Beautifully Toned Ultra Gem 1855 Dime
Brief and Popular Arrows Design Type
1855 Liberty Seated Dime. Arrows. MS-68 (NGC).
Robust underlying luster supports pale peach at the obverse center that slowly gives way to bright electric-blue and gold. The reverse is medium silver gray, again with strong underlying luster, and with faint blue and gold highlights here and there. A sharply struck Ultra Gem with essentially every tiny die detail evident. Furthermore the surfaces border on immaculate, making for an exciting example of both the type and issue. One of the more popular type coins in the entire Liberty Seated dime series of 1837 to 1891, the 1855 is actually the scarcest Philadelphia Mint issue of the brief Arrows, Stars Obverse design type. As with the half dime, quarter and half dollar whose designs were also modified in similar fashion that year, the arrows were introduced to the obverse of the dime in 1853 to signify a weight reduction, in this case from 2.67 grams to 2.49 grams. The weight standard was changed through the Act of February 21, 1853, to discourage hoarding of silver coins in the Eastern states that followed within a couple of years of the discovery of gold in California and the onset of the Gold Rush. By reducing the coins' weight and making them subsidiary, the dime was once again worth more in face value than as bullion and was able to circulate freely. The Mint dropped the arrows in 1856, although the revised weight standard remained in effect until 1873. This is the finest circulation strike 1855 dime that we have ever had the privilege of bringing to auction. Tied for CC#1 for the issue with only one other grading event in NGC MS-68, this stunning Ultra Gem would serve as a highlight in a world class type set of classic U.S. Mint coinage.
PCGS# 4607. NGC ID: 239C.
NGC Census: 2; 0 finer. There are no examples certified finer than MS-67 at PCGS.
From our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the Craig M. Morgan, M.D. Collection, November 1998, lot 1392; our (Bowers and Merena's) Collections of Emil Voigt, Sr. & Dr. Wallace Lee sale, March 1999, lot 3023; our (American Numismatic Rarities') Allison Park Collection sale, August 2004, lot 301; our (American Numismatic Rarities') C.L. Lee Sale, September 2005, lot 248; our Spring 2023 Auction, March, lot 3100.