1839-D Classic Head Quarter Eagle. HM-1, Winter 1-B. Rarity-5. Strong Branch, Berry. MS-62 (NGC).
A beautiful example with iridescent olive-blue peripheral highlights to otherwise rose-orange surfaces. The luster is full and frosty, the strike sharp apart from characteristic softness to the central high points. There are remarkably few marks for the assigned grade, a minor distraction in the obverse field inside stars 2 and 3 the most useful provenance marker. The plate coin for the issue in the second edition (2003) of Doug Winter's reference on Dahlonega Mint gold, this coin is sure to find its way into another world class Southern gold cabinet. 1839 was the first year of coinage for the denomination at the Dahlonega Mint, the final year of quarter eagle coinage of the design type, and the second of just two years with an obverse mintmark position (the first year, 1838, saw branch mint coinage from only the Charlotte facility). In 1840, Christian Gobrecht's Liberty design replaced William Kneass' short-lived Classic Head motif of 1834 to 1839, and the mintmark position was moved to the reverse die. The mintage is modest at 13,674 pieces, from which precious few have survived in Mint State grades. The slightly scarcer of the two known die varieties of this issue, HM-1 is attributable by a strong branch stem and the presence of a berry between the upper and middle leaf clusters. Additionally, the first letter A in AMERICA is repunched. All known examples from this die pairing display several peripheral cracks on the reverse, the most prominent of which originates at the upper border, bisects the second letter T in STATES, and continues to the eagle's head.
PCGS# 7700. NGC ID: 25G5.
NGC Census: 5; 4 finer (MS-64 finest).
Ex U.S. Coins; Spectrum Numismatics; Doug Winter, 2001; Green Pond Collection; Heritage's sale of the Green Pond Collection, January 2004 FUN Signature Sale, lot 1015; our Summer 2022 Global Showcase Auction, August, lot 6018, as PCGS MS-61. The plate coin for the issue in the 2003 edition of the Winter reference on Dahlonega Mint gold coinage.

Estimate: $25000