1857 Liberty Seated Silver Dollar. OC-2. Rarity-3. Unc Details--Cleaned (PCGS).
Strong mint luster and richly original toning provide superior eye appeal for the assigned grade. The obverse is splashed with swirls of olive-russet iridescence, while the reverse exhibits a peripheral halo of steel-blue with warm rose-gray toward the center. Faint hairlines in the right obverse field explain the PCGS qualifier, but they are easily overlooked at most viewing angles. The circulation strike 1857 is a notorious strike rarity in the Liberty Seated dollar series but, while the present example is typically soft on Liberty's head and around much of the obverse periphery, the reverse is sharper overall with uncommonly bold detail to the eagle's right leg and talon. Survivors are rare and number no more than 400 or so coins in Mint State and circulated grades combined (per Osburn and Cushing, 2018), perhaps as few as 250 to 300 pieces (per Q. David Bowers, 2016). In either case worn coins constitute the majority of 1857 dollars in collectors' hands, and fewer than 100 coins are believed extant in Mint State. Perhaps not surprisingly, most of the Uncirculated survivors are tightly held, market appearances such as this few and far between in today's highly competitive numismatic market. We expect strong competition when this noteworthy condition rarity crosses our auctioneer's block.
PCGS# 6945. NGC ID: 24YW.
From the Collection of James Allaire Millholland, 1842-1911.

Estimate: $3500