1863-S H10C MS(PCGS#4383)

August 2020 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

2567

等级

MS65

价格

21,675

详细说明

1863-S Liberty Seated Half Dime. V-1, the only known dies. MS-65 (PCGS). Rare and highly desirable Gem Mint State quality for this historic mintmarked half dime issue. Satin to modestly semi-reflective surfaces are brilliant apart from wisps of pale sandy-gold iridescence here and there around the obverse periphery. Fully struck and uncommonly smooth in hand. Of the 1863-S Q. David Bowers (2016) writes: "This is the first half-dime issue from the San Francisco Mint. In 1853 (the year prior to the San Francisco Mint officially opening for business), 1854, and 1855, two pairs of half-dime dies were sent each year from Philadelphia (where all dies were made) to San Francisco, but no half-dime coinage materialized until 1863. Why this was is not clear today, as there are numerous accounts of a need for small change, which at the time was typically filled by small Spanish-American silver coins. This and subsequent half dimes circulated actively in the American West, but most were probably shipped to China and melted there." In the final sentence Bowers alludes to the curious monetary situation on the West Coast during the Civil War. Silver and gold coins circulated at par, and freely, while federal Legal Tender notes traded at a deep discount. In contrast, in the East and Midwest, silver coins disappeared by the early summer of 1862, due to hoarding, and issues produced after that time were retained by the Treasury or sold at a sharp premium in relation to Legal Tender notes. Although the 100,000-coin mintage of the 1863-S was generous by early San Francisco Mint standards, at the time there was no known numismatic interest in collecting such pieces. Indeed, those examples that survived circulation and escaped melting are almost all in circulated grades, many quite worn, if not also impaired. High grade Mint State examples such as this are rare, most of which may trace their provenance to several small hoards that surfaced after 1968 (per Breen, as related by Blythe, 1992). These hoards also included examples of the 1864-S and 1866-S. A single die pairing for this issue is known to both Valentine and Blythe. The present example exhibits a tiny die defect on the obverse at the base of the rock below the pendant and a faint die line in the reverse field between the top of the ear of corn and the uppermost leaf at the top right of the wreath. Provenance: From the Henry Collection of Liberty Seated Half Dimes. PCGS Population: 9; 5 finer (MS-67+ finest). PCGS# 4383. NGC ID: 234D. Click here for certification details from PCGS.