1858
Gold Dollar - The 1858 Gold Dollar is rarer than the
two Philadelphia issues than preceded it. Mint State coins
are scarce. NGC has certified 6 coins of this date in MS65
or better, and PCGS has certified 13. A variety of this
date shows the lower loop of the second 8 to be double punched.
In 1858 the first transatlantic cable was
laid. It was a telegraph cable under the Atlantic Ocean
from Eastern Newfoundland to Western Ireland. The project
had begun in 1857 and was completed in 1858.
It only functioned for three weeks, but
it was the first such project to achieve its goal. The first
telegram was a letter of congratulations from Queen Victoria
to President James Buchanan on August 16th. The next successful
connection was made in 1866.
