Semi-Unique 1916 Walking Liberty Half Dollar Pattern In Heritage's Pittsburgh ANA Signature Auction

Dallas, Texas: Heritage Numismatic Auctions will be offering an extremely rare 1916 Walking Liberty Half Dollar Pattern in its official ANA Signature Auction taking place in Pittsburgh, August 18-21. This seldom-encountered Pattern circulated for some time, as evidenced by its PR30 grade assigned by Numismatic Guaranty Corp. The Pattern has been accorded an R.8 rarity factor, and is listed as Judd-1993 and Pollock-2055.

"The Judd-1993," explained Heritage President Greg Rohan, "one of several different varieties of 1916 Walking Liberty half dollars in existence, features LIBERTY in large letters in the right obverse field. The reverse is very similar to the final version of the Walker design with only minor differences, which may explain how this item circulated for so long before some astute observer noticed. While there is some dispute whether six or seven 1916 varieties exist, pedigree research by Saul Teichman on his uspatterns.com website indicates that only about 20 examples of all different varieties are currently known. Five of these are in the Smithsonian Institution, leaving a net available population of just 15 patterns."

"This particular pattern variety is extremely rare," noted Heritage's Senior Cataloger Mark Borckardt, "with only one example previously known to Saul Teichman. This is a second example of the variety, apparently not previously known within numismatic circles. According to current research, it is believed that this variety was struck somewhere between August 21 and September 20, 1916 (as reported by Dave Bowers in the eighth edition of the Judd reference from the research of Roger Burdette)."

Mint Director Robert Woolley discussed the design in his annual report for the fiscal year ending June 1916: "The obverse of the half dollar bears a full length figure of Liberty with a background of the American flag flying to the breeze. The goddess is striding toward the dawn of a new day, carrying laurel and oak branches, symbolic of civic and military glory. The reverse shows an eagle perched high up on a mountain crag, wings unfolded. Growing from a rift in the rock is a sapling of mountain pine, symbolic of America."

While well circulated, this example is highly attractive with completely natural grayish-silver surfaces and pale heather highlights. On the reverse, a tiny rim bruise is visible over ER of AMERICA; however, the balance of the surface on each side is nearly flawless. For the pattern specialist, this is an extremely important opportunity, as is any offering of a 1916 pattern coin, regardless of the denomination. Dave Bowers noted: "Under the best of circumstances, the pattern specialist is unlikely to encounter patterns of this date except when specialized collections are brought to market. Even then, only a few pieces are likely to be offered."

"The Judd-1993 variety, concluded Borckardt, "was not listed in previous editions of the Judd reference, however, is similar to the older Judd-1797a listing, except for the addition of Adolph A. Weinman's AW monogram on the reverse."

Featured collections in Heritage's August Pittsburgh ANA Signature Sale include: The Harold W. Anderson Collection, Part Two; The Del Rio Collection, Part Two; The Frank O. Fredericks Collection, Part Five; The Greenwich Collection, Part Two; The Reed Hawn Collection of Mercury Dimes; The Dr. Frank Lanza Collection of Walking Liberty Halves; The Velma & Bowie Lynch Collection, Part Four; The Estate of John Naylor, Part Two; The Paulsboro Collection, Part Three; The Larry Rausch Collection, Part One; The David Raynard Collection, Part Two; The JFS Collection, Part Two; The Karl Scheible Collection; and The John Michael Stuart Collection, Part Two.

Images, descriptions, and prices realized from past auctions are available in the Permanent Auction Archives.