1831 1/2 C First Restrike. PR-2b, B-2, High R.5. Breen Die State II. PR66 Brown NGC. PR63 EAC. Small date, large stars; Hig...

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Lovely 1831 First Restrike Proof Half Cent

1831 1/2 C First Restrike. PR-2b, B-2, High R.5. Breen Die State II. PR66 Brown NGC. PR63 EAC. Small date, large stars; High leaf below left foot of S. The Breen Plate Coin for State II in his reference. Although he acquired examples for his collection, and ultimately included them in the second edition of his reference, Roger Cohen never had any special interest in the Proof Half Cents, Original or Restrike. The same is true of Jules Reiver. Both of these collectors had a keen interest in the minting process, the varieties, and the history behind their coins. Once Cohen decided to list these in his reference, he came up with a unique numbering scheme. Rather than number them chronologically by the date appearing on the coin, he numbered them by the order in which they were actually struck. The first letter in his system is either E, P, or S, depending on whether the coins were struck under the supervision of Adam Eckfeldt, Franklin Peale, or James Ross Snowden. The second letter is either O or R for Original or Restrike, but only Peale and Snowden were associated with the Restrikes, thus the possible combinations are EO, PO, PR, SO, and SR. The letters were then followed by a number based on the order of striking within each subset.
Walter Breen had his own ideas about the Proof Half Cents, and developed an elaborate set of descriptions for these coins, separating them into seven different series. This particular coin, and others like it, were identified by Breen as his Series III. Die State II is identified by a diagonal crack across the reverse from 1 o'clock to 8:30, but without the branch down to 5 o'clock. This is a lovely example with pristine surfaces, although there is a small planchet defect on top of the right most top hair wave. Lovely pale blue, lilac, and iridescent toning with traces of original orange mint color around some of the peripheral devices. In his 1939 catalog, Mehl described this coin as "a perfect, magnificent, brilliant red proof; sharp, with raised borders."
Ex: William B. Hale (B. Max Mehl, 11/1939), lot 295; T. James Clarke (Abe Kosoff, 4/1956), lot 463; Harold Bareford; William Bareford (5/25/1984). Envelope Included.(Registry values: P5)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 2237, PCGS# 1189, GSID# 546)

Metal: 100% Copper
Weight: 5.44 grams
Weight: 0.19189oz
Mintage: 30

View Certification Details from NGC