The finest-known 1885 U.S. Trade Dollar that recently sold for a record $3.96 million has been crossed over and now is in a Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) holder.
Within a few hours after placing the winning bid during the Heritage Auctions Platinum Night auction at the Florida United Numismatists (FUN) convention in Orlando on January 10, 2019, collector Dell Loy Hansen of Utah submitted the historic coin to PCGS for crossover service. It is now encapsulated as PCGS PR65+ CAM.
Editors Note – When the coins was sold in the Heritage Sale it was in the older NGC holder (non edge view) with a grade of PR-66 and did not have the Camo designation
In 2017, Hansen became a partner in David Lawrence Rare Coins of Virginia Beach, Virginia. The company’s President, John Brush, issued this statement about the 1885 Trade Dollar from Hansen’s collection crossing over to PCGS:
“The objective of the D.L. Hansen collection is to build the most complete collection of the highest quality of US coins from 1792 to the present. As some have called it, the Greatest Collection of All-Time, we simply refer to it as the ‘Eliasberg Quest’ and it has certainly been the most exciting thing that I have participated in numismatically.
“The addition of the 1885 Proof Trade Dollar was an incredible experience as it adds another great rarity to the already amazing collection. As the coins are all registered in the PCGS Set Registry, the decision to cross the coin to PCGS was one that Mr. Hansen wanted to make for uniformity, so that it would solidify another fantastic addition to the already historic collection.”
“What a fantastic honor to have this coin come through our grading room at my first show as PCGS President! It’s a true honor to have our Set Registry program host Mr. Hansen’s ‘Eliasberg Quest,’ and we look forward to seeing what he acquires next,” stated PCGS President Brett Charville.
With a grade point average of 68.736, the D.L. Hansen Trade Dollar Proof Set is now 100 percent complete and ranked as the number one proof Trade Dollar collection, 1873 to 1885. The listing for the entire set can be viewed in the newly redesigned PCGS Set Registry® here.
Only five 1885 Trade Dollars are known, and no examples are in the holdings of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution, the American Numismatic Association or American Numismatic Society. This particular coin was once in the legendary collection of Baltimore financier Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr., who was known as The King of Coins.
Professional Coin Grading Service was established in 1986 and now authenticates, grades and certifies coins from over 100 countries. In addition to its international headquarters in Santa Ana, California, PCGS has submission centers in Europe (www.PCGSEurope.com), Hong Kong and mainland China (www.PCGSAsia.com). The popular PCGS Set Registry® now contains more than 95,000 U.S. and world coin sets.
For additional information about PCGS and its services, visit www.PCGS.com or call PCGS Customer Service at (800) 447-8848.
