This exquisite Liberty Seated half dollar from the first year of production offers colorful toning and exceptionally well preserved, premium Gem surfaces. Silky smooth and satiny surfaces are adorned with bright cobalt blue, rose-russet and reddish-orange. A bit lightly struck in the centers, as typically seen on early Liberty Seated halves from both the Philadelphia and New Orleans mints, both sides are sharp elsewhere. Vibrant luster adds to the appeal of this important condition rarity.This is the first issue of the Drapery Liberty Seated half dollar design type, differing from its identically dated No Drapery counterpart primarily through the addition of extra folds of drapery to the gown at Libertys left elbow. This work was done by Christian Gobrecht, who seems to have added the extra drapery folds directly to the master die, from which a new master hub was raised. In order to balance the new design, Gobrecht modified the master hub by removing portions of the rock upon which Liberty is seated, both below the foot and, in particular, in the area closest to star 1. So modified, the master hub was used to raise another, final master die for the new Drapery half dollar type.Although somewhat overshadowed by the 1839 No Drapery because of that issues status as a one year type, the 1839 Drapery is nearly on par as a condition rarity. Indeed, Randy Wiley and Bill Bugert (The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dollars, 1993) rank Mint State survivors of these two issues nearly identically as Rarity-6- and Rarity-5+, respectively. The present example is the single finest certified 1839 Drapery half dollar known to PCGS and NGC, and we are also not aware of another coin that is equal or finer. For the first year type collector or Liberty Seated half dollar specialist, the present offering is of the utmost importance. Bid accordingly, as it may be many years before this exquisite Gem returns to the open market.
