CLASSIC GOLD QUARTER EAGLE AND HALF EAGLES

 

The Classic Gold coins of the 1830s are often viewed by numismatists as the earliest issues of the United States pre-1933 gold catalog that remain approachable by collectors in terms of overall availability and price. These gorgeous gold coins, the artistic brainchildren of Chief Engraver of the United States Mint William Kneass, were produced in generally larger numbers than their predecessors and represent a transitional period in U.S. gold minting history when the nation was enjoying the yellow fruits of its first gold rush in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.

To handle the increasing need for more gold coinage in a young and rapidly expanding nation, the U.S. Mint announced in the mid-1830s the construction of three new mints in New Orleans, Charlotte, and the small gold-mining town of Dahlonega in Georgia. These three mints — the first branch facilities of the U.S. Mint — came online by 1838, with gold coin production remaining an integral part of the duties at the mother mint in Philadelphia. Even as mintages for Kneass' classic gold coinage reached into the six figures, survivors are relatively small in number, and especially so in higher grades.

Circulated specimens are relatively affordable, though many have been cleaned or bear damage and therefore it's increasingly difficult to find these types of coins in PCGS holders regardless of grade. Classic gold coins are conditional rarities in the better grades, as they are among certain die marriages. The sheer elusiveness of this historic gold coinage has long been a draw for Daryl Haynor, noted expert and author of United States Classic Gold Coins of 1834-1839.

As a collector, I have always steered into unchartered waters, and the classic gold series is the neglected stepchild in the family of United States gold coins that never garnered the respect it deserved. I wrote the book, in part, because I wanted to change that perception.

His exceptional collection of classic gold will be showcased as a separate catalog in Stack's Bowers Galleries' August Showcase Auction. The sale is certain to shine a light on these short-lived but dynamic series, which offer tremendous opportunities and challenges for the intrepid collector. Haynor hopes that his book, which was recently awarded the Numismatic Literary Guild Book of the Year award, will attract collectors into the new frontier of classic gold die marriages. However, collectors will also learn that gem-quality classic gold coins are far rarer than previously imagined.

To read the complete article, see:
Coins of the Issue: Classic Gold Quarter Eagle & Half Eagle Rarities (https://www.pcgs.com/news/coins-of-the-issue-classic-gold-quarter-eagle)

To read earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
NEW BOOK: U.S. CLASSIC GOLD COINS OF 1834-1839s (https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n12a02.html)
BOOK REVIEW: U.S. CLASSIC GOLD COINS OF 1834-1839 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n26a07.html)
BOOK REVIEW: U.S. CLASSIC GOLD COINS OF 1834-1839 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n28a04.html)

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