August 2024 Global Showcase Auction – 12 - 23 August 2024
Ancient and World Coins and Currency
Part B: Mo, 12.08.2024, from 6:00 PM CEST
Part C: Mo, 12.08.2024, from 10:00 PM CEST
Part 1: Tu, 13.08.2024, from 1:00 AM CEST
Part 2: Tu, 13.08.2024, from 6:00 PM CEST
Part 3: Tu, 13.08.2024, from 10:00 PM CEST
Part D: We, 14.08.2024, from 6:00 PM CEST
Part 4: We, 14.08.2024, from 9:00 PM CEST
Part 5: Th, 15.08.2024, from 5:00 PM CEST
Part E: Fr, 16.08.2024, from 5:00 PM CEST
Part 6: Fr, 16.08.2024, from 9:00 PM CEST
Part 7: Sa, 17.08.2024, from 5:00 PM CEST
Part F: Sa, 17.08.2024, from 6:00 PM CEST
Part 8: Mo, 19.08.2024, from 7:00 PM CEST
Part G: Tu, 20.08.2024, from 6:00 PM CEST
Part 9: Tu, 20.08.2024, from 7:00 PM CEST
Part H: Tu, 20.08.2024, from 8:00 PM CEST
Part 10: We, 21.08.2024, from 6:00 PM CEST
Part I: We, 21.08.2024, from 6:00 PM CEST
Part 11: Th, 22.08.2024, from 6:00 PM CEST
Part J: Th, 22.08.2024, from 6:00 PM CEST
Part K: Fr, 23.08.2024, from 6:00 PM CEST
Part 12: Fr, 23.08.2024, from 6:00 PM CEST
Description
1840 Liberty Seated Half Dollar. WB-5. Rarity-3. Small Letters (a.k.a. Reverse of 1839). MS-65 (NGC).
Billowy satin luster is unimpeded by any color, save for just a bit of pale golden patina on the obverse visible at indirect light angles. Exceptionally sharp in strike for an early date Liberty Seated half dollar, even one from the Philadelphia Mint, this beautiful Gem also features smooth, virtually pristine surfaces. Christian Gobrecht's Liberty Seated obverse style with stars finally made it to the half dollar denomination in 1839, sharing the stage with the old-style Capped Bust half dollars of the date in that year -- the half dimes, dimes, and quarters of the new Gobrecht style were all present in America's pocket change by 1838. Mintage for the date amounted to slightly more than 1.4 million pieces of which a tiny percentage are of the Medium Letters reverse style, produced in New Orleans but from a reverse die of the older Capped Bust design with no mintmark. While the Small Letters style offered in the present lot is far and away the more common of the two reverse styles of the year, it is anything but "common" in Mint State. At MS-65, as here, the population of grading events at NGC is astonishingly small for an early date with such a prolific mintage. Few were the collectors in 1840 who put aside an example of the date; no doubt most of today's survivors were saved by chance. We can assure you that acquiring the present Gem Liberty Seated half dollar will take more than "chance" to obtain it, so bid as though you mean it if you mean to own this specimen.
PCGS# 6233. NGC ID: 24GP.
NGC Census: 10; just 4 finer (MS-66 finest).
From the Arlington Collection.
Question about this lot?
Bidding
| Price realized | 4'200 USD |
| Starting price | 1 USD |
| Estimate | 7'000 USD |
