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SERIES: Trade Dollars 1873-1885
LEVEL: Year, MintMark, & Major Variety

1885 T$1 Trade (Proof)


Ex Eliasberg Collection
PR65 PCGS estimated grade
Image courtesy of Stack’s/Bowers
PCGS #:
7065
Diameter:
38.10 millimeters
Designer:
William Barber
Weight:
27.20 grams
Edge:
Reeded
Mintage:
5
Metal Content:
90% Silver, 10% Copper
Auction Record:
$1,006,250 • NGC PR62 • 11-28-2004 • David Lawrence RC
60
1,450,000
60
61
1,750,000
05/03 ST $920,000
61
62
2,000,000
1
11/04 DL $1,006,250
62
63
-
63
63+
2,200,000
63+
65
3,750,000
65
Rarity and Survival Estimates (Explain)
Grades Survival
Estimate  		Numismatic
Rarity  		Relative Rarity
By Type  		Relative Rarity
By Series 
All Grades 3 R-9.8 1 / 13 1 / 13
60 or Better 3 R-9.8 1 / 13 1 / 13
65 or Better 0 R-10.1 1 / 13 1 / 13
Condition Census (Explain)
Pos Grade Thumbnail Pedigree and History
1 PR65 PCGS Estimated grade   Atwater-Eliasberg-Legend
2 PR63 Estimated grade   Adams
3 PR62 PCGS grade   Farouk-Norweb
4 PR61 PCGS grade   Granberg-Green-Carter-Worrell-Lipton-Hall/Simmons
5 PR60 estimated grade   Olsen-Young-French
Condition Census (Explain) Show fewer rows
Pos Grade Thumbnail Pedigree and History
1 PR65 PCGS Estimated grade   Atwater-Eliasberg-Legend
2 PR63 Estimated grade   Adams
3 PR62 PCGS grade   Farouk-Norweb
4 PR61 PCGS grade   Granberg-Green-Carter-Worrell-Lipton-Hall/Simmons
5 PR60 estimated grade   Olsen-Young-French
Ron Guth:
 
A complete roster of all five known examples (with assistance from P. Scott Rubin):

The Granberg Specimen
  • William Idler
  • John Hasletine
  • H.O. Granberg Collection
  • B. Max Mehl 7/1913:392, $1,140
  • Unknown intermediaries
  • Col. E.H.R. Green
  • B.G. Johnson
  • Jack Roe
  • B. Max Mehl 6/1945:628, $1,275
  • Jerome Kern Collection
  • B. Max Mehl 5/1950:897, $1,450
  • Amon Carter, Jr. Collection
  • Stack's 1/1984:441, $110,000
  • Kevin Lipton
  • Superior 8/1984:192, $90,750
  • Fred Fredericks
  • Hoffecker Collection
  • Superior 2/1987:1446B, $96,250
  • Euguene Worrell Collection
  • Superior 9/1993:1325, $242,000
  • Rudoplh Collection
  • Stack's 5/2003:2175, $920,000

Louis Eliasberg Specimen
  • Atwater Collection
  • B. Max Mehl 6/1946:378, $1,450
  • Louis Eliasberg Collection
  • Stack's/Bowers & Merena 4/1997:$907,500
  • Jay Parrino
  • Purchased in a private transaction in late 1999 for $1,500,000 by Legend Numismatics
  • Sold privately in January 2006 by Heritage Galleries for a reported $3.3 million

Adolphe Menjou Specimen
  • B.G. Johnson
  • R. Green
  • Clint Hester
  • B. Max Mehl's 6/1950:897, $1,350, billed as the Adolphe Menjou Collection, but really not
  • Ben Stack
  • W.G. Baldenhofer Collection
  • Stack's 11/1955:1040, $4,000
  • Private Collection
  • Julian Leidman/Mike Brownlee/Hugh Sconyers
  • Jim Halperin at New England Rare Coin Galleries c. 1974, $115,000
  • John Kamin
  • Private Collection

King Farouk Specimen
  • King Farouk Collection
  • Sotheby's 2/1954:1680, $1,665
  • Ambassador R. Henry and Mrs. Emery May Norweb
  • Bowers & Merena 3/1988:1848, $121,000
  • Dan Drykerman (American Coin Portfolios)
  • Private New York Collection
  • Sold privately by Bowers & Merena in 1992
  • New York Private Collection
  • Richmond Collection
  • David Lawrence 11/2004, $1,006,250

Fred Olsen Specimen
  • Fred Olsen Collection
  • B. Max Mehl's 11/1944:1767, $1,150
  • George Ewalt
  • Stack's 11/1965, $11,000
  • Leo Young
  • RARCOA's session of Auction'80:1626, $110,000
  • Julian Leidman c. 1980, $125,000
  • Mike Follett
  • Private Collection
  • RARCOA's session of Auction '84:1810, $96,250
  • John Rowe III
  • L.R. French Collection
  • Stack's 1/1989, $104,500
  • Charles Barasch (International Coins & Currency) c. 1992
  • Private Northeast Collection
P. Scott Rubin: The 1885 Trade Dollar is one of the rarest issues in all U.S. coinage. The total mintage is only five Proof examples. All five coins are known today, but the 1885 Trade Dollar was not known to exist until almost twenty-five years after its striking. To some, this gave the impression that these five coins were not made in the year of issue, but were made later for collectors as an additional year-ending design of the Trade Dollar series. Research by Carl Carlson in the papers of Charles Barber, the coins' designer, proved that both the 1884 and 1885 Trade Dollars were in fact produced in the years they were dated.

The first year that an example of the 1885 Trade Dollar appeared at auction was 1913, but it was not until 1954 that the last of these five coins appeared. During that time period, the coin never sold for more than $1,600. By the 1980’s, 1885 Trade Dollars were selling for six figures, and in its last public auction appearance in 2004, the same coin that was the last of the five to appear at auction (The King Farouk specimen) sold for over a million dollars. In 2006, Heritage Galleries sold the Atwater specimen in a private sale for a reported $3,300,000 and the 1885 Trade Dollar will surely bring more the next time one of these five coins becomes publicly available.

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