The closest a collector can come to an 1804 half dollar, in the finest grade. A satiny delight, the closest any collector will come to a half dollar with the charismatic date of 1804 as no non-overdates were made. Mostly golden toned with contrasting deep sea green and olive at areas of the obverse periphery. Boldly lustrous on both sides and exhibiting exceptional visual appeal. A natural planchet striation stretches out from Liberty s shoulder and lowest curls. A glass reveals some minor evidence of handling, including a thin scratch above the date and some trivial scattered contact points, none notable or fresh. The strike is crisp at centers, with above average details in Liberty s hair, the shield, and the eagle s breast feathers. The areas of weakness like the lowest curl, stars 2 through 4 and 13, and the wingtip at left, suggest the difficulty encountered completely striking coins using dies of this diameter and this relief with a single blow of a manually operated screw press. Perfect dies with no cracks or clashes. The overdate is easily seen with the naked eye and comes to the fore under even low magnification. Collectors like Norweb, R.L. Miles, Oviedo, and James A. Stack had to satisfy themselves with worn examples of this variety. James A. Brilliant and Reed Hawn had AUs, and Douglas Noblet had none at all. The only major offerings of Draped Bust halves to include Mint State examples of this famous overdate have been the Eliasberg and Newman sales. This example is the Eliasberg coin, cataloged at the time as finest known and in a class by itself. It was indeed in a class by itself as the only MS-65 certified by PCGS until the sale of the long-impounded Eric P. Newman material. Sold as an NGC MS-65, it has since crossed over to PCGS MS-65, placing two coins from legendary cabinets atop everyone s accounting of the finest specimens from these dies. The two coins have different looks, and many may prefer one over the other, but there is not a coin extant that can surpass this one on its technical merits. With no 1804-dated half dollars ever struck by the United States Mint, this coin assumes a mantle of special desirability and interest.
