- PCGS #:
- 45435
- Designer:
- N/A
- Edge:
- N/A
- Diameter:
- N/A
- Weight:
- N/A
- Mintage:
- N/A
- Mint:
- Philadelphia
- Metal:
- Gold
- Auction Record:
- $305,500 • MS61 • 04-23-2014 • Heritage Auctions
Major Varieties
- 1849 G$1 Pacific Company
Condition Census What Is This?
|
#1 AU58 estimated grade
Ben Green Auction 8/1910 - Virgil Brand Collection (Brand Journal number 54157 - J.C. Morgenthau 10/1933:275, not sold - Brand Estate - Armin Brand - Jane Brand Allen - Bowers & Merena 6/1984:1545 - Jay Roe Collection - Bowers & Merena 7/2002:943 - Stuart Levine - Riverboat Collection - Heritage 4/2014:5432, $305,500 |
|
#2 AU details, mount removed
Discovered in New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 6/1999 - Bowers & Merena "Mory Collection" 6/2000:1041 - American Numismatic Rarities 8/2006:1128, $126,500
|
Only two examples are known in gold of the 1849 Pacific Company $1. The first example was discovered in 2000 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania by a treaure hunter using a metal detector. That example is circulated and has two large solder spots on the reverse where a mount had once been attached. The second example was an unusual discovery, because it had always been presented as a Gilt Silver piece (even by collectors Virgil Brand and Jay Roe) and was presented in a similar fashion in a 2002 Bowers & Merena sale. The buyer of the coin recognized it as made of gold, a fact confirmed by a later metallurgical analysis, the end result being a very substantial profit.
The first piece (ex mount) was analyzed and found to contain 72.2% gold, 16.8% silver, 11% copper. The second piece was analyzed and found to contain 64.5% gold, 16.1% silver, 8.9% copper, 5.3% silicon, 4.0% aluminum, and 1.1% iron. The difference in the purity of the gold can be attributed to variations in the quality of the native ore out of which these coins were made.
Sources and/or recommended reading: American Numismatic Rarities 8/2006 sale of the Old West & Franklinton Collections, lot 1128