1872-S Liberty Seated Half Dollar. WB-3. Rarity-3+. Medium-Small S. MS-66 (NGC). CMQ.

Charming surfaces are dusted with pinkish-silver and a few blushes of pale olive-russet iridescence. Both sides are highly lustrous and satiny, the overall appearance exceptionally smooth for an issue that is elusive even in lower Uncirculated grades. The strike is fully executed with all features crisp. The San Francisco Mint struck 580,000 half dollars in 1872, and most entered domestic circulation. What few Mint State coins have survived did so largely by chance as there was essentially no interest in mintmarked coinage at the time. Four confirmed die marriages were used for this issue, the WB-3 Medium-Small S similar in overall scarcity to the other three varieties per the rarity ratings provided in Bill Bugert's Register of Liberty Seated Half Dollar Varieties: Volume I, San Francisco Branch Mint (2009). This is one of the finest certified survivors of the issue in its entirety, tied for CC#2 behind the Eliasberg specimen in PCGS MS-66+. The Gardner provenance (not listed on the NGC holder) adds additional appeal and will further propel this beautiful and rare premium Gem into one of the finest Liberty Seated half dollar collections.

PCGS# 6335. NGC ID: 24K9.

NGC Census: 3; 0 finer. The corresponding PCGS Population is 0/1 (MS-66+).

From the Arlington Collection. Earlier ex Heritage's Internet Auction of April 2002, lot 15222; Eugene H. Gardner; Heritage's sale of the Eugene H. Gardner Collection, Part IV, October 2015, lot 98690; Heritage's Signature Auction of October 2016, lot 3143.

Estimate: $13000