Variety 1.

The 1853-C is one of the harder Type One dollars from this mint to locate in Uncirculated. There are an estimated 15-20+ in Uncirculated but most are in MS60 to MS62. Properly graded MS63′s are very rare and I have personally seen only one finer, an NGC MS65 which I sold to a North Carolina collector in the early 1990′s.

This very choice example has a fresh appearance which is not the typical “look” for this issue. The obverse is extremely choice with rich natural yellow-gold color and 100% complete hair and star detail; the reverse is not quite as sharply detailed but it is wonderfully clean with no post-strike marks.

The most recent auction sale for a PCGS MS63 1853-C gold dollar with CAC approval is Heritage 8/11: 7406, which realized $13,800. Goldberg 6/14 was also graded MS63 by PCGS but did not have a CAC sticker; it realized $12,925. The present coin is, in my opinion, nicer than either of these.

This is an essentially unimprovable 1853-C gold dollar which should grace a world-class collection of Charlotte coinage.

CAC has approved three in this grade with none finer.