1855/54 50C Arrows PR (PCGS#6409)
August 2011 Chicago ANA - Rarities Night
- Auctioneer
- Stack's Bowers
- Lot Number
- 7048
- Grade
- PR62
- Price
- 8,913
- Lot Description
- 1855/54 Seated Liberty Half Dollar. Arrows. WB-102. Proof-62 (PCGS). Handsome gunmetal-gray toning with a touch of blue on this rare proof issue. Not only are <em>all </em>pre 1857 silver proofs rare, but with an overdate they are even more desirable. There are shallow hairlines on the surfaces from being wiped a time or two over the years, and for identification a short lintmark is noted below the left wing of the eagle in the small field above the branch. PCGS has certified a total of five examples of this overdate in various proof grades, others are known in circulation strikes. Discovered by Walter Breen in 1970 when examining a business strike in a late Lester Merkin sale (September 1970, Lot 446), proofs were discovered by Q. David Bowers of this rare obverse die. All told there are 10-15 proof 1855 Arrows half dollars, of which about half of that number are the overdate.<br /> There is a feature here that deserves further study. Although the Breen <em>Encyclopedia</em> provides and excellent enlargement of the overdate feature from a circulation strike, this is a later die state than seen here on the present proof example so the following features are worn away on that coin. Noteworthy is overdate, yes the crossbar of the 4 is unmistakable confirming the variety, the knob on the second five is extended to the right as well, diagnostic features all. However, there are also several other minute overdate nuances that warrants attention. These features are all <em>on top of </em>the existing arrows and 1855 date punches. Starting on the left, the left arrowhead is repunched slightly to the left, seen at the back on the upper point. On the 1 a faint lump on the post also shows a curve from the upper serif placed south atop the existing 1. The 8 also has a fragment of a repunched 8 on left side of the top loop. The first 5 has the normal type underdigit, with the knob and post of the 5 repunched t
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