The 1877 three dollar gold piece is one of the rarest business-strike dates of the series, with a surviving population estimated at 70-110 examples in all grades. Probably fewer than a dozen specimens are extant in Mint State. The coin offered here is the single finest certified example at either of the leading grading services. Speaking of this coin in his three dollar gold reference, Q. David Bowers wrote:  "Harry W. Bass, Jr. owned a choice Mint State coin with what he described as a 'deep mirror prooflike' surface, certainly a candidate for the finest known."