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1839-O Bust 50C NGC PR65

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:99,999.00 USD Estimated At:200,000.00 USD and UP
1839-O Bust 50C NGC PR65
1839-O Capped Bust Half Dollar. NGC graded Proof 65 Robison. Needle sharp. Georgeous irridescent hues of violet and blue. Exceedingly rare branch mint Proof. Not listed by PCGS. Rarity-7. One of five or fewer known. A fantastic example of this extraordinarily rare branch mint Proof. The surfaces are, expanding on the above, richly toned in shades of iridescent blue and dark champagne color with traces of delicate green and purple-laden russet all blended together. There is not a thing to report that would tend to limit the technical grade, and, as the photographs clearly show, the coin's overall appeal its tops in its class. For identification, there is a minute nick below Liberty's chin at the upper throat. The coin is encased in NGC holder with certification number 1720540-001. (See the Population statistics below.)

The piece is struck with the one die pairing found on the other Proofs as well as most of the circulation 1839-O mint half dollars. In this early Proof state the obverse shows no indications of a later die crack that developed through the stars. The Mintmark is bold, as well as being double-punched along the lower curve. Although apparently both dies cracked very early in the production run of the Branch Mint Proofs, with the 1838-O coins being struck from this same reverse die (prior to the striking of the 1839-O Proofs), this example shows no signs of die deterioration. It may have been one of the first 1839-O Proofs minted.

The Breen Encyclopedia (1988) lists "5 known Proofs." Stack's which offered a "Choice Brilliant Proof" 1839-O in its October 2006 sale, kindly provides the following up-to-date provenance listing of the 4 known specimens as derived from Breen's earlier Proof Encyclopedia (1977):

1) Ex Stack's Sale, September 1992, lot 358; Krouner Collection (Lester Merkin, February 1971, lot 736); Stack's Sale, October 2006.

2) Proof, deeply toned. Planchet defect over eagle's head. F.C.C. Boyd ''World's Greatest Collection'' (Numismatic Gallery, May 1945, lot 411; Allenburger Collection (B. Max Mehl, March 1948); R. E. Cox Collection (Stack's, April 1962, lot 1875).

3) Reported by Breen in Philip G. Straus Collection (1951). Not later sold in New Netherlands #53, June 1959 or Stack's, May 1959. Not seen. Medal turn die alignment.

4) This Specimen. Private collection, possibly #1 or #3 above or another specimen--Robison Collection (Stack's, February 1982, lot 1607).

Pop 1; none finer. Only 4 proofs graded by NGC.
Estimated Value $200,000-UP.

Provenance: Ex Stack's 2/1982 Robison Collection, Lot 1607.