J-1562 $1 1878 PCGS PR67RB

Want a wicked cool coin that is too cheap (in our opinion)? Here you go. We purchased this coin out of the recent Simpson sale. Here is the description as it reads in the auction catalog.

1878 $1 Judd-1562, Pollock-1753, High R.6, PR67 Red and Brown PCGS. CAC. Ex: Simpson. The obverse bears William Barber’s Liberty Head design. The reverse shows, inscribed with a laurel wreath, GOLOID / 1 GOLD. / 24 SILVER / .9 FINE / 258 GRS. ONE DOLLAR and the national identification are at the periphery. Struck in copper with a reeded edge.

The various metallic compositions that Dr. William Wheeler Hubbell patented as “goloid” in 1877 were so much wishful thinking, and they appear not have inspired much enthusiasm, either at the Mint (save for Mint Director Linderman, ever eager to strike off-metal designs for his own benefit) or Congress.

Although they had a predetermined fixed (melt) value of 24 parts of silver to one part of gold (the official federal ratio at the time), they all allowed for considerable deviance from those ratios (for example, the ratio of silver to gold could range for 20:1 to 30:1), and they all had to have a harder metal, copper, alloyed with the soft gold and metal elements (as today) to produce .900 fine (or “coin silver”) blanks of sufficient hardness and durability.

But beyond technical limits and qualifications, they had a more basic flaw: A small amount of gold, despite assurances that might be stamped on the coin, was undetectable from all-silver or silver-copper alloys, and thus subject to public mistrust and/or private counterfeiting.

This pristine Superb Gem proof displays attractive gold and amber dominating against red and light purple hues. The surfaces are sharply struck throughout and free of mentionable distractions. This is the sole finest certified at PCGS in any color designation (9/20).

Just think about what ANY PR67 Finest known dollar from 1878 would be worth. You can buy this coin for 1/3 less!