1796 1/2C With Pole, BN MS(PCGS#1027)

November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auktionator

Stack's Bowers

Losnummer

2008

Erhaltungsgrad

F15BN

Preis

43.200

Losbeschreibung

Desirable PCGS-certified Choice Fine quality for this key date entry in the United States Mint's half cent series. A tinge of deep gold blends with otherwise dominant steel-brown patina. The border denticulation runs off the planchet from 12 o'clock to 4 o'clock on both sides, but all design motifs are present, and all are bold apart from those in and around the centers, where softness is most significant at the letters ALF in HALF and within the adjacent wreath on the reverse. Finely granular overall, yet free of all but a few minor, well scattered marks that are of no consequence at the assigned grade level.<p>With only 140 or so coins extant in all grades (per Bill Eckberg, 2019), the 1796 is the rarest date in the entire half cent series of 1793 to 1857. Most survivors are from the C-2 dies, as here, examples of which have been honored rarities ever since numismatics became widely popular in the 1850s. Since then the appearance of a 1796 has been a special occasion.<p>Although not as rare as its C-1 No Pole counterpart, the 1796 C-2 is still very scarce. Perhaps surprisingly for such an elusive variety, there are several Mint State coins known, including at least three Gem Red and Brown coins. One of these, the D. Brent Pogue specimen in PCGS MS-66 RB realized $470,000 as lot 3009 in our February 2016 sale. Another is the PCGS MS-65+ RB from the Missouri Cabinet, which sold for an extraordinary $718,750 in Larry & Ira Goldberg's January 2014 sale of that collection. Beyond the handful of Mint State coins, however, the census for this variety quickly drops to the lowest circulated grades, and individual coins at those levels are usually dark and porous. Our offering of this well defined PCGS Fine-15 example represents an important bidding opportunity.<p>Planchet stock for this variety was derived largely from rolled sheet copper, and at least two of the survivors have Mint-made planchet clips. Whether the C-1 or C-2 was struck first remains a matter of debate, although we believe that the No Pole (C-1) with its cracked obverse die was produced first and used as a stopgap measure, until the well made obverse of the C-2 pairing was ready for coinage. Opinions differ, however, with Bill Eckberg, for one, asserting that the C-2 coins were produced in April and June, 1796, with the C-1 coins following in October of that year.