Owner Comments:
NGC Cameo Populations:
The total mintage figure for 1950 is 51,386. As of 12/2018, NGC certified coin populations show that there are 502 Cameo coins total in all grades making up 0.98% of the total mintage while there are 24 Ultra Cameo coins making up 0.05%.
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Cameo Availability:
The 1950 is the first year of issue for proofs. The mintage was very small and the mint packaging caused many problems with the coins. These issues led to hairlines, contact marks, glue spots, haze and very unattractive toning on many coins. Also, these coins tend to have very shallow fields that are prone to substantial haze which is similar to the characteristics exhibited by many proof Walking Liberty Halves. These problems effect both cameo and brilliant coins. Since the cameo populations include shallow field and hazy coins, the number of deep mirror coins that exist is certainly less. As such, when coins with deep mirror fields and strong cameo devices come up, it is best to give them serious consideration before passing them by. You don’t know when another one will surface.
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This Coin:
This coin is pure white with no toning, has deep fields and strong cameo (obv: cameo+, rev: cameo+). This attractive coin’s field depth and cameo contrast are very rare for this first year. They are of the quality of later date coins in the series. As attractive as this coins is, it does have some hairlines and minor contact on the reverse, it is after all a PR65CAM. I suspect that the hairlines and contact came from the mint packaging and subsequent storage. Other than that, it is a very attractive coin for most any date but especially so for 1950. Would I have accepted it if it were a later date coin? No, the number of high quality attractive cameos of the late years is such that I would hold out for a more pristine example. But for 1950, coins of PR67CAM or PR68CAM are literal rarities and when they do surface, they cost huge sums of money. So, for me, this coin is definitely a keeper.