LOT #98525 |
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1839 50C Drapery PR64 NGC....
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Sold on Oct 27, 2014 for:
$99,875.00
Bid Source: HA.com/Live bidder
Description
1839 With Drapery Half Dollar, PR64
Likely Unique, the Pittman Coin
1839 50C Drapery PR64 NGC. The Pittman Collection example,
likely unique. Deep mirrored fields, including areas within the
shields, greet the viewer of this wonderful near-Gem proof 1839
With Drapery half dollar. Whispers of light gold patina around the
margins take on faint reddish-tan hues. Relatively strong
field-motif contrast, particularly on the reverse, becomes evident
when the coin is tilted under a light. The strike is solid,
virtually full save for minor softness in the center of star 7. A
few unobtrusive field hairlines and some minute marks on the lower
part of Liberty's left (facing) arm account for the gradeVariety: With Drapery. Far more common grade-for-grade than the No Drapery in circulation-strike format, but this piece is apparently unique as a proof.
Population Data (7/14): This PR64 NGC example is the sole example of the 1839 With Drapery half certified at either NGC or PCGS -- understandably so for a coin thought to be unique.
Heritage Commentary: The rarity of the 1839 proof With Drapery half dollar is attested to by the solitary example certified by either NGC or PCGS -- this NGC-graded PR64 coin out of the John Jay Pittman and the Phil Kaufman collections. A second proof was reportedly part of the Norweb Collection (Breen incorrectly called it No Drapery), sold to the family by Hollinbeck Coin Company, but that piece turned out to be a prooflike example and not a true proof.
Very little reference to this issue is found in the numismatic literature, and what does appear is cryptic. In the Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dollars, Randy Wiley and Bill Bugert indicate that the With Drapery variety is unknown, obviously unaware of the Pittman-Kaufman example. Walter Breen, in his 1989 Proof Encyclopedia only says "extra fold of drapery at elbow. Menjou:15, possibly reappearing as Lichtenfels I:2799. Unverified." Abe Kosoff sold the Menjou Collection in June 1950, and Abner Kreisberg joined with Hans Schulman to sell the Lichtenfels Collection in February 1961.
David Akers, in his cataloging of this piece in the John Jay Pittman Collection, reports that Pittman bought the coin from the Kreisberg-Schulman sale of the Gustav Lichtenfels Collection. The coin is thought to have previously been in the Virgil Brand Collection.
It is seldom that one has the opportunity to bid on a coin that appears unique and exhibits outstanding technical quality and aesthetic appeal. But then, there are precious few collections so replete with rarity and quality as the Gardner Collection.
Provenance: Gustav Lichtenfels Collection (Kreisberg-Schulman, 2/1961), lot 2799; John Jay Pittman (David Akers, 5/1998), lot 1517; Phil Kaufman; Kaufman Collection Part III / Rosemont Central States Signature (Heritage, 4/2008), lot 2377.
Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 24LD, PCGS# 6383, Greysheet# 6379)
Weight: 13.36 grams
Metal: 90% Silver, 10% Copper
Auction Info
2014 October 27 The Eugene H. Gardner Collection II US Coins Signature Auction - New York #1214 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
October, 2014
27th
Monday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 14
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 1,279
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
17.5% of the successful bid per lot.
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