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Lot 0937 1922 Grant 50C, With Star NGC MS66

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:5,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD
Lot 0937 1922 Grant 50C, With Star NGC MS66
Very rarely have we ever offered one of the low-mintage Grant half dollars with star displaying surfaces that are as well preserved as this Gem. But the story of this coin goes far beyond its technical grade. This coin has that elusive quality known as "eye appeal." The die polishing marks that are always seen on Grant issue have imparted a bright, semi-prooflike, and genuinely spectacular sheen to this piece. Highly lustrous throughout, each side has a light overlay of pinkish-gray patina that adds even more to this half dollar's visual appeal.

Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War general and later president, died in 1885. His birth in 1822 is commemorated here by the artist Laura Gardin Fraser after a photograph by the famed Civil War photographer, Matthew Brady. Grant was born in a traditional frame house of the period, but this has come down to us as a "log cabin." The house depicted is correct. Some consider Grant as our worst president because of the scandals which rocked his administration; perhaps he should more charitably be described as a soft touch for his scheming "friends." Two half dollar Commemorative varieties and two gold dollar varieties were struck, one of each with or without star before Grant's bust.