Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature US Coin Sale 1258 2-6 Aug 2017
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Bust Half Dollars
1815/2 50C O-101, R.2, AU55 PCGS. It was only by good fortune that any half dollars dated 1815 survive at all. The Mint was in turmoil, short on silver bullion with virtually no dies on hand, and generally disrupted by financial unrest and other factors relating to the War of 1812 and the burning of Washington, D.C. by British forces in 1814. Toward the end of 1815, a small mintage of 47,150 half dollars was struck from a repurposed 1812 die pair that was soon clashed, cracked, and barely serviceable. The coins were delivered on January 10, 1816 -- one day before the Mint's operations were shut down by fire.
This Choice About Uncirculated coin displays a deep, gunmetal-gray patina with occasional glimpses of olive-gray luster in protected areas. A faint die crack above the denomination was a precursor to a larger and bolder crack through the mid-point of 50 C that appears in a later state of the dies. The coin is sharply struck and crisply defined through the central devices with pleasing original eye appeal. Population: 26 in 55, 28 finer (6/17).
HID02901242017
1815/2 50C O-101, R.2, AU55 PCGS. It was only by good fortune that any half dollars dated 1815 survive at all. The Mint was in turmoil, short on silver bullion with virtually no dies on hand, and generally disrupted by financial unrest and other factors relating to the War of 1812 and the burning of Washington, D.C. by British forces in 1814. Toward the end of 1815, a small mintage of 47,150 half dollars was struck from a repurposed 1812 die pair that was soon clashed, cracked, and barely serviceable. The coins were delivered on January 10, 1816 -- one day before the Mint's operations were shut down by fire.
This Choice About Uncirculated coin displays a deep, gunmetal-gray patina with occasional glimpses of olive-gray luster in protected areas. A faint die crack above the denomination was a precursor to a larger and bolder crack through the mid-point of 50 C that appears in a later state of the dies. The coin is sharply struck and crisply defined through the central devices with pleasing original eye appeal. Population: 26 in 55, 28 finer (6/17).
HID02901242017