 1836 O-116 (R-7 as Proof). Lettered Edge, 50 over 00 blunder. Very Choice Brilliant Proof. Here is an extraordinary coin that apparently has been tucked away for perhaps half a century, and does not appear to have been auctioned previously. Toned rich gunmetal gray with glorious blue hues mixed with rose and russet colors on both sides. The surfaces are very choice indeed, and the reverse would probably rate a full Gem if graded on its own. The obverse has a few thin hairlines in the upper left field which keep this one from a higher grade.
Boldly struck save for the sixth star which shows softness on its central lines, and on the reverse at the top of the denomination and eagle's talons and branch, matching the Lathrop/Landau/Noblet specimen #3 below with this striking characteristic. Some of this softness may have been caused by die lapping to attempt to efface the offending blunder on the denomination. Deeply reflective in the fields, with no hints of frost present, and a no nonsense Proof coin in every respect. Identifiable by a minute planchet flake extending up from the middle of the eagle's neck on the right into the field above and a tiny contact mark in the obverse field between the inside point of the third star and Liberty's chin. Further identifiable by the edge lettering slightly overrunning the word FIFTY with the first two letters surrounded by the reeding from a partial second pass through the Castaing machine.
Other evidence exists that the present coin wobbled within the Castaing machine, as portions of the edge devices are unevenly applied. Specimen number 3 below has the word FIFTY doubled entirely on the edge, as the coiner apparently had difficulty imparting the lettered edge to these early Proof issues.
The known examples include the following specimens in Proof:
1). NGC PR67. The Eliasberg specimen (Superior March 2001) lot 284 and from the Eliasberg Collection Part II, (Bowers and Merena/Stack's, April 1997) lot 1906.
2). Very Choice Proof. The Present Northern Bay Collection specimen. Prior pedigree unknown.
3). PCGS PR63. The Noblet specimen (Bowers and Merena, January 1999) lot 1136; Landau Collection, (New Netherlands #52, December 1958) lot 565 and Lathrop Collection (New Netherlands #45, April 1955) lot 795.
4). NGC PR63. The Hain specimen (Stack's January 2002) lot 1433; Heritage ANA Sale, July 1997, lot 6353.
5). Proof. The Freeman Specimen. S. W. Freeman Sale (Kreisberg-Schulman May 1958) lot 1655; Empire Coin Company; Lester Merkin's Sale, September 1967, lot 256. May be included above. This coin appears to have been bright and untoned in 1967 and is plated in the Breen Proof Encyclopedia and does not appear to be the present specimen.
6). Impaired Proof. Breen specimen. Reported in Walter Breen's Proof Encyclopedia as a coin he owned in 1956 that was impaired.
| |
|
