A survey of 19th century business strike coin
50C SEATED LIBERTY, NO DRAPERY (1839)
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Coin Details
| Origin/Country: |
United States |
| Design Description: |
HALF DOLLARS - SEATED LIBERTY |
| Item Description: |
50C 1839 NO DRAPERY |
| Full Grade: |
NGC AU 58 |
| Owner: |
BillJones |
Owner Comments:
The 1839 No Drapery half dollar is a one year type that the mint produced for only a brief time during that year. As such it is the scarcest of the No Drapery Seated Liberty type coins. Although no detailed records exist, the mintage for this type has been estimated to be 600,000 pieces.
The No Drapery design was Christian Gobrecht’s original concept for the Liberty Seated motif. In 1839 Robert Ball Hughes modified Gobrecht’s original design for the half dollar. Subsequently Hughes would modify the half dime, dime and quarter in 1840. The most obvious aspect of Hughes’ modifications was the addition of a drapery from Ms. Liberty’s right elbow. A closer examination reveals that Hughes’ Ms. Liberty is less artfully rendered and not as attractive as she was when Gobrecht was making the dies. Among the four denominations, Hughes made the fewest modifications to the half dollar design.
The coin show above is an attractive lightly circulated example with no significant defects. It has light original toning and is almost as sharp as a full Mint State piece.