PCGS AU55 1854-D THREE DOLLARS

There were a lot of amazing auction prices achieved in 2022. With so many seven figures US issues hogging the headlines, it’s no wonder that most collectors missed what I feel was one of the biggest sales of that year: the Sykes-Pogue-Great Lakes PCGS/CAC MS62 1854-D three dollar gold piece that brought a record-smashing $528,000. Just six years earlier, the exact same coin had sold at auction for $188,000. I, for one, was not expecting an 1854-D $3.00 to be the very first Dahlonega coin to cross the $500,000 threshold.

They say that a rising tide lifts all boats, and in the case of rare and numismatically significant issues such as the 1854-D three dollar, the $528,000 sale recorded by the finest known—as well as a pair of PCGS/CAC AU58s each bringing $198,000 (one in 1/2023; the other in 8/2022)—has in theory made AU55 examples more valuable.

From around 2005 up through 2021, the value of PCGS AU55 1854-D threes was always in the $40,000-50,000 range. 40K bought you a junker, while 50k bought you a nice coin. I must have handled close to two dozen AU coins during this decade and a half, and while I thought nice examples of this issue were underpriced, I frankly didn’t expect them to go up 50% literally overnight.

It seems that the Era of the Nice $50,000 AU55 1854-D is ended; probably for good. I’m getting used to these coins being worth close to $100,000, and while I don’t find them to be good value anymore, the new levels do make sense to me. After all, this is a one-year type with a mintage figure of just 1,120, with an estimated 125-150 known. This figure includes a number of truly ratty coins. “Ratty” applies even to coins graded as high an AU55.

This example is far from “ratty.” It has the luster and body that one expects to see on an 1854-D $3 graded AU55. The obverse shows light to medium green-gold color, while the reverse has splashes of light orange-gold over a greenish base. The strike is a little bit sharper than usual for the issue with almost completed denticulation on the reverse, but with the obverse—as on 95% of the known examples—displaying  little definition at the periphery. A few marks are in the fields on either side and these are consistent with the grade.

PCGS has graded 25 in AU55 with 16 finer. These numbers are almost certainly inflated by resubmissions. The PCGS Price Guide is an enthusiastic $125,000 in AU55, while CDN Greysheet is somewhat low at $76,000.

This exact coin is the most recent auction trade for an 1854-D in PCGS AU55. In their 2023 ANA auction, Stack's Bowers sold a PCGS/CAC AU55 for $96,000.

From the Star City Collection, and earlier Lot 197 in the Legend 5/2022 sale where it was purchased for $79,313.

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