1877 $50 Half Union, Judd-1547, Pollock-1720, R.7, Gilt, PR65 PCGS. CAC....

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1877 Half Union Judd-1547, PR65 Gilt
Fifty Dollar Pattern in Copper
Large Head, Ten Examples Known

1877 $50 Half Union, Judd-1547, Pollock-1720, R.7, Gilt, PR65 PCGS. CAC. Ex: Simpson. The rare 1877 half union 50 dollar patterns, sometimes referred to as quintuple eagles, are among the most sought-after issues in the U.S. pattern series. The idea for a fifty dollar U.S. gold coin originated with California businessmen in the 1850s, where the burgeoning economy was severely hampered by a lack of coinage to settle large accounts in foreign trade. California Senator William Gwin introduced a bill to provide such coinage in 1854, but the measure was defeated in the House. More than two decades later, Mint Director Henry Richard Linderman revived the concept as a pet project, although there was no commercial need for such large denomination gold coinage by then. Fifty dollar gold patterns were struck exclusively in 1877 to test the viability of such a coin. Famously, two examples were manufactured in gold -- Judd-1546 and Judd-1548 -- each with slightly different obverse designs (Large Head and Small Head). Both designs were also struck in copper (Judd-1547 and Judd-1549), with fewer than a dozen examples of each design produced. Many of the copper patterns were gold plated at some point, but whether this occurred in the Mint or later cannot be confirmed. Mint officials feared such large gold coins would be especially vulnerable to edge shaving or being hollowed out, with the interior gold replaced by lead. Accordingly, the project never progressed beyond the pattern stage. Heritage Auctions is privileged to present the finest-certified gilt example of the Large Head copper half union, Judd-1547, in this important offering.

Design
The William Barber Large Liberty Head design. Liberty faces left, with coronet bearing her name, its top border ornamented with beads. Her hair is thick and wavy, and a B in the field just below the truncation (unusually, not on the neck) stands for Barber. Thirteen stars ring the border, with date 1877 below. The Large Head shows the tip of the coronet between stars 5 and 6 while the Small Head has the tip below star 6, and the date is considerably closer to the bust truncation on the Large Head. The two lowest curls on Liberty are pointed, rather than rounded as on the Small Head. The reverse is in the same style as the contemporaneous double eagle, but detailed differently, the most obvious difference being two extra small decorative elements at the rim on each side, between UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the denomination FIFTY DOLLARS. Struck in copper, gilt, with a reeded edge.

Judd-1547 on the Numismatic Scene
The copper half unions were marketed by Mint personnel to favored coin dealers and collectors shortly after they were struck. The Large Head (Judd-1547) began appearing at auction before its Small Head counterpart, with a first appearance in lot 421 of the Charles White Collection, Part II (H.P. Smith, 4/1887):

"1877 Copper Fifty Dollars: large head of Liberty l., by Barber: 13 stars surrounding. R similar to Double Eagle but enlarged: FIFTY DOLLARS below: fine broad planchet (size 32); fine proof. A prominent Philadelphia dealer recently had one of these and held it at $300, which alone will give an idea of the great rarity of this remarkable piece: this fact, however, has not influenced the owner to place any limit whatever on the piece, which will be sold on its merits solely; first and only one ever offered."

The $300 valuation was a staggering price for any coin at the time. Of course, collector demand for this front-rank pattern issue has driven prices realized to unprecedented levels in recent years. When the present coin was offered in our sale of the Queller Collection, Part II in 2009, it realized a remarkable price of $207,000.

Another example of Judd-1547 was illustrated and sold in the 1890 R. Coulton Davis Collection, by the New York Coin & Stamp firm. Davis published the first serious reference on United States patterns in a series of issues of the Coin Collector's Journal, where he listed the 1877 Large Head half union as Davis-412. The 1907 sale of the Matthew A. Stickney Collection included an example, where it was described as, "Of the greatest rarity, even the cabinet at the Mint does not possess one like this."

No discussion of these phenomenal fifty dollar half union pattern coins can be complete without an introduction to William H. Woodin, one of the foremost figures in the history of U.S. pattern collecting, and indeed in U.S. numismatics in general. William H. Woodin (1868-1934) is one of the most illustrious names in coin collecting, and his is a name that some members of the noncollecting public will recognize as well: Long after he had achieved notice in numismatic circles--in 1933, although already in ill heath--he served for a few months under President Franklin D. Roosevelt as his first Secretary of the Treasury. In that capacity, Woodin presided over the "Bank Holiday" of 1933, which closed the doors to the nation's banks until examiners could determine their financial status. This action, the forerunner of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, helped restore confidence in the banking system, avoiding an economic catastrophe of worse proportions. More infamously for collectors, Woodin--although an avid coin collector himself--also oversaw the Gold Recall of 1933, when the U.S. government withdrew from the gold standard and outlawed the private ownership of gold by U.S. residents (except by dentists and jewelers). Collectors nonetheless owe Woodin a debt of gratitude, for he ensured that an exemption was in place for "rare or unusual" gold coins. However, our focus here is on Woodin's earlier activities in the field of pattern collecting. Q. David Bowers has written extensively about Woodin in his useful Bass Museum Sylloge:

"Highlights of his involvement include the 1908 purchase from Stephen K. Nagy and John W. Haseltine of a pair of 1877 $50 'half union' patterns that had been quietly deaccessioned from the Mint cabinet A furor ensued, and through Edgar H. Adams and the original sellers, the pieces were traded back to the Mint in return for 'several crates' of long-stored patterns. After selecting one or more of each interesting different variety for his own collection, a second run of varieties was placed with Waldo C. Newcomer of Baltimore for a reported $150,000, and a third run went to H.O. Granberg of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for $100,000--each of these two transactions being incredible in amount--equaling or exceeding the $100,000 transaction later registered in 1923 for the purchase of the earlier-mentioned James W. Ellsworth Collection with its pair of 1804 dollars and about 2,000 other coins. Still more were sold by his associate, Edgar H. Adams, on February 10, 1911, via the Catalogue of the Auction Sale of Rare Pattern Coins Comprising many pattern duplicates, in different metals, and of many denominations, belonging to Mr. William H. Woodin of New York City. Large numbers of duplicate patterns remained and were sold to F.C.C. Boyd.

"In 1913 Woodin wrote United States Pattern, Trial, and Experimental Pieces, published by the American Numismatic Society. His friend and numismatic scout Edgar H. Adams provided research information and took the photographs. ..."

The furor concerning Woodin's possession of the half union patterns in gold arose after Woodin exhibited the pieces at the New York Numismatic Club in 1909. The exhibition was reported in The Numismatist and other publications, resulting in much confusion and public outcry that the coins should never have been sold. Recent research reveals that Haseltine and Nagy were simply intermediaries in the initial transaction. The gold half unions (Judd-1546 and Judd-1548) and the hoard of other patterns Bowers reported on above were actually the property of former Chief Coiner, and later Superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint, Archibald Louden Snowden. Snowden had purchased them for their bullion value during his tenure as Chief Coiner, ostensibly to prevent them from being melted. After extensive negotiations, Woodin agreed to return the half unions. Snowden could not afford to return the $20,000 purchase price for the half unions, so he gave Woodin the fabulous treasure trove of other patterns he had acquired during his years of service instead. The two unique gold half unions are national treasures, now safely back in the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution. But the copper half unions (many of which are gilt) occasionally come onto the market, albeit sporadically, and never fail to inspire the most intense bidding competition whenever they appear.

Physical Description
The present coin is a simply spectacular specimen of what might very well be called the most impressive pattern coin available today, the finest-certified gilt example of this iconic issue. All of the gilding remains intact over the surfaces on both sides and the bold strike appears unimpeded by the large surface area. The possible remains of an old fingerprint appear between the date and star 13--any bets as to whose it might be?--but it is mentioned as a pedigree marker only, and is not at all bothersome considering the incredible desirability, aesthetic appeal, and rarity that this phenomenal coin combines in one neat package. The high quality within the grade is confirmed by CAC. This coin is pictured on PCGS CoinFacts. Population: 1 in 65, 0 finer. CAC: 1 in 65, 0 finer (11/23).

Roster of 1877 Half Union Pattern in Copper, Judd-1547
Courtesy of Saul Teichman of USPatterns.com and Ron Guth of Numismatic Detective Agency
1. PR68 Red and Brown PCGS. King Farouk; The Palace Collections of Egypt (Sotheby's, 2/1954), lot 2019 (part of a three-piece lot of 1877 $50 patterns); Robert Schermerhorn, sold privately on 8/22/1954 for $665; John Jay Pittman Collection, Part I (David Akers, 10/1997), lot 810, realized $110,000; Bob R. Simpson Collection.
2. PR66 Red and Brown PCGS. Gaston DiBello Collection (Stack's, 5/1970), lot 510; Harry W. Bass, Jr. Foundation Collection (HBCC# 6137); Harry W. Bass, Jr. Core Collection, Part IV (Heritage, 8/2023), lot 9108, realized $360,000.
3. PR65 Gilt PCGS. Auction '87 (Stack's, 7/1987), lot 850; Lemus Collection, Queller Family Collection, Part II (Heritage, 1/2009), lot 1887, realized $207,000; Bob R. Simpson Collection. The present coin.
4. PR64 Brown PCGS CAC. William H. Woodin Collection; Waldo C. Newcomer Collection (per Saul Teichman); F.C.C. Boyd Collection; Numismatic Gallery; Dr. J. Hewitt Judd Collection; Abe Kosoff; R.L. Hughes (7/1980), lot 172; Steve Ivy (8/1983), lot 4604; Rajj Collection (Stack's Bowers, 8/2011), lot 7529, realized $184,000; Bob R. Simpson Collection, Part VI (Heritage, 8/2021), lot 3206, realized $174,000.
5. PR63 Gilt PCGS. ANA Signature (Heritage, 7/1993), lot 5882, realized $79,750; Medio/Da Costa Gomez Collections (Stack's/ANR, 6/2004), lot 1684, realized $143,750; Pacific Rim Collection (Heritage, 8/2007), lot 2121, not sold; FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2008), lot 3483, not sold; Boston Rarities (Bowers and Merena, 8/2010), lot 1376, not sold; Pittsburgh Signature (Heritage, 10/2011), lot 4582, realized $184,000; National Money Auction (Kagin's, 4/2019), lot 1574, realized $192,000.
6. Choice Proof Gilt, Uncertified. Col. O.C. Bosbyshell; Harold P. Newlin Collection, sold privately on 12/31/1885; T. Harrison Garrett Collection; Robert Garrett Collection; John Work Garrett Collection; Johns Hopkins University Collection, Part II (Bowers and Ruddy, 3/1980), lot 1098, realized $55,000.
7. Proof, Uncertified. Matthew A. Stickney Collection (Henry Chapman, 6/1907), lot 575, realized $39; Joseph C. Mitchelson Collection (Connecticut State Library, 7/1913).
8. Proof, Uncertified. Byron Reed Collection; Durham Western Heritage Museum.
9. Proof Gilt, Uncertified. Chase Manhattan Bank Collection; National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution (ID #1979.1263.01050).
10. VF30, Uncertified. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Auction (Spink, 3/1983), lot 740; ANA Auction (Kagin's, 8/1983), lot 3054, realized $5,000; Dr. Linkner Collection (per Saul Teichman).
Important Selections from The Bob R. Simpson Collection, Part XI.

Coin Index Numbers: (PCGS# 861891, Greysheet# 243892)

View all of [Important Selections from The Bob R. Simpson Collection, Part XI ]

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