Owner Comments:
1877 50C Half Dollar,
Judd-1535, Pollock-1703,
Rarity: R.8, PR62
Ex: Simpson
Plate Coin in Pollock Reference (Fig 461)
.
Struck in silver with a reeded edge.
Obverse: The obverse is the so-called "Barber's Liberty Head with coronet and wheat and cotton." The head of Liberty faces left, IN GOD WE TRUST is above and the date below. Liberty wears a coronet reading LIBERTY in raised letters. The coronet is decorated with wheat ears, cotton bolls and leaves. The stars are seven left, six right.
Reverse: The reverse is "Barber's small heraldic eagle." The eagle has a shield on its breast, clutching arrows and an olive branch. UNITED STATES and HALF DOLLAR are at the rim, with E PLURIBUS UNUM in an inner arc between the wingtips.
Comment:
Only three examples of Judd-1535 are known.
This is the former Harry Bass piece and the plate coin in Andrew Pollock's pattern reference. The two others are
1)Doughty-Reed coin in the Durham Western Heritage Museum (Omaha, Nebraska) and
2) Maris-Garrett-Queller representative in PCGS PR64 Deep Cameo.
Suffice it to say that opportunities to obtain one of the two examples in private hands are as rare as the coins themselves. This piece shows rose and golden-orange toning around the obverse borders and violet and blue hues around the reverse. The surfaces show scattered contact marks, including one below Liberty's ear.
Technical Aspects: Weight: 192.8 grains. Diameter: 30.5 mm. Die alignment: 180°.
Provenance/Appearances:
From Private transaction via Heritage Sept 2020 Important Selections from The Bob R. Simpson Collection, Part I / Lot #10320
Ex: Miguel Munoz Collection, Part III (Superior Galleries, 6/1981), lot 4;
Auction '82 (Superior Galleries, 8/1982), lot 1500,
Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection (Bowers and Merena, 5/1999), lot 1236;
Southern collection as PR60 PCGS.