The June 2012 Baltimore Auction

Auction # 137 | View Auction Schedule and Details

Pre-Bidding Ends: 6/28/2012 2:00:00 PM PST
Live Floor and Internet Bidding Begins: 6/28/2012 3:00:00 PM PST

Lot #2513. 1835 Capped Bust Dime. JR-4. Proof-65 Cameo (PCGS). Secure Holder.

Splendid Gem Cameo Proof-65 1835 Capped Bust Dime

Description:

Formidable in rarity and quality and one of just a few Proof dimes that have earned the Cameo designation from this early period. Handsome silver-steel surfaces that exude quality and appeal, first for their highly reflective mirror fields which offset the frosted devices and also for the depth of the strike. Free of impairments and handling issues, a remarkable fact for a coin of this era, and a testament to careful preservation from the day it was coined down through the generations to today. The diagnostics for this die pairing include an interesting mix of date punch sizes used, with the 3 too large and a trifle low, mixed with a fancy 8 and a rather elegantly executed 5. On the reverse the shield border is uniform, unlike most if not all other die varieties where the shield is thicker on the left, thinner elsewhere to create an angular and dimensional depth to the design. For identification purposes, there is a minute pit in the field located above the left diagonal of the M in AMERICA and another located between the leftmost and lower pair of olive leaves. Boldly doubled dentils surround as the immense force of the strike pressed every molecule of moveable silver into the dies.

Numismatic Reflections by Q. David Bowers
Proofs of this era are the rarest of the rare. In 1835, three years before the Mint Cabinet was established, the number of Proof coins issued each year was very small. The earliest set that the Smithsonian Institution has descended from the Mint Cabinet, is 1821. From then through the next two decades distribution remained at a very low level, with the result that today for most silver Proofs not as many as a half dozen exist for any die variety. In the 1840s interest multiplied, and while Proofs continued to be issued in very small numbers, today they are more available than those from the 1820s and 1830s. It was not until 1858 that silver Proof sets were widely sold, and even then it is thought that only 210 sets were produced.
Regarding the present 1835 Proof dime, if this captures your fancy, it is probably the case that if your hand is not the last remaining in the air, or your finger the last on the “bid” button on the Internet, it may be a long time, perhaps years, until a similar opportunity occurs.