1860 $5 J-272, BN PR(PCGS#12078)

1860 $5 J-272, BN PR (PCGS#12078)

August 2011 Chicago ANA World's Fair of Money Auction

详细说明: 1860 Pattern Half Eagle. Judd-272, Pollock-320. Rarity-6-. Proof-64 BN (PCGS). CAC. A bust of Liberty faces right on the obverse with 13 stars around the border and the date 1860 below. Liberty is wearing a soft cap ornamented with three stars, and a ribbon inscribed LIBERTY crosses her right shoulder. The reverse design features a spread wing eagle clutching an olive branch in its right talon and a group of three arrows in its left talon. The eagle also clutches a scroll inscribed E PLURIBUS UNUM in its beak. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is above and the denomination FIVE DOLLARS is below. The letter V in FIVE is actually an upside down A. Struck in copper with a reeded edge, the planchet unusually large for a half eagle and similar in size to that used to produce regular issue ten-dollar gold eagles.<br />     Patterns of this type were created as an experiment to counter the contemporary practice of slicing gold coins in half edgewise, scooping out the gold in the center and replacing it with a lesser value metal. It was hoped that a thinner planchet would discourage this practice, if not make it impossible. Fully struck with original olive-brown surfaces, more direct angles call forth modest, yet appreciable reflective tendencies in the fields. Fully struck, overall smooth and suggestive of an even higher grade.