1866-S 50C No Motto MS(PCGS#6315)
1866-S 50C No Motto MS (PCGS#6315)
November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins
- 拍卖行
- Stack's Bowers
- 批号
- 8239
- 等级
- AU58
- 价格
- 68,260
- 详细说明
- Late Die State. A lustrous, softly frosted near-Mint survivor dusted with pale gold and antique olive patina. Smooth in hand with the obverse well struck around most of the periphery, the reverse is more sharply struck overall. The 1866-S is a popular and avidly collected transitional issue in the Liberty Seated half dollar series. The first 60,000 half dollars struck in the San Francisco Mint in 1865 were of the No Motto type (as here), a design rendered obsolete that year through federal mandate that all coins of sufficient size had to display the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. The newly prepared dies were late in arriving on the West Coast, however, hence the 1866-S No Motto delivery. When the Motto dies did arrive in May, the San Francisco Mint struck an additional 994,000 half dollars bearing the 1866 date. As the wide discrepancy in the number of coins produced suggests, the 1866-S Motto is far more plentiful than its No Motto counterpart in an absolute sense. The former, however, is scarce and underrated in the finest circulated and Mint State grades. As with all early San Francisco Mint silver issues, the 1866-S Motto half dollar suffered a high rate of attrition through commercial use. With the typical example in numismatic hands heavily worn, if not also impaired, this attractive Choice AU is sure to see spirited bidding among astute Liberty Seated half dollar collectors.