|
Sale 63
The Pre-Long Beach Auction of US, World Coins and Currency
| Lot |
Photo |
Description |
Realized |
Lot 710 |
 |
1792 Half Disme in Silver with Reeded Edge Judd-7, Breen-1360. PCGS graded AU-55 PQ. Very attractive glossy light steel and gunmetal gray with lustrous bright silver in the protected areas. Subtle bluish steel overtones enhance the eye appeal of this outstanding piece. The obverse fields display a bit of reflectivity while the reverse fields are frosty. There are no marks on either side, just the barest hint of friction on the highest points of the portrait. The obverse is well centered on the planchet while the reverse is off a bit to the bottom, as usual. Struck in medal turn, head-to-head. While many of the surviving examples of our tiny Half Disme display obvious adjustment marks (where a file was used to remove a tiny amount of metal from an overweight planchet prior to striking), the planchet for this example is nearly flawless. A strong glass reveals a few faint adjustment marks in the center on both sides where there was not enough planchet metal to completely fill the dies. As a result the chest of the eagle is not filled out (which is also typical of these tiny pieces). The Half Disme has the distinction of being the first United States silver coin made for general circulation, although some researchers suggest these pieces may have been patterns for our initial silver coinage (hence the Judd-7 pattern designation). However, President George Washington stated in his fourth Annual Address of 6 November 1792, "There has been a small beginning in the coinage of half dismes, the want of coins in circulation calling the first attention to them." The fact that we encounter so many well-circulated examples today attests to their use in general commerce. George Washington provided the silver for these pieces, about $100 worth, that was used to produce approximately 1500 of these tiny Half Dismes (the remainder of the silver apparently being scrap). The planchets were prepared and delivered to the minting facility by Thomas Jefferson, and the coins were struck in the cellar of saw maker John Harper. Harper's tiny "mint" was located a few blocks from the first US Mint in Philadelphia, which was under construction at the time. It would be difficult to overstate the historic significance of these tiny United States coins, and this lot offers an outstanding opportunity to own a truly beautiful example. (For more details regarding the history and significance of these tiny coins, see the report written by Joel Orosz and Carl Herkowitz in the ANS American Journal of Numismatics #15 in 2003.) PCGS population 7; 21 finer.
Estimated Value $100,000 - 125,000.
View details and enlarged photos
| Realized
$149,500 |
|
|
