1849 3C J-112 Original PR(PCGS#11490)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

3449

等级

PR63

价格

85,689

详细说明

19.0 grains. <strong>Obv:</strong> The same design that the Mint used to strike regular issue 1849 Liberty Seated half dimes. <strong>Rev:</strong> The denomination expressed as a Roman numeral III set within a plain field, with denticulation at the border. Earlier auction appearances for this specimen show it with richly original toning that David W. Akers (1997) described as, "Attractive, medium multicolored toning with iridescent sunset shades of reddish-gold, green and violet." It has since been dipped, however, and now presents as essentially untoned with just a hint of pale champagne-gold iridescence at the peripheries. Sharply struck, although some of the finer detail is a bit obscured by a series of die file marks (as made) on Liberty's portrait and the Roman numeral III, which also extend into some field areas on the reverse.<p>Per the <em>uspatterns.com</em> website, "This simple design was created using the obverse of the half dime combined with a simple reverse designed by William DuBois as an answer to a request by the Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, Sam Vinton in January 1849 for the creation of a 3 cent piece." The type is mentioned in a letter from W.E. DuBois to Matthew Stickney, dated February 2, 1849, which is now in the Peabody Essex Museum:<p><em>I send a sample of a three cent piece, half silver and half copper; I do not believe it will be adopted, but if it is the dies will be different. There was another alloy of 60 percent silver, with III on the reverse; I could not spare you both as only 12 or 15 of each were struck.</em><p>The alloy of 60% silver, 40% copper that DuBois refers to is now regarded as the historical composition for original strikings from these dies. Writing in the 2024 reference <em>Comprehensive Catalogue of 3-cent Patterns</em>, Michael Bourne states that the average composition of pieces that have actually undergone metallurgical analysis is 70% silver, 30% copper. The author accounts for only 10 or 11 specimens, although the <em>uspatterns.com</em> website traces 13 individual examples. Both totals include originals as well as restrikes. This is obviously a rare Judd number, and it is represented here by a noteworthy specimen with an impressive numismatic provenance.