1839 H10C No Drapery MS(PCGS#4319)

1839 H10C No Drapery MS (PCGS#4319)

Spring 2026 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Lot Description: A beautiful example that is solidly in the Condition Census for the issue. Both sides are untoned apart from delicate iridescent toning in champagne-gold. Mint luster is full with a delightful satin to softly frosted texture, the surfaces silky smooth in appearance and temptingly close to pristine. The half dimes of 1839 are the last of the series without drapery at Liberty's elbow, a feature added in 1840 by a revision of the Liberty Seated design. Robert Ball Hughes was paid $25 for die work in this time, leading some to suggest that he revised the motif. With a mintage of 1,069,150 pieces - generous for the era - the 1839 numbers among the more readily obtainable early date Liberty Seated half dimes. There are even a number of exceptional Superb Gems known, although clearly they are rare coins in an absolute sense. With outstanding eye appeal to complement its extraordinary surface preservation, one would be hard pressed to improve upon the specimen offered here.<p>Given the relatively sizeable mintage it is remarkable that only two die pairs are known for this issue. Walter Breen attempted to explain this by stating in his 1988 <em>Encyclopedia</em> that much of the reported figure was composed of 1838-dated coins. The Valentine-2 variety is attributable by repunching on the digits 39 in the date which fades in later die state to repunching only on the 9.