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1795 Flowing Hair 50C NGC MS64

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:57,500.00 USD Estimated At:120,000.00 - 130,000.00 USD
1795 Flowing Hair 50C NGC MS64
1795. O-113a. NGC graded MS-64. Struck on a problem-free planchet with nice broad denticles. A frosty white coin. Overton-113 is an interesting variety where the A is over an earlier E in STATES. The obverse die is identified by a die chip between the 5 and final star. The engraver may have been inattentive when he produced this die, or, having selected his letter punches and laid them out on his workbench, accidentally picked up the E first when he meant to use an A-punch. In most areas in life, a mistake of this kind is easily rectified. However, in the 1790s post-colonial America, die steel was costly and its supply limited. It had to be used sparingly. Many other such preparation "errors" occur on dies in the 1790s to 1830s, so this one fits the precedent. All die engravers in those days used hand tools and special punches rather than the various hubs that are used today. They employed them to insert the stars, letters, date digits, and the like, even to the individual berries on the branches. Hence, the tendency to make mistakes.

The obverse is cracked through the tops of LIBERTY as noted in Overton. These are three distinct die cracks, in fact: (1) through the tops of LIB (2) through the tops of ER, and (3), through the tops of TY. Cracks 2 and 3 merge between R and T. A heavy die chip is seen between the 5 and star 15, below the bust tip, with further cracks or die flaws through the final four stars on the right. Light clash marks occur in the obverse fields. The reverse has light die rust and some faint clash marks, but no die cracks.

This is the famed Eliasberg specimen, considered the finest known 1795 O-113 half dollar of either the early or late die state. Only two or three Mint State examples of the variety are known. According to the cataloger of the Southwest Collection, "Faint champagne toning over brilliant and frosty silver surfaces. Peripheral obverse and reverse rim disturbances are from the edge lettering process and are strictly as made. Considerable central obverse and reverse weakness is evident, with stronger peripheral details." In the Eliasberg catalog, the coin is described as "Brilliant and highly lustrous with just a whisper of delicate golden toning. An extremely pleasing coin from a visual aspect. This coin could not have appeared much different during the era in which it was struck!" Today, close to two decades later, the coin remains virtually unchanged. We can only surmise but it does look as it must have on the day it was made 216 years ago! An amazing accomplishment. Pop 6; 5 in 65 for the date.
Estimated Value $120,000 - 130,000.

Provenance: Ex Eliasberg Collection, Southwest Collection.