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1853'O' No Arrows and Rays. Choice Very Fine. The Garrett Coin
From Stack's October 2006 New York Auction, Session 1 on Oct 17, 2006
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 1853'O' No Arrows and Rays. Choice Very Fine. The Garrett Coin. A coin with a rather unassuming appearance of medium silver-gray with clean surfaces from circulation. For the grade, the coin is nicer than one might expect, and in fact, LIBERTY is full on the shield. There are some darker gray toning spots in the fields, generally near the devices. Flecks of gold and russet are seen near the date. Considering that a mere three examples are known, and the other two grade Very Good and Good respectively, the present example is far and away the finest example to survive.
The 1853'O' No Arrows and Rays is one of the rarest and most desirable of all United States issues. Its existence was first announced by J. W. Haseltine prior to 1881. Curiously, none were reported as struck in the official New Orleans Mint records, so the fact that any are known is somewhat odd.
How these came to be struck appears to be as follows. The Philadelphia Mint shipped six new 1853 (without Arrows) dies to New Orleans in late 1852 or early January 1853. The coiner from New Orleans apparently mated one of the new obverse dies with a leftover reverse die from 1851 or prior (Breen notes several reverse dies were on hand at the time--time machines come in handy). Recall that during this period the California Gold Rush was in full swing, the price of gold had dropped dramatically relative to silver as so much gold was coming to market. Silver coins had virtually disappeared from circulation by 1852, as in fact, coins could be melted for a profit by selling the silver above the face value of the coins.
Congress acted on February 21, 1853 by passing a Mint Act that reduced the amount of silver required for all denominations except for the Silver Dollar which was left alone for tradition's sake and the Three Cent Silver coin, which already contained less silver than its stated denomination. The Half Dollar had its silver content shaved from 13.36 grams to 12.44 grams. In order to stop the wholesale melting of silver coins for profit, the Philadelphia Mint decided to announce this reduction by adding two small Arrows at the date, and on the reverse they placed encircling glory rays around the eagle. No one could miss these changes, which soon stopped the melting of silver coins, and eventually silver returned to circulation--at least until the outbreak of the Civil War not too many years later.
The present coin reportedly weights 201.0 grains or 13.02 grams; about as expected for a circulated coin struck at 208.0 grains +/-1.5 grains weight standard from 1794 through early 1853. The Very Good Eliasberg example weighs 202.3 grains and the Good example from the King Collection weighs 199.6 grains. With the 1853 revisions to the weight content of Half Dollars dropping to 192 grains, each of the three known survivors were struck using the old 208 grain standard in place since 1794 when Half Dollars were first coined.
We can therefore assume that these No Arrows half dollars were struck between January 1, 1853 and the end of February, allowing a week for news to travel to New Orleans from Philadelphia. Others, if coined, were likely melted during the years following as silver remained high relative to the price of gold. It is possible that these were released later in 1853 along with the first batch of With Arrows coins, or perhaps they escaped the melting pot by being saved until well after the Civil War, only to be spent once silver prices had normalized in the 1870s and stayed in commerce until plucked out of circulation or held aside randomly.
The present coin was recognized by J. W. Haseltine by 1881 and publicized then. Another was turned up by 1892, and the third was displayed by H. O. Granberg in 1911. Incredibly, since that time, no others have been discovered. Other rarities seem to turn up every now and then, such as an example of the rare 1817/4 Half Dollar that was literally dug up out of the ground about two years ago. The 1853'O' No Arrows count remains where it has been since 1911, the year before the Titanic was sunk.
Remarkably, extensive publication in Wayte Raymond's Standard Catalog and Yeoman's Guide Book for decades has failed to turn up another, and further publication in the Garrettt-Guth volume The 100 Greatest U. S. Coins has only increased demand for this issue. Several of the coins that made the top 100 list are unique, and many of those are impounded in museums, making it impossible to collect all of the coins listed. The present coin is one of the very rarest issues that is obtainable with patience and a very healthy checkbook from The 100 Greatest U. S. Coins dream collection. One of the most important highlights of this or any collection, and certain to delight the new owner and forever memorialize any collection it graces. PCGS VF35.
The three known examples and pedigree chains are listed below.
1). The present specimen. Very Fine. Ex J. W. Haseltine by 1881; J. Colvin Randall Collection (W. Elliot Woodward's 77th Sale, 1885, lot 421); Harold P. Newlin; T. Harrison Garrett; John Work Garrett; The Johns Hopkins University; The Garrett Collection, Part II (Bowers and Ruddy, November 1979, lot 339); David Queller; The Queller Family Collection (Stack's, October 2002, lot 530); Jim Gray's North Carolina Collection (Bowers and Merena, February 2004, lot 2332).
2). Very Good. H. O. Granberg and exhibited at the 1911 ANA Convention; William H. Woodin; Waldo C. Newcomer; B. Max Mehl; Colonel E.H.R. Green; Charles M. Williams Collection ''Menjou Collection'' (Numismatic Gallery, Abe Kosoff and Abner Kreisberg, June 1950, lot 1984); Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr., Collection (Bowers and Merena/Stack's, April 1997, lot 1955).
3). Good. Ex Colin E. King (1892); Col. E.H.R. Green; Anderson-Dupont Collection (Stack's, 1954); C. A. Cass ''Empire Collection'' (Stack's, December 1957); A.M. and Paul Kagin, Hollinbeck Coin Co.; R. E. Cox, Jr., Sale (Stack's, April 1962); E. Yale Clarke Sale (Stack's, October 1975); Julian Leidman; Roy Ash; Leon Goodman; Bryan Sale, 1977; Julian Leidman; Jules Reiver; Julian Leidman; Jonathan Kern; Charles Barasch; New England Collection; Charles Barasch; Julian Leidman; Kenneth Goldman; South Florida Rare Coins; Private California Collection.
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| Hammer Price: $320,000.00
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