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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;johnmilton, post: 3395590, member: 101855&quot;]Truly Mint State Classic Head gold is very scarce to rare. There were almost no collectors in The United States when these pieces were issued. Coin collecting got started in the U.S. when the large cent series ended in 1857. What few collectors there were would have thought twice about putting away two or three days&#039; wages in a gold coin. For the same money you could set aside a lot of half cents, cents, half dimes, dimes, and quarters.</p><p><br /></p><p>The few true Mint State pieces that survive were products of happenstance. For example I have a true Mint State 1838-D $5 gold that was part of a family heirloom collection that sat in a New Hampshire attic many years. According to the family, a relative came home to New England from the southern goldfields in the 1800s with a group of coins, and that was one of them. It&#039;s one of two pieces that PCGS has graded MS-63. Pogue had the other one, and there are none graded higher.</p><p><br /></p><p>Most of the high grade pieces that you see are graded MS-61 or 62 and are what most people would call &quot;sliders.&quot; If you are going to collect this series in Choice AU, you will usually have to buy MS-61 or 62 graded coins. If you want true Uncs. you will usually have to buy MS-64 graded coins. Those pieces are seldom available, and the prices are extremely high because those coins are true condition rarities.</p><p><br /></p><p>The 1838 quarter eagle that you identified as &quot;cleaned&quot; was in Hanson&#039;s collection. He sold it when he got a better one. I think that the 1838 in MS-63, CAC was lightly cleaned too. It comes with the territory when you collect these coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>The 1835 is a low end Mint State coin in my opinion. You have to remember than you at extreme blow-ups these coins and that my photography often makes marks look bigger than they are.</p><p><br /></p><p>For what it&#039;s worth my Classic Head Quarter Set is #2 on the PCGS registry behind Hanson&#039;s set. Harry Bass&#039; coins are better, but he had what was often the best there is.</p><p><br /></p><p>Collecting these coins is a lot different from collecting the St. Gaudens&#039; $20 gold pieces. The &quot;common dates&quot; are very scarce in the high grades, and the better dates are extremely rare or nonexistent.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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