One could hardly want a finer 1839-D Classic Head $2.50 gold quarter eagle than this one, graded Mint State 64 by Professional Coin Grading Service and carrying a green Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker. Gold specialist Doug Winter called it, “by far the best I have seen” in his 2003 book on the series.

It is tied with two other submissions as the finest at PCGS, which estimates 200 survivors from an original mintage of 13,674.

Back in 1994 it realized $55,000, and in 2013 it sold for $105,750. At Stack’s Bowers’ Aug. 25 auction of the Georgia Gold Rush Collection at Griffin Studios in Costa Mesa, California, it realized $168,000.

The cataloger described it as: “Lustrous and frosty with impressively smooth surfaces that border on Gem Mint State quality. A lustrous and sharply struck deep rose-orange example with soft honey shades visible under a light.”

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