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13 bid online atwww.goldbergcoins.com (800) 978-COIN (2646) |
Session One - Sunday, June 1, 2014 10:00 AM
EXTREMELY RARE BRASHER & BURGER REGULATED 1774 BRAZIL 6400 REIS GOLD "JOE"
Enlargement
7 1774-R Brazil Rio Mint Gold 6400 Reis Regulated by Brasher & Burger. NGC graded EF-45. Very attractive bright yellow gold with
generous traces of frosty mint luster remaining in the protected areas. The only "defect" is the obvious filing on the edge at the bottom of the
obverse where the weight was adjusted to its present 13.972 grams. The required adjustments to regulate these coins could be in the form of
a plug added to the coin or filing/clipping on the edge to remove metal. The adjustment to this coin required the removal of metal, and this
was accomplished by filing on the edge at the bottom of the obverse. As a result the lower half of the date is gone but enough remains to
easily read it. This piece received two stamps intended to certify it's weight and fineness. The larger and more strongly impressed of the two
is an oval on the eye of King Joseph I (Josephus I of Portugal as Brazil was a Portuguese colony until 1822, and the king's name led these to
be commonly called a "Joe" or "Half Joe"). That incuse oval contains a raised "JB" in ornate script. This stamp is for New York goldsmith John
Burger, a well-respected coin regulator who worked out of an office at 207 Queen Street in New York City. His stamp almost certainly was the
first of the two stamps since he regulated gold in New York from approximately 1784 to 1790. The smaller stamp is positioned on the throat.
It is an incuse oval with raised "EB" for Ephraim Brasher (1744-1810), the famous goldsmith and silversmith from New York. He was a neigh-
bor and friend of George Washington and was commissioned in 1792 by the federal government through Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of
the Treasury, to perform assay services for the government and to "regulate" foreign gold and silver coins for use in American commerce (the
US Mint did not strike silver coins until 1794 and gold coins until 1795). Records indicate Brasher did not get paid for this service until 1796,
and the amount he received was $27. This coin was adjusted and certified by Brasher to a value of $8 (by the standards of New York at that
time). Very few regulated gold coins have survived the melting pot, and this is an attractive example with two significant stamps. While it may
not be as valuable as the famous Brasher doubloons, it is extremely rare and historically significant. See page 63 in the "Redbook." The
weight, regulated value of $8, and both counterstamps are noted on the NGC label.
Estimated Value ................................................................................................................................................................... $40,000-UP
SUPERB 1776 C ONTINENTAL DOLLAR
8 1776 Continental Dollar in Pewter Newman 3-D Rarity-3. PCGS graded MS-64 PQ. The "CURRENCY, EG FECIT" type. Choice frosty
light silvery gray with satiny mint luster in the fields and protected areas. Sharply struck and nearly flawless offering exceptional eye appeal
for the grade, very close to gem. This example is nearly void of the "tin pest" spots that normally are found on pewter examples, the only
spots being confined to barely visible places on the rim. A speck of pest on the rim over the Y in CURRENCY is a good identifying mark for this
piece. Struck from a relatively early state of the dies. The die crack that extends through many of the links on the reverse is light. This is a
sharp, beautiful example of perhaps the most historically significant coin ever struck for the United States. It was the first coin authorized by
the newly formed Continental Congress in 1776, and the examples struck in silver are rightly considered to be the first real "dollar" coin struck
for America. Listed on page 85 in the "Redbook." A "PQ" example in every respect. Pop 12; 4 finer, 3 in 65, 1 in 66.
Estimated Value ..................................................................................................................................................................$125,000-UP