1851-O $1.00 NGC MS65 CAC

Old NGC "fatty" holder. Until a group of twenty or so Gem 1851-O gold dollars was found a few years ago, this issue was nearly unobtainable in Gem. The present example is clearly not from this source as it is in a holder that pre-dates the discovery of these coins and it has a different appearance as well. This coin is struck as sharply as one could hope for with all of the detail that you'd expect to see on a Philadelphia gold dollar of this era. It shows superb thick mint frost with appealing medium green-gold and rose color on the obverse; the reverse tends a bit more towards an orange-gold hue. There is an obverse die crack from the rim at about 9:00 to the eye of Liberty that should not be mistaken for a scratch; the reverse shows a few minor scuffs including one below the E in STATES. MS65 examples of this date have sold at auction from a low of around $6,500-7,000 (for pieces that were not choice) to a high of $11,000-12,000. At the current price level, I think a Gem New Orleans gold dollar is a tremendous value and this is the only 1851-O in MS65 to have currently received approval at CAC.