US Coins

'True Mint State' 1877 Indian Head gold $3 tops $70K

Pogue’s MS-64+ 1877 Indian Head gold $3 piece is the finest graded by PCGS and it sold for $70,500 at the February 9 Pogue III auction in New York City.

Original images courtesy of Stack's Bowers Galleries

The D. Brent Pogue Collection is known for its strengths in 18th and early 19th century U.S. copper, silver and gold coins. His set of Indian Head gold $3 coins, struck between 1854 and 1889, is a bit of an outlier among his holdings.

At Part III of the Pogue Collection, offered in New York by Sotheby’s and Stack’s Bowers Galleries, coins from his gold $3 set, considered among the finest and most complete ever assembled (though missing the unique 1870-S coin currently held by the Harry Bass Foundation) sold for more than $2.6 million, exceeding the $1.985 million low estimate total.

Here is one of three coins from the set that we're breaking down in this week's Market Analysis:

The Coin:

1877 Indian Head gold $3 coin, MS-64+

The Price:

$70,500

The Story:

Most of the Pogue Collection’s Indian Head gold $3 coins were purchased by the collector as part of his purchase of the Great Lakes Collection in October 2005.

His 1877 Indian Head $3 coin was part of that collection. Graded Mint State 64+, it is the finest certified by Professional Coin Grading Service. Featuring prooflike surfaces with frosty devices and reflective fields, it also had deep orange-gold color that was especially rich on the obverse.

COIN VALUES: What your Indian Head gold $3 coin is worth

Only 1,468 examples were struck for circulation and today perhaps 100 are known, with less than a dozen that Stack’s Bowers calls “true Mint State.” Of these, most hover in the MS-60 to MS-62 range, making this one an exceptional survivor. It sold for $70,500, at the high end of the $50,000 to $70,000 estimate.

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