1857-O H10C MS(PCGS#4366)

August 2020 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

2558

等级

MS67

价格

58,355

详细说明

1857-O Liberty Seated Half Dime. V-3. MS-67 (PCGS). CAC. Breathtakingly beautiful surfaces exhibit iridescent reddish-apricot toning throughout the reverse that is confined to the periphery on the obverse. The center on the latter side is brilliant, and all areas are fully endowed with intense frosty mint luster. Sharply struck overall with smooth surfaces that border on pristine. With the Act of February 21, 1853, allowing silver coinage to circulate again after the upheaval of the early California Gold Rush era, the mints were kept busy churning out large numbers of Liberty Seated coins (except the dollar) throughout much of the mid to late 1850s to replace old tenor pieces that had been hoarded and melted early in that decade. The New Orleans Mint's contribution for the half dime denomination in 1857 amounted to a generous 1,380,000-piece mintage. While most of these coins began to circulate immediately, the astute reader will recall that the Civil War began only four years later. By the early summer of 1862 silver had once again disappeared from circulation in the East and Midwest amid the uncertainties over the outcome of the war. Many of these hoarded coins eventually found their way back into commercial channels after April 1876, when silver specie payments were resumed and such pieces could once again circulate. By that time, however, this denomination had became unpopular in the eastern United States, probably because a useful alternative in the nickel five-cent piece had existed since 1866. The result was that large quantities of previously hoarded half dimes accumulated in banks, after which they were sent to the Treasury to be melted. It is likely that many 1857-O half dimes were either lost through circulation prior to the Civil War, or were melted during or after that conflict. Somehow the present example survived this tumultuous era without seeing circulation, and it managed to do so while retaining nearly pristine surfaces that are virtually as struck. Possessing all the appeal a numismatist could hope to find in a high quality 1857-O half dime, we anticipate strong competition between bidders when this delightful Superb Gem crosses the auction block. The obverse die from which this coin was struck exhibits a closed 5 in the date with the 7 a tad lower than the other digits. Faint peripheral die cracks join most of the stars, essentially as described by Valentine for the V-3A die state. On the reverse, light die file marks are present at the denticles outside the letters NIT in UNITED. Provenance: From the Henry Collection of Liberty Seated Half Dimes. Earlier ex Joseph O'Connor, December 2003; Eugene H. Gardner; Heritage's sale of the Eugene H. Gardner Collection, Part III, May 2015, lot 98176; Legend's Regency Auction XXII, July 2017, lot 144; Legend's Regency Auction XXV, January 2018, lot 122. PCGS Population: 4; 2 finer (MS-68 finest). PCGS# 4366. NGC ID: 233T. Click here for certification details from PCGS.