Lot 312
1848 $2.50 Liberty. "CAL." Above Eagle. PCGS graded AU-55. Many consider the 1848 CAL. to be America's first commemorative coin to observe the arrival of the first California gold shipment to the U.S. Mint. A hand punch was employed as an expedient measure to stamp the reverse of 1,389 quarter eagles to mark the occasion. Since it was a hand operation rather than an addition to a working die, there are slight variations in positioning of the punch.As a member of the long-running Liberty Head series, the 1848 CAL. quarter eagles join such other rarities as: the 1841 quarter eagle, a proof-only production; the incredibly rare 1854-S (see lot 345), the equally historic first issue from the San Francisco Mint; the 1863, another proof-only date; the low-mintage 1875, produced to the extent of only 400 coins; and many other low-mintage issues of lesser notoriety, as well as numerous varieties and branch-mint oddities.
Historical Notes:
Shortly after the discovery of gold in California, some 228 ounces of Gold Rush bullion was sent by California's military governor, Colonel R.B. Mason, to Secretary of War William Learned Marcy. This was the first shipment east from the west coast's rich deposits. Marcy in turn sent the gold ore to Mint Director Robert Maskell Patterson at the Philadelphia Mint, where it was received on December 8 and was assayed at an average .894 fine. Marcy urged that, "As many may desire to procure specimens of coin made of the California gold, by exchanging other coin for it, I would suggest that it be made into quarter eagles with a distinguishing mark on each…" After enough gold had been taken from the shipment to strike Congressionally-authorized medals for Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, the remainder was converted into quarter eagles, and as Marcy had suggested one distinguishing feature was added to each coin: the abbreviation "CAL." was impressed into the reverse above the eagle. (PCGS Pop. 6 in AU-55, only 28 graded higher and a total of 64 in all grades, 9/26/11). Ex-William R. Sieck.
Estimate $30,000 - 40,000.
Realized: $55,000