1875 $3, CAM PR(PCGS#88039)

Spring 2026 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

3099

Grade

PR64CAM

Price

264,000

Lot Description

Offered is one of the most famous and desirable examples of this legendary Proof-only three-dollar gold issue. This lovely Choice Proof 1875 is beautiful deep yellow-gold with heavily frosted motifs and deeply reflective fields resulting in spectacular cameo contrast. The strike is razor sharp to full throughout. Hints of faint frost mingle within the obverse field, especially in front of Liberty's profile, a feature noted in other examples of this rare issue that we have been honored to bring to auction through the years (including, most recently, the Pogue III specimen in PCGS Proof-65+ Deep Cameo and the Floyd T. Starr coin in PCGS/CAC/CMQ Proof-64 Cameo). Marks and blemishes are few and far between on this carefully preserved, nicely composed example.<p>Struck only in Proof format, the 1875 is the most important and rarest date in the three-dollar gold series after the unique 1870-S. In fact, a Proof 1875 $3 was the first American coin to sell for a sum in excess of $100,000 at auction. Though Mint records indicate 20 examples of this rare prize were struck, those 20 pieces represent the coins delivered on February 13 and sold in gold and complete Proof sets. A few others were made, either in 1875 or later, and, indeed, Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth estimate that 20 to 30 exist today. In the fifth edition (2019) of the influential reference <em>100 Greatest U.S. Coins</em>, in which the Proof 1875 $3 is ranked No. 57, the authors commented:<p><em>In the field of United States gold coinage, the year 1875 has a magical allure. Indeed, the 1875 gold dollar, quarter eagle, three-dollar gold piece, half eagle and eagle are all formidable rarities. However, the 1875 three-dollar gold piece has been a long-time favorite among numismatists, given its tiny mintage and perennial fame.</em><p>Published a year earlier in his <em>United States Proof Coins</em> reference, the 2018 Dannreuther census traced 21 distinct specimens. Even more modern research by Saul Teichman, and published at the <em>Newman Numismatic Portal</em>, has positively confirmed 19 different Proof 1875 three-dollar gold pieces, including both the Mint Cabinet specimen at the Smithsonian Institution and the newly confirmed (as of August 2025) Floyd T. Starr specimen, ex Wetmore-Dunham. The coin offered here has long been familiar to numismatic scholars, its provenance including such other famous 20th century sales as William Cutler Atwater (B. Max Mehl, June 1946), Amon G. Carter, Jr. Family (Stack's, January 1984), and Buddy Ebsen (Superior, May-June 1987). Its reoffering in our current sale gives a new generation of collectors a fleeting opportunity to secure one of the most famous specimens of a legendary 19th century U.S. Mint Proof-only gold rarity.<p>This lot includes a hardbound edition of our (Stack's) catalog for the January 1984 Amon G. Carter, Jr. Family Collection sale, in which this Proof 1875 three-dollar gold piece is offered as lot 610.<p>(Total: 1 coin; 1 catalog)