Phil bought most of the nicest coins in the Eliasberg auction in 1997, then spent the next nine years upgrading as many of the coins as he could. -- Jim Halperin, 2008.A spectacular Capped Bust half dollar, stellar in every aesthetic and technical facet, a coin any numismatist would feel privileged to study. The blended pale olive and rich golden obverse surface is aglow with lustrous cartwheel, matched by the similarly lustrous and beautiful reverse, toned gold, peach, champagne, pale blue, and violet. The strike is firm enough to educe each star center, an expressive look on the face of Liberty, and a sharp frame of denticles on both sides. The frosty surfaces are pristine, notably free of any significant distraction. A very shallow abrasion is present on the throat of Liberty, a few wispy lines and trivial contact points here and there, nothing that would offend even the most strident grade purist. A vestige of an ancient fingerprint is blended into the toning near Libertys bust, left behind by someone long since deceased. Up close and at arms length, this coin is precariously close to perfection.Aside from the remarkable beauty of this coin, its die state likewise engages the viewer, with an extensive network of obverse cracks. From a point beneath the bust truncation that appears to have suffered some manner of damage while in use, a crack stretches over Libertys chest to the inside points of star 3 and the outside points of star 4. Another short crack extends from the damage point to her shoulder curls, giving birth to a crack through the first 8 of the date that has broken deeply enough that the left and right sides of that digit are on different planes. The depth of that break affected the reverse, as the centers of the letters of STATES OF show some modest softness, a by-product of insufficient oppositional pressure applied by the now broken lower portion of the obverse die. Atop the obverse, another severe crack descends from the rim above star 7 to I of LIBERTY. An extremely fine crack has just begun from the folds of Libertys drapery to the field left of the top of the first 1 in the date.A world-class example of this variety, date, or design type, this is one of six Capped Bust half dollars in this offering of the D. Brent Pogue Collection to be graded MS-67 by PCGS, an extraordinary level of preservation that is almost never encountered in more typical settings. The Overton-Parsley Condition Census of 67-66-65-64-64 means only two coins from these dies surpass the gem level. Both of them are present in the Pogue Collection, in this lot and the one that follows.This was part of the remarkable Phil Kaufman Collection of Capped Bust half dollars, a date set assembled with coins of dramatic quality. After reaching the pinnacle of the competitive Numismatic Guaranty Corporations Registry, being awarded the title of "all-time finest," the set was sold to Heritage Auction Galleries, which then resold it intact to a collector using the pseudonym "Joseph C. Thomas" in July 2008.
