Grading service. One was graded XF-45 by the service.
All three
coins were sent through Numismatic Guaranty Corp.'s Photo Proof
process.
Also called
the Turban Head, the 1834 $2.50 gold piece with motto is extremely
rare. Walter Breen noted its appearance at auction only 15 times,
with some specimens appearing more than once.
Pilitowski
believes the sale of three pieces at once is without precedent,
though the coins went to two separate buyers. A Midwest physician
purchased two and a collector on the West Coast bought the third.
Original
mintage was 4,000, but the bulk of the mintage was believed
melted because the United States began a recoinage program at
the same time that reduced the gold weight of the gold denominations
by about six percent.
The specific
coins sold were: PCGS No. 6547149, XF-45: PCGS No. 6546346,
MS-61: and PCGS No. 2656103, MS-61.
