| Description |
1855 25C Arrows MS67+ S NGC. The mintage of 1855 Arrows quarters was far smaller than the 1853 Arrows and Rays or the 1854 Arrows quarters, at 2.8 million pieces. The smaller mintage, combined with the fact that the novelty of the slightly different design had probably worn off the collecting public, means that today the 1855 is the scarcest Philadelphia Arrows issue. This MS67+ S example from the Newman Collection is a marvelous coin that boasts an essentially full strike; the date and arrows are shallowly impressed into the die, not softly struck. This is another coin that is in such high grade (and of such high aesthetic quality) that it is difficult to make ready comparisons with other coins of the same issue. The finest-graded example offered at auction in recent years is a single MS67 NGC coin that brought $31,050 (Bowers and Merena, 1/2005), lot 414. PCGS has seen three submissions in MS66 with none finer, while at NGC this piece is one of four in MS67, but the others lack both the Plus and Star designations, making this piece the finest known example. And what a superlative coin it is! Generous luster runs over each side, complementing gold, amber, lilac, and ice-blue hues, with a bit of silver-gray remaining in the central obverse. The Star designation for superior eye appeal is fully merited, as we cannot conceive of a finer example, either technically or aesthetically. This coin would fit nicely into a type set, but many collectors who simply collect beautiful coins, regardless of series, should also be bidding fiercely on this piece. Census: 4 in 67 (1 in 67+ S), 0 finer (10/13). Ex: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society.
Realized $41,125.00 . Description courtesy of Heritage Auctions, ha.com. |
