Stack’s Bowers Galleries is pleased to offer a lovely 1875-S/CC trade dollar in our upcoming Rarities Night session of the Official Auction of the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Baltimore Expo. The platinum brilliance that emanates from this gorgeous overmintmark is dusted by the faintest iridescence in select areas. A silken, almost semi-reflective luster blankets the fields on both sides, displaying a soft but elaborate cartwheel at a tilt. The sharp and intricate motifs are richly frosted and even the most prominent elements are undisturbed. A thoroughly impressive near-Gem.
The 1875-S/CC trade dollar existed in anonymity for nearly a century before its discovery and it continues to be the only known overmintmark in the entire trade dollar series. An example offered in New Netherlands Coin Company’s sale of December 1963 may be the earliest public appearance on record. The circumstances surrounding the 1875-S/CC trade dollar are unarguably deliberate in that there are two distinct reverse dies that demonstrate the overpunching, creating a secondary variety within an already challenging subset. The reverse die of the FS-501 variety, as offered here, exhibits a prominently misplaced CC mintmark notably to the right of the S, while the reverse of the FS-502 variety has a much more centered and subtle underlying CC. Even as a combined population, examples of the variety are scarce overall, further dwindling as Mint State approaches. NGC has certified just four examples at the MS-64 level of preservation across both the FS-501 and FS-502 varieties and just two finer at MS-65, divided equally between each subset. With a similar representative population apparent at PCGS, the true significance of this captivating near-Gem offering cannot be overstated.
The Stack’s Bowers Galleries Official Auction of the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Expo will be held March 30 through April 1 in Baltimore, Maryland. The entire sale will be available prior to the sale at StacksBowers.com.
