1817 50C O-105 MS(PCGS#39496)

January 2023 Mail Bid Auction 55

Auctioneer

Sheridan Downey

Lot Number

22

Grade

XF45

Price

7,920

Lot Description

Beauty and rarity fuse in this remarkable coin.  The “105” is scarce in all die states.  The obverse die (also found on the 1817 Punctuated Date) generally appears with a swirl of die breaks and a distinct central bulge. Most are low grade.  Here is a miraculous survivor of the early die state, with a diminutive (use your loupe) die break at star 9.  Tim found the coin in my bourse case during the Jan. 1997 FUN Show.  It stood out, not as a rarity, but as one of the prettiest coins on display.  It was encapsulated and graded AU 50 by NGC.  (The NGC label accompanies the lot.)  Sunset colors flicker through silver-grey toning.  Abundant luster argues for an AU designation.  In short, a prize for the knowledgeable collector of bust half-dollars.  Ponder, if you will, the $18,800 it took to capture Rex and Cindy Phillips’ PCGS AU 55 “prime” 1817 O.105 in August 2017.  (Heritage’s Denver ANA Sale, lot 3970.) Estimate: $2,000 and up