1796 1/2 C With Pole, C-2, B-2, High R.4, AU58 PCGS. CAC....

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1796 C-2, B-2 Half Cent, AU58
From the Showers and Gardner Collections

1796 1/2 C With Pole, C-2, B-2, High R.4, AU58 PCGS. CAC. Ex: Gardner. The more plentiful of two 1796 half cent varieties, the C-2 has a pole extending down from the cap to the border at 4:30. All 1796 C-2 half cents have perfect dies. Two obverse dies and one reverse die were used for the 1796 No Pole and With Pole varieties, although the order of striking remains uncertain. All known examples of the No Pole variety have a heavy bisecting crack across the obverse. Roger Cohen offered no explanation for placing the No Pole variety first. Walter Breen presented the two varieties in the same sequence, following his analysis of the punches used on the two obverse dies. However, that only tells us the order of die manufacture without addressing the order of use for those dies.

Ron Manley writes: "Logically, the only rational reason to have used the severely cracked 1796 C-1 obverse die would have been if no other obverse die had been available at the time for half cent coinage."

The grading distribution for the 1796 With Pole half cents is interesting. NGC and PCGS have certified 33 pieces grading Poor to Very Good, 12 pieces in Fine to XF, 12 grading AU, and 18 called Mint State (11/16). The present near-Mint coin is the third finest endorsed by CAC. Both sides exhibit attractively blended tan, olive-brown, and steel with traces of faded red luster. Many of the microscopic surface marks remain from the planchet before this piece was struck. Considerable frosty luster remains in the obverse and reverse fields. The strike is bold with a nicely centered impression from the dies. Our EAC Grade AU50.
Ex: Philip M. Showers Collection; Willis I. DuPont; Jim McGuigan; J.A. Sherman (Stack's, 8/2007), lot 226; Eugene H. Gardner Collection, Part II (Heritage, 10/2014), lot 98002.

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 2227, Variety PCGS# 35098, Base PCGS# 1027, GSID# 80864)

Metal: 100% Copper
Weight: 6.74 grams
Weight: 0.24oz
Mintage: 1,390

View Certification Details from PCGS