Lot 1633
1869 Pattern Half Dollar. Aluminum, Plain Edge. Judd-753. Pollock-836 High Rarity 7. PCGS graded Proof 65. Tied for Finest at PCGS. Unsurpassable in terms of surface preservation, both sides are thickly frosted and essentially tone-free. The devices were struck smack on the dot at the required force by the Pattern Proof dies leaving all design elements plain and trim, clear-cut, with not even one iota of weakness as found on some examples of the various STANDARD and STANDARD SILVER types parading around in the same numerical grade.
During the late-nineteenth Century it began to occur to the Treasury Department that a subsidiary coinage -- i.e., one in which there is less than full metallic value relative to face value -- was acceptable to the public at large. The reasoning behind this was the public's ready acceptance of Civil War tokens, shin plasters (private bank notes), and Fractional Currency, none of which had any intrinsic value and yet circulated widely. Patterns such as this may have been the American government's first venture into issuing token coinage. By the 1890s, with silver's price declining fast, our fractional denominations had become true token coinage (although still minted in precious metal). It was not until 1965 when clad coins arrived that the government completed the process. (The next iteration being discussed non-publicly and site-tested is rumored to be steel alloy coins to replace the current dime, quarter, and half dollar sandwich pieces.) Pop 2; none finer at PCGS (PCGS # 60982) .
Estimated Value $5,000 - 5,500.
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