1864-S Liberty Seated Half Dollar. WB-1. Rarity-2. Type I Reverse, Large S. MS-66 (NGC). A find for advanced collectors of Liberty Seated half dollars or early San Francisco Mint coinage. Brilliant apart from splashes of faint champagne-gold iridescence, both sides are intensely lustrous with a bold satin finish. The strike is full through the centers, bold to sharp at the peripheries. Silky smooth in texture with eye appeal to spare.<p>Numismatists often credit the annual Assay Commission for preservation of truly exceptional early San Francisco (and Carson City) Mint coinage such as this premium Gem Uncirculated 1864-S half dollar. We have no way of knowing if this is true, of course, but clearly extraordinary factors must have been at work. For this is a scarce issue in an absolute sense, the mintage of 658,000 coins seeing heavy commercial use that, in most cases, eventually led to destruction through melting. Add to this the established fact that there was no contemporary numismatic activity in California during the 1860s and it is easy to understand why a high quality Mint State 1864-S half dollar like this is a major condition rarity.<p>WB-1 is the only one of five known die marriages of this issue to feature the Type I Reverse hub and Large S mintmark. PCGS# 6312. NGC ID: 24JE. NGC Census: 2; with a single MS-67 finer. The corresponding PCGS Population is 1/0. From the Arlington Collection. Earlier from Heritage sale of the Bob R. Simpson Collection, Part I, September 2020, lot 10079.
