1802 50C O-101 MS(PCGS#39269)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auktionator

Stack's Bowers

Losnummer

3063

Erhaltungsgrad

MS62

Preis

87.000

Losbeschreibung

Tompkins Die Stage 1/1. The finest known example from these dies, the only known half dollar die marriage of this date. Gold and rose centers are framed at the distant peripheries in rich sea blue, with superb cartwheel luster encircling both obverse and reverse. An area of pale violet behind Liberty's head evokes a twilight horizon, lending exceptional visual appeal to this aesthetic treat. A glass and a light find some minor hairlines, to be expected for the grade, with the most notable batch in the field off Liberty's chin. The luster is unbroken on both sides, and neither obverse nor reverse shows any contact marks of consequence. We note a small group of contact points between stars 5 and 6 of the reverse star cluster for lack of something grander to identify the surfaces of this coin. The strike is more definitive than usually encountered for this date, with good centers on several stars, nice detail in Liberty's hair and drapery, and full feather definition throughout the eagle. The shield and ribbon both show a full complement of details. The lowest curl, ribbon, bust truncation, and wingtip at right show some localized softness. An important specimen, sold just twice in the 40 years from 1975 to 2015: once in our (Stack's) famous 1975 James A. Stack sale and again in R.M. Smythe's little known Nebraska V Sale that included a high quality old-time collection. Today, this example stands as one of just two 1802 half dollars certified as Mint State by PCGS.<p>As noted in our (Bowers and Merena's) 1997 Eliasberg catalog, the 1802 half dollar is a "generally unrecognized major rarity" in any grade approaching Mint State. F.C.C. Boyd's 1802, one of the few pieces plated in the 1946 sale of his half dollar collection, was called "very fine and very rare;" it would probably grade EF or a bit better today. Mrs. Norweb owned a coin called VF-30 in 1987. The 1992 James D. Brilliant sale included an AU-50, ex the February 1982 Robison sale, called "second or third finest known" at the time. The Garrett-Pryor-Noblet coin was sold as a PCGS AU-50 in 1999 but has probably upgraded since. The colorful Queller coin was sold uncertified as "Brilliant Uncirculated. The Finest Seen" in 2002, then later sold at PCGS AU-58 by Heritage in 2009 for $41,687.50, and again in 2014 at $54,343.75. An NGC MS-60 was included in Heritage's 2015 sale of the Eugene H. Gardner Collection, Part III; that coin remains the only other 1802 half dollar certified as Mint State. It has since crossed into a PCGS MS-60 holder, and most recently appeared at auction in Heritage's June 2016 Long Beach Signature Auction, in which it realized $51,700.<p>There are several 1802 half dollars graded AU-58 by PCGS, though the number indicated on the <em>Population Report</em> likely includes resubmissions. Despite those efforts, only two examples have ever been deemed Mint State by PCGS. This is by far the finer of the two, and the winning bidder of this lot will be adding their name to the truly impressive numismatic provenance that is part of this coin's tremendous appeal.