1849-O Liberty Seated Half Dime. MS-66 (NGC).

Stark white and fully lustrous with an intense frosty finish to the surfaces. This can be a challenging issue to find well struck, and we have seen others with similar areas of softness as seen here. The overall design is fully appreciable, of course, and traces of die rust throughout the obverse add further appeal. Usual light reverse die cracks from the rim at the letters T(ED) and M(ERICA) to the wreath below, and a heavy die line (this appears to be die damage) that is perfectly straight from the rim, grazing the right serif of the digit 1 in the date to the rocky base above, putting the left side of the die at a different level. For identification purposes there is a tiny scuff in the left obverse field. The 1849-O half dime was minted in limited numbers, 140,000 to be precise, which given mintages of more 1 million for other early dates in this series, and 13 million for the 1853 Arrows issue, provides a little perspective to the relative rarity here. Perhaps 35-45 exist in Mint State today, and this is one of the three finest certified between both major grading services. A fleeting offering for the advanced collector of Liberty Seated and/or early New Orleans Mint coinage.

PCGS# 4344. NGC ID: 233E.