LOT Heritage Rare Coin Galleries  /  2006 October Dallas Signature Coin Auction #428  / 

1117

1797 50C --Mount Removed, Damaged--NCS. VF Details. MAR

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1797 50C --Mount Removed, Damaged--NCS. VF Details. MAR
<B>1797<50C>--Mount Removed, Damaged--NCS. VF Details.</B></I> O-101a, High R.4. The importance of the half dollars of 1796-1797 cannot be disputed. This two-year design type, portraying the draped bust of Liberty on the obverse and a small eagle on the reverse, is a must-have coin that is necessary to complete a type set of U.S. coinage. The paltry mintage of 3,918 pieces, and the likelihood that fewer than 300 specimens are still extant, generates tremendous competition not only among type collectors, but also from those attempting to assemble a date/variety collection of early half dollars.<BR> Al Overton, in his <I>Early Half Dollar Die Varieties,</B></I> updated by Don Parsley in 1990 and 2006, identified four varieties of the Draped Bust, Small Eagle half: 1796 15 stars (O-101), 1796 16 stars (O-102), and two 1797 issues (O-101 and O-102) that are differentiated by slight differences in the positioning of the reverse wreath in relation to the letters UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A later die state of the 1797 O-101 variety, an example of which is presented in this lot, displays myriad reverse cracks (O-101a). Furthermore, the typical O-101a obverse exhibits a die crack from the rim through star 2 to a lower curl in Liberty's hair <BR> The design elements on this piece are well defined with most of the hair detail evident on Liberty, and much of the feathers are present on the eagle's wings. The surfaces are densely peppered with tiny marks that look like they were intentionally placed on the coin. A mount was removed with its former presence most evident near 6 o'clock on the reverse rim. The surfaces overall are light gray and deepen significantly in hue around the margins. One of the most avidly sought-after type coins in all of U.S. numismatics.
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