Awe-Inspiring 1795 Flowing Hair Half Dollar
PCGS MS-64 Tied for CC#1 for the O-119 Variety
1795 Flowing Hair Half Dollar. O-119, T-1. Rarity-3. Two Leaves. MS-64 (PCGS).
This is a breathtakingly beautiful example of our nation's first half dollar type that really needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. Highly lustrous, the surfaces exhibit a delightful softly frosted texture that is as bright and fresh as the day the coin emerged from the dies. Striking detail is just as outstanding as the luster quality, both sides exhibiting sharp to full definition to the focal features that even extends to the eagle's head and (much of the) breast on the reverse. The left and right borders are a bit soft with mushy to incomplete denticulation, a feature caused by concentrations of light adjustment marks (as made) along the right and lower left obverse borders. The borders are uniform around both sides, nonetheless, a testament to the strong, well centered impression that this coin received from the dies. Dusted with lovely champagne-apricot and pinkish-silver iridescence, the surfaces are exceptionally smooth for a product of the fledgling United States Mint and readily uphold the validity of the outstanding near-Gem grade from PCGS. Tompkins Die Stage 4/2. Overton-119 represents the only use of both the obverse and reverse dies in the Flowing Hair half dollar series. The obverse is readily identifiable by the presence of a small die lump above star 15. On the reverse, the berries are arranged in the wreath nine left, nine right with a leaf touching the left base of the letter I in UNITED - the only reverse of the issue with this feature. The same letter I is also repunched, as is the left base of the letter E in AMERICA, and there are prominent die lines from the tip of the eagle's left wing and the upper serif of the letter R in AMERICA. Tompkins 4/2, represented here, is the latest die state known, both sides with clash marks in the fields around the central devices. The obverse also exhibits a series of fine cracks: from the border through star 15 into the field toward Liberty's throat; from star 15 to the center of the digit 5 in the date; and from the border through the two lowest points of star 5. The reported mintage for half dollars during calendar year 1795 is 317,844 coins, all of which were delivered from February 4 to June 5 of that year in eight warrants. Since numismatic scholars believe that most (if not all) of the 18,164 examples delivered in Warrant No. 3 on February 4, 1795 were from 1794-dated dies, the mintage for the 1795-dated issue is usually given as 299,680 pieces in numismatic references. Steve M. Tompkins (2015) believes that O-119 was the first die marriage produced for the 1795 half dollar, "the reverse working die made from a Type II master hub/die, and most likely...a left over from 1794." If Tompkins' die emission sequence is correct, and despite its late die state, this marvelous near-Gem was among the earliest 1795-dated half dollars struck. It is easy to imagine that this coin was set aside at the time of issue either as an example of the first half dollar coinage of the date, or an example of the United States Mint's first half dollar design type. Perhaps it was obtained by a visitor to the early Mint, a prominent American or European with connections to government officials? We may never know, but what is obvious is that this coin has been preserved with great care since the time of striking. It now ranks as one of the finest known survivors from the 1795 O-119 dies, tied for CC#1 with the PCGS MS-64 that appeared as lot 228 in our (Stack's) Norweb Collection sale of November 2006. As one of the finest Flowing Hair half dollars extant of either date or any die pairing, as well, the significance of this coin for high grade type, date or variety purposes can hardly be overstated.
PCGS# 39236. BASE PCGS# 6052. NGC ID: 24E7.
PCGS Population (all die marriages of the issue): 5; 4 finer (MS-65+ finest).
From our (Stack's) sale of the Estate of Corrado Romano, June 1987, lot 571; our sale of the E. Horatio Morgan Collection, November 2019 Baltimore Auction, lot 7028; Heritage's FUN Signature Auction of January 2022, lot 4601.