1793 Liberty Cap Half Cent. Head Left. C-3. Rarity-3. AU-53 (PCGS). CAC. OGH.

Exceptional 1793 Half Cent 1793 Liberty Cap Half Cent. Head Left. C-3. Rarity-3. AU-53 (PCGS). CAC. OGH. Superior technical quality and exceptional eye appeal make this CAC-approved example a true prize for specialists. A medley of golden caramel and chocolate brown shades dominate the patina, complemented by a lovely glossy texture on each side. The surfaces are hard and smooth, lacking in any significant distractions. Natural planchet texture is noted in the right obverse field and a microscopic mark below the word LIBERTY appears under a glass. Very well centered with an excellent strike to all elements. The 1793 half cent is significant as the first United States half cent, the only issue of the Liberty Cap, Head Left design type and one of just two denominations struck during the Mint's first full year of coinage operations (the other is the large cent). Henry Voigt engraved the dies, and by mid-May the Mint had already prepared more than 30,000 planchets for the half cents, including having their edges lettered. All of the planchets were made from sheet copper. Actual coinage did not commence until July 19, however, with production on that date probably accounting for most or all of the 7,000 examples delivered to the treasurer the following day. The remaining 24,934 half cents were struck from July 23 to 25 and delivered on July 26, for a total mintage of 31,934 pieces for the 1793 Liberty Cap issue. The oft-published mintage of 35,334 pieces for this issue includes an additional 3,400 coins delivered with the Liberty Cap cents on September 18, 1793, that William R. Eckberg (The Half Cent, 1793-1857: The Story of America's Greatest Little Coin, 2019) believes were actually cents based on the records of Mint Treasurer Tristram Dalton. When half cent coinage resumed in 1794, the denomination featured a modified Liberty Cap design by Robert Scot with the portrait facing to the right. Given its current popularity, it may be surprising that the 1793 half cent seems to have been generally overlooked by contemporary collectors. No notable high grade pieces appeared from English or other European sources in the 20th century, suggesting that few, if any, Mint State examples were set aside by numismatists and others who visited the early United States. It was not until the 1850s that numismatics as a hobby began to gain widespread popularity in the United States, and the earliest known interest in the 1793 half cent as a valuable collectible dates to that decade. In 1855 collector Winslow Howard purchased a lot of two examples in the Pierre Flandin sale, one of the first major numismatic auctions held in the United States. Mr. Howard paid $7 for his two 1793 half cents, a sizable sum, especially since half cents could still be found in commerce during the 1850s, at least in major Eastern cities like Philadelphia and New York. It is almost certainly the retrieval of coins from circulation during the decade preceding the Civil War that accounts for the majority of 1793 half cents known today, a theory that squares nicely with an extant population comprised almost exclusively of worn coins. The exact number of Mint State 1793 half cents extant is a matter of debate, although it certainly represents an infinitesimal proportion of all survivors. Given their undeniable rarity, the best that most collectors can hope to acquire for this issue is an AU, and the sharp-eyed bidder will recognize this premium PCGS/CAC AU-53 as unsurpassable in both quality and eye appeal as far as most collectors are concerned. Provenance: From the Alan J. Harlan Collection. Earlier from our March 2021 Auction, lot 4004. CAC Stickered Population (all die marriages of the issue): 21; in all AU grades. PCGS# 1000. NGC ID: 2222. Click here for certification details from PCGS. Click here to see Coins in Motion.

Estimación:0,89€

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