United States 1849-D 5 dollars
This specimen was lot 765 in Künker sale 400 (Berlin, February 2024), where it sold for €4,600 (about US$5,968 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"VEREINIGTE STAATEN VON AMERIKA / USA, 5 Dollars 1849, D, Dahlonega. Liberty. 7,52 g Feingold. In US-Plastikholder der NGC mit der Bewertung AU 55 (6515836-006). GOLD. R Sehr schön-vorzüglich. (United States of America, five dollars of 1849, Dahlonega mint, liberty head. Graded NGC AU55, Rare, very fine to extremely fine.)"
The Dahlonega mint in Georgia was opened in February 1838 to process the gold mined in the Georgia gold rush. A similar branch mint was opened in Charlotte, North Carolina. It eventually minted one, 2½, three and five dollar gold pieces until 1861, when the facility fell into the hands of the Confederacy. The mint was never reopened after the Civil War, little gold remaining in the area, and the building became the site of North Georgia College, which still holds the property today. The coins minted there went straight into circulation and few survive today in nice condition.
Recorded mintage: 39,036.
Specification: 21.6 mm diameter, 8.359 g, 0.900 fine gold, .2418 troy oz AGW, reeded edge.
Catalog reference: KM 69, Fr-140.
- Alexander, David T., Coin World Comprehensive Catalog & Encyclopedia of United States Coins, Sidney, OH: Amos Press, 1995.
- Breen, Walter H., Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U. S. and Colonial Coins, New York: Doubleday, 1987.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Yeoman, R. S., and Kenneth Bressett (ed.), A Guide Book of United States Coins, 65th Ed., Atlanta, GA: Whitman Publishing, 2011.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 400: Selected löser of the Dukes of Guelph from the Friedrich Popken Collection | Numismatic treasures from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. "multiple portraits" from a Westphalian private collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
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