1806 50C Knob 6, No Stem MS(PCGS#6072)

November 2019 Baltimore U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

7076

等级

VF35

价格

590,833

详细说明

Exceedingly Rare 1806 O-108 Half Dollar Knobbed 6, Stem Not Through Claw PCGS VF-35; CC#2 1806 Draped Bust Half Dollar. O-108, T-2. Rarity-7. Knobbed 6, Stem Not Through Claw. VF-35 (PCGS). OGH. This is a significant and well known example of one of the rarest varieties in the United States Mint's early half dollar series of 1794 to 1807. Predominantly silver gray surfaces are enhanced by blushes of warm olive-russet patina around the borders. The strike is blunt over the end of Liberty's bust and in the opposing area on the reverse, the clouds and stars beneath the letter O in OF on the latter side nearly to fully absent. Otherwise we note only moderate wear commensurate with the assigned grade, both sides retaining uniformly denticulated borders and bold outline detail to all but the aforementioned design elements. A touch of glossiness to the texture is mentioned for accuracy, but there are no marks of consequence and the in hand appearance is quite smooth at the VF level. The most useful provenance markers are a pair of tiny carbon spots at the back of Liberty's head. Tompkins Die Stage 2/2. A legendary rarity among Draped Bust half dollar varieties, the 1806 O-108 is easily attributable as the only die marriage of the date that combines a Knobbed 6 obverse with a reverse die on which the stem of the branch does not extend through the eagle's claw. As such, it is the only die variety associated with the 1806 Knobbed 6, Stem Not Through Claw Guide Bookvariety of this issue. The branch stem was not part of the master die but, rather, was entered by hand into each working die, although it was forgotten here by the engraver. Only one other reverse die of this issue is found with this feature, that of the plentiful O-109 variety, which is paired with a Pointed 6 obverse die. Steve M. Tompkins (2015) lists O-108 as the second die pairing produced for the 1806-dated half dollar issue, the early formation of a cud outside the letters UNITE in UNITED leading to the retirement of this reverse die presumably after only a few coins were struck. Among the confirmed survivors -- and there are just seven -- only one displays the full cud (Tompkins Reverse Die Stage 5), while another exhibits a shifted retained cud (Tompkins Die Stage 4). The obverse die remained in use after the O-108 pairing and went on to strike the 1806 O-107 and O-106 varieties (in that order, per Tompkins). The seven confirmed examples of the 1806 O-108 variety are as follows, expanded from the listing in Steve M. Tompkins' 2015 reference Early United States Half Dollars, Volume I: 1794-1807: 1 - PCGS EF-40.Ex private collector, bought in El Paso Texas, 1979; sold privately in 2002; our (Bowers and Merena's) Baltimore ANA Auction of July-August 2003, lot 1395; our (Stack's) Orlando Sale of January 2009, lot 416; D. Brent Pogue; our (in conjunction with Sotheby's) sale of the D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part I, May 2015, lot 1112; Dr. Charles Link Collection. The plate coin for the variety in the Tompkins early half dollar reference. 2 - PCGS VF-35.Ex Brian Greer, January 1995; Sheridan Downey, 1995; Dr. Gerald Schertz; Sheridan Downey's Mail Bid Sale #22, October 1998, lot 267; Sheridan Downey's Fixed Price List of July 1999; E. Horatio Morgan Collection. The present example. 3 - PCGS VF Details--Cleaned.Ex Charles R. Ross, 1965 to 1966; Paul Munson, 1966 to 1989; Superior's sale of the Paul Munson Collection of Bust Half Dollars, Jascha Heifetz Collection sale, October 1989, lot 462; Larry Briggs; private collector; Heritage's sale of the Loma Linda Collection, January 2018 FUN Signature Auction, lot 4858. The plate coin for the variety in the fifth edition of the Overton/Parsley early half dollar reference. 4 - PCGS Fine-15.Ex Philip Straus, before 1951 to 1959; our (Stack's) sale of the Philip G. Straus Collection, May 1959, lot 1866; private collection(s), 1959 to 1970; New Netherland's 61st Public Auction Sale, June 1970, lot 369; Al Overton, 1970 to 1972; Donald L. Parsley, 1972 to 1993; Sheridan Downey's Mail Bid Sale #9, July 1993, lot 97; Overton Collection. The discovery coin for the variety. 5 - PCGS Fine-12.Ex Pennsylvania collection, since the early 1950s; Rich Uhrich, 2013; Chris Merrill; Heritage's sale of the Merrill Collection, February 2018 Long Beach Signature Auction, lot 3865. Possibly the same as the example seen at a coin show in Pennsylvania, 1984, and examined again in 1997. 6 - VG-10.Ex Harry Bernstein, mid 1970s to 1979; Jeff Friedman, 1979 to 1985; Dr. Gerald Schertz, 1985 to 1996; Sheridan Downey, 1996; Charlton Meyer, 1996 to 2008; Harry Laibstain, 2008; unknown collector(s), 2008 to 2011; Rare Coin Wholesalers, 2011; Dr. Charles Link Collection. 7 - PCGS VG-8.Ex discovered in Hawaii, 1976; Donald Frederick, 1977 to 2008; Heritage's sale of the Bayside New York Collection, July-August 2008 ANA Signature Auction, lot 439; Harry Laibstain; David J. Cinquina; Sheridan Downey's Mail Bid Auction #45, August 2017, lot 50. Provenance: From the E. Horatio Morgan Collection. Ex Brian Greer, January 1995; Sheridan Downey, 1995; Dr. Gerald Schertz; Sheridan Downey's Mail Bid Sale #22, October 1998, lot 267; Sheridan Downey's Fixed Price List of July 1999. PCGS# 39309. Click here for certification details from PCGS.