1877 $3 PR65 Certification #-9857, PCGS #8041

Estimated grade.

David Akers (1975/88)

Like the 1872 and 1879, and to a lessor extent the 1874, many specimens of this rare date have been incorrectly catalogued as proofs when they were in fact, proof-like business strikes.

(PCGS CoinFacts editors note: David Akers wrote this in 1976, well before third party grading and authentication made the proof/unc question less of a problem. His monumental books on gold coins used large auction catalog surveys as a starting point for rarity and condition analysis. The problem with miscataloging was obviously something he had to address.)

With a proof mintage of only 20 pieces, the total of 27 appearances in "proof" in our 238 catalogue auction survey is clearly out of line, and a careful check of many of the catalogues in which these so-called "proofs" appear proves that the coins were actually business strikes rather than proofs. Proofs are readily distinguishable from business strikes by the location of the date. The date on the proofs is low in the field with the first 7 being just above the bow. On the business strikes, the date is higher in the field and is nearly centered between the bow and the word DOLLARS. On some proofs, there is also a raised dot (a rust spot) on the lower right side of the curl of hair just below Liberty's ear. This same rust spot also appears on all proofs of 1878 and 1879, as well as on all the proofs of 1880 that I have seen, indicating that this obverse die saw considerable service.