1834 H10C PR(PCGS#4297)
1834 H10C PR (PCGS#4297)
December 2025 Showcase Auction - The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection Part I
- 拍卖行
- Stack's Bowers
- 批号
- 22046
- 等级
- PR64+
- 价格
- 237,360
- 详细说明
- An unmistakable Proof 1834 half dime offering richly toned near-Gem quality. Both sides are drenched in steely-charcoal patina through which underlying iridescence in lilac-blue and antique gold shines nicely as the coin rotates under a light. Direct viewing angles also reveal soft reflectivity in the fields that contrasts the frosty design elements. The strike is full for the obverse devices, reverse generally sharp but with minor softness to isolated high points of the eagle, both sides show minor softness within isolated portions of the border denticulation. There are few marks evident even under close scrutiny, leaving it to a couple of small lint marks (as made) at the back and above the top of Liberty's cap on the obverse to serve as useful identifiers for provenance purposes.<p>As with all early U.S. Mint Proof coins, the 1834 half dime is elusive in this format. All known specimens were struck from the LM-4 die marriage, later used to coin circulation strikes. The Proofs, as here, have the right diagonal of the letter M in AMERICA full, which was later mostly effaced through relapping of the die before the circulation strikes were produced. In the 1989 revision to the reference <em>Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of United States and Colonial Proof Coins</em>, the author states that at least 15 different examples of this issue are known. Current estimates are more liberal, with the online version of the <em>PCGS Population Report</em> accounting for 20 to 30 pieces extant. In either case, this issue is scarce and popular, given the fact that 1834 is the year that the Mint produced the fabled King of Siam Proof Set. Interestingly, the 1834 half dime in that set was added later since this denomination was missing when the set was discovered in 1962.