1873 50C Arrows, DCAM PR(PCGS#96434)

August 2020 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

1204

等级

PR67DCAM

价格

250,094

详细说明

The Finest Known Proof 1873 Arrows Half Dollar 1873 Liberty Seated Half Dollar. Arrows. Proof-67 Ultra Cameo (NGC). Dense snow-white luster blankets the devices and remains fully untouched beneath inspection. The sharp strike is emphasized by bottomless and deeply mirrored fields on both sides. Overall brilliant and untoned, with faint bronze iridescence at the borders. The sole finest known for the issue, it sits alone at the top of the NGC Census across all categories. PCGS has not certified any example above Proof-66 in any category. The omnibus Act of February 12, 1873, among many other things, mandated a slight weight increase for the half dollar from 12.44 grams to 12.50 grams. Historians have mistakenly called this legislation the "Crime of 1873," although as John Sherman and John J. Knox have explained in detail in their reminiscences, this particular piece of legislation was one of the most carefully studied in American coinage history. It was only later, as the price of silver fell, that it was retroactively criticized, various legislators said they did not have the opportunity to review it, and so on. Still this nickname remains and is commonly seen, even in modern numismatic publications. Returning to the 1873 half dollar, as in 1853 to 1855, the Mint felt that an identifying feature was required to distinguish those pieces produced to the new weight standard from their predecessors. Arrows flanking the date were again used for this purpose, but only for two years -- 1873 and 1874 -- and no attempt was made to modify the reverse design as had been done in 1853. The Arrows, Motto half dollar type resulted in just two Proof issues and, with a slightly lower mintage of 500 coins as opposed to 700 pieces, the 1873 Arrows is scarcer in today's market than the 1874. The type as a whole is challenging, as well, and the vast majority of survivors grade no finer than Proof-64. Provenance: Ex Heritage's sale of August 2011, lot 7187; Heritage's January 2013 sale of the Greensboro Collection, Part II, lot 5688.; NGC Census: 1; none finer in any category. PCGS# 96434. NGC ID: 27UU. Click here for certification details from NGC.