The August 2010 Boston Rarities Sale
Pre-Bidding Ends:
8/7/2010 2:00:00 PM
Live Floor and Internet Bidding Begins:
8/7/2010 3:00:00 PM
Lot #1377.
1877 Pattern Half Union. Judd-1549 Gilt, Pollock-1722. Rarity-7-. Small Head. Proof-64+ Cameo (NGC). CAC.
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Equally Rare Small Head Variant of the 1877 Pattern Half Union
The Simpson Collection Specimen in NGC/CAC Proof-64+ Cameo
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| Description: |
A bust of Liberty faces left on the obverse with 13 stars around the border and the date 1877 below. Liberty is wearing a coronet inscribed LIBERTY, and the two lowermost curls at the back of the neck are rounded rather than pointed. This is the Small Head variant of the 1877 Pattern Half Union. The letter B at the base of Liberty's portrait is the initial of the designer, Chief Engraver William Barber.
The reverse is similar to the design used to strike regular issue Liberty Double Eagles of the Type III design. A heraldic eagle with upraised wings and a shield upon its chest forms the central device. The eagle clutches an olive branch in its left (facing) talon and a group of three arrows in its right (facing) talon. Two ornate scrolls around the eagle bear the Latin motto E PLURIBUS UNUM and an oval of 13 stars above the eagle's head encloses the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. A glory of rays is above the stars, the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is inscribed along the upper border and the denomination FIFTY DOLLARS is at the lower border. Struck in copper, and gilt, with a reeded edge.
Equally as rare as its Large Head counterpart, the copper striking of the Small Head pattern Half Union has an extant population of only about a dozen coins per the website uspatterns.com. This already paltry total is further limited as far as private ownership potential is concerned by the impounding of several examples in museum collections such as those of the Smithsonian Institution and Connecticut State Library. Most of the few examples remaining in private hands are gilt.
A lovely near-Gem with warm, even, honey-orange color, both sides are fully defined from a obviously sharp strike. Wispy hairlines are insignificant for the grade and, as there are also no sizeable contact marks, we leave it to a few tiny carbon spots in the left-obverse field to establish the coin's pedigree. Housed in an oversize NGC holder.
Combined PCGS and NGC Population: just 5 gilt specimens, the present example being not only the highest graded in Proof-64+ but also the only recipient of a Cameo designation as part of the grade.
PCGS# 861894.
Ex: Simpson Collection.
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