CHOICE PCGS MS62 1803/2 HALF EAGLE WITH CAC APPROVAL

BD-2, R-5. Imperfect T in LIBERTY.  A scarce variety with 40-50 reported to exist.

All half eagles from this year are 1803/2 overdates. There are four varieties: two with a perfect T in LIBERTY and two on which the right foot on the T is missing. As a date, this is among the more available issues of this design. From time to time, the 1803/2 half eagle is available in properly graded MS62 to MS63. It is rare in MS64 and exceedingly rare in Gem. The finest known is the PCGS MS66+ which sold for a rousing $440,625 as Lot 2083 in the September 2015 Pogue Collection event.

This lovely coin has rich, frosty luster beneath soft orange-gold color which is a bit deeper in hue on the reverse. The strike is sharp which is impressive given the massive bisecting vertical die crack across the reverse; this should have impaired the overall quality of strike but it didn't. The surfaces are very clean with just a few really small marks seen in the obverse fields; the reverse is a full MS63. This coin is exactly what a piece of early gold should look like; not the bright, character-free pieces which often trade in MS62 holders.

The last CAC approved MS62 example of the 1803/2 half eagle to trade at auction was an NGC coin which realized $17,038 as Heritage 2/17: 3947. A PCGS MS62 with CAC approval brought $21,250 in the DLRC 5/16 sale.

This would make a great type coin for the collector seeking a single nice Bust Right half eagle for a basic early gold set or it would fit well into an impressive date run of this denomination.

CAC has approved 14 in this grade with 17 finer.

Ex Heritage 2008 FUN Sale: 3140 (as NGC MS62) where it realized $16,100.

FROM THE WESTERN SPRINGS II COLLECTION