1851 $5 Dunbar (Regular Strike)

This is one Ultra Rarity that doesn't get the respect it deserves and I personally don't understand why. Perhaps it's "too rare" and doesn't come on the market enough to stir up interest. There are only four known specimens. There are several ultra rare California Pioneer Gold issues, such as the Cincinatti and Dubosg issues. The Dunbar $5 is just as rare but only has one denomination as opposed to the Cincinatti and Dubosq which each have both a $5 and a $10. The Dunbar $5 is one of the rarest of all Pioneer Gold coins. The last auction appearance I can find is the January, 1984 Stack's Amon Carter, Jr. sale where an EF brought $60,500.

I guess I have a personal interest because I once offered a Dunbar $5 for sale. In the mid-1970s, pioneer gold specialist Jack Klauson had given me one he had on consignment at $135,000. I took it to several shows and advertised it in Coin World. I even wrote a letter to Louis Eliasberg and offered him the coin. (He wrote a very nice reply graciously declining the coin as he said he wasn't adding rare territorial gold or other non-U.S. Mint issues to his collection/) So I didn't sell Jack Klauson's coin, but it was sure fun to have it in inventory for a few months.