United States Coin of the Week: 1833 Capped Bust Quarter

Article by John Salyer, Numismatist and Cataloger, U.S. Coins.  Based on the catalog description by Frank Van Valen, Numismatic and Cataloger, U.S. Coins.

One month from now Stack’s Bowers Galleries will present the official auction of the May 2013 ANA National Money Show in New Orleans. That event will be held May 9-10, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, located at 900 Convention Center Blvd. Anyone interested in further information may contact the Convention Center, at (504) 582-3000, or call us (Stack’s Bowers/ Spectrum) at (800) 458-4646.

Among the exciting numismatic rarities that we will offer in New Orleans is an 1833 Capped Bust Quarter, graded Proof-64 Cameo, by PCGS. Numismatist and cataloger Frank Van Valen has examined the coin in question and provides the following description:

This lustrous specimen is fully brilliant with frosted motifs and reflective fields, and aside for some scattered hay marks and a tick or two, the surfaces are immaculate. Just three examples of this formidable rarity have been certified by PCGS, including a Proof-64 non-cameo specimen and two Cameo Proofs -- the present coin and a Proof-65 Cameo specimen. (For comparison purposes we note that NGC has certified four Proofs of the date; the combined total for Proofs of the date between the two grading services is seven pieces, though we suspect there may a resubmission or two in the tally.) The PCGS website suggests that as few as three to five Proofs of the date can be accounted for today. As a rule, Proofs of the 1830s are great rarities regardless of denomination, and the present example is obviously no exception. The last Proof of the date we offered at public auction was back in 2005; that specimen was a Proof-65 Cameo coin certified by NGC -- the Pittman coin -- which brought $46,000 at our (Bowers and Merena) July 2005 Rarities Sale. At that time the cataloger gave a roster of four known examples of the date in Proof, a list that may have included some duplication. The present coin qualifies as a great rarity in the series within the Proof issues, and more than one specialist should be in line to bid for this classic quarter dollar issue.