1839 Liberty Seated Half Dollar. No Drapery. WB-2. Rarity-3. MS-62 (PCGS).

This 1839 is brilliant apart from delicate silver and champagne-gold iridescence that is not readily evident at all viewing angles. Solidly in the Mint State category, the level of preservation is noteworthy for an example of this challenging one year design type in the Liberty Seated half dollar series. Mint luster is full with a softly frosted texture that provides subtle cartwheel visual effects. The strike is bold to sharp throughout and superior to that seen in the plate coin for the WB-2 variety in Bill Bugert's 2016 Register of Liberty Seated Half Dollar Varieties, Volume V. Among the finer certified for the No Drapery design, here is a significant offering for high grade type collectors. Gobrecht's Liberty Seated design came last to half dollars, three years after its introduction to dollars, two years after it first appeared on dimes and half dimes, and a year after it was first seen on quarter dollars. Half dollars since 1836 had displayed a Gobrecht reworking of the old design by John Reich, with a capped bust of Liberty on the obverse and eagle on the reverse. The reverse design was retained with slight modifications; in 1842, the size of the legend on the reverse increased notably, 1853 saw the brief use of a glory of rays around the eagle, and in the 1866 the motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added. Of vital importance to type collectors, the No Drapery obverse design was used exclusively in 1839, and for only a portion of that year. Breen once called any Mint State example "prohibitively rare," and such pieces continue to enjoy strong demand in the modern numismatic market.

PCGS# 6230. NGC ID: 24GK.

From the Arlington Collection.

Estimate: $12000