1917-S 50C Reverse MS(PCGS#6573)

June 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

2166

Grade

MS65

Price

7,500

Lot Description

This lovely Gem has full mint luster and the rustic satin texture that is celebrated on these 1916 and 1917-dated half dollars. The strike is impressively sharp with just a hint of softness to Liberty's head and the central reverse design elements, common to this type. We emphasize, however, that the overall detail is well above average by the standards of the issuing Mint, Liberty's left hand bold and the feathers at the junction of the eagle's breast and trailing leg show emerging detail. Peripherally toned in rich sandy-russet. The conditionally challenged 1917-S Reverse Mintmark issue is a much rarer Walking Liberty half dollar in the finer Mint State grades than a sizable mintage of 5.5 million pieces might imply. This is a second-year issue in its series, which means that it benefited from neither the first-year status of the 1916 issues nor the more advanced numismatic activity of the 1940s, both of which resulted in the saving of greater numbers of Mint State coins. Scarce even in MS-64, the extant population of the 1917-S Reverse Mintmark in Gem Uncirculated dwindles down to fewer than 100 distinct survivors.