VERY RARE NEAR-GEM 1885 QUARTER EAGLE

In terms of overall rarity, this date narrowly trails the low mintage 1875 and 1881 (with only 400 and 640 produced, respectively) as the single rarest post-Civil War quarter eagle. Only 800 were made for circulation and there are an estimated 100 or so known; this includes a number of no-grades. This date saw minimal circulation and it is essentially unknown below AU50. It is—conversely—a difficult coin to locate in strict MS grades; many of the 1885 quarter eagles I’ve seen in MS61 and MS62 holders are badly hairlined and the surfaces have been manipulated. I am aware of around a half dozen that I feel are properly graded MS63 to MS64 as well as one or two Gems.

This coin is deeply prooflike and it exhibits splendid deep rose and green-gold color which is as natural as you will find on this date. Due to the presence of a few wispy hairlines on the obverse, I disagree with the assigned grade and I feel that this is more accurately an MS64+, I tried to cross this coin twice at PCGS; once as an MS65 and the second time as an MS64+ but, as you can see, I wasn’t successful. I don’t have the cojones to crack this out and send it raw to PCGS, but if you are a high-flyer, I think you’ll be rewarded with the coin grading MS64+PL.

When I bought this coin, I had visions of it crossing to PCGS and even stickering at CAC. And if and when this had occurred, I was going to get jiggy with the price and likely would have asked close to double what I am offering it for here. This is a very hard coin to price as the last NGC MS65 sold back in 2011. In their 12/2014 sale, Legend Auctions sold a PCGS/CAC 1885 in MS64 for an auction record of $20,563. While stickered by CAC, I thought the coin was too busy for the grade and when I viewed the coin in person I noted in my catalog that the color appeared enhanced to my eyes. If I were to price a nice PCGS/CAC MS65 example (as I had hoped this one would become…) I would likely ask in the low-to-mid $40s.

If you specialize in this long and utterly fascinating series, you likely are either missing this date or you have an MS61 that you are itching to improve upon. Here is the chance to add this neat, fresh-to-the-market example.

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