Canada: Victoria Specimen 50 Cents 1881-H SP63 PCGS,...

Description

Victoria Specimen 50 Cents 1881-H SP63 PCGS, Heaton mint, KM6. Light golden toning with touches of russet patina on the reverse. As we noted on the Belzberg Specimen of this issue (the only other example we have handled and a SP65 coin), "Typical of coins struck for 1881, this coin exhibits semi-matte surfaces and rather shoddy die preparation. Some believe that coins of this date were struck in later years as salesman samples. The Pittman Collection coin was described as Extremely Fine, while the Norweb piece was MS64 and listed as tied for the finest seen by both Bowers & Merena and Brian Cornwell." From looking closely at this piece, we can see how the cataloger of the Belzberg coin may have reached his conclusions. The surfaces lead one to believe that it may have been struck from rusty dies, thus the ideas that this issue of Specimens were struck at a later date. Extremely rare in Specimen, as are all of the Victoria 50 Cents.
From The Eric Beckman Collection of Canadian Coins


Metal: Silver
Diameter: 29.72mm
Weight: 11.62g
ASW: 0.3456oz
Mintage: 150,000

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