1820 50C O-103a MS(PCGS#39564)

August 2016 Mail Bid Auction 43

Auctioneer

Sheridan Downey

Lot Number

33

Grade

AU58

Price

3,520

Lot Description

Another old friend, with a story to tell.  This beauty was lot 32 in MB 38, Jan. 2014, part of the “Centennial Collection.”  Here is what I wrote.  Barney Bluestone sold this fabulous coin to John Jay Pittman in June 1947.  It cost $5.  Pittman kept the coin until he died in 1996.  Two years later David Akers offered the coin as lot 1472 in his sale of the Pittman Collection, Part Two, May 1998.  It was catalogued as follows, Uncirculated…a beautiful, original specimen with very lustrous surfaces, sharp strike, excellent centering, and lovely medium rust toning with iridescent blue-green at the rims…  The eye appeal of this coin is very good, especially the reverse which has excellent luster and color.  Two quibbles:  there is a trace of friction on the portrait; and the eye appeal of the obverse is every bit as nice as the reverse.  Tom Palmer was the winning bidder, placing the coin in his Red Book set of unimaginably beautiful capped bust half-dollars, carefully assembled over more than 25 years.  In 2008 Tom chose to retire and build his dream home.  He kindly offered his set to me.  Hysteria reigned when I displayed Tom’s coins in my bourse case at the Central States Show that year.  This 1820 O.103a was among the first pieces sold.  The buyer sent it to NGC for encapsulation.  It was returned in its current holder.  The star designation [¬] confirms what every viewer already knew – the coin has exceptional eye appeal for the grade.  The coin sold for $4,235.  Thirty months later it is equally desirable.  Once again, don your bidding boots.  This is an NGC graded coin worth the chase!  Est. $3,750 to $4,750.