“Rather than wastefully discard the still usable die, the final digit was punched over, thus changing the date.” — C.C. Chamberlain and Fred Reinfeld, Coin Dictionary and Guide, 1960 Attractive pale blue dominates the highly lustrous peripheries of both sides, blending with peach and pale violet over the obverse while golden gray centers alight the reverse. The strike is bold, showing full centers to all stars on the obverse and nice detail in the talons and arrows on the reverse. A scattering of tiny contact points is seen on the portrait and some subtle hairlines are found in the fields. This die state, slightly later than that seen on the previous coin, shows vestiges of die clashing, chiefly visible as a line under the eagle’s wing at left and another impression at the top of the same wing. With 28 different obverse dies used in 1827, and one more dated 1827 that was not put into use until overdated in 1829, the Philadelphia Mint’s engraving staff clearly had their hands full producing enough coinage dies for this year’s half dollar mintage. Thirty-four different reverse dies were employed, including one that had been used previously in 1826. All functional dies were put into use, including this obverse, which required a simple overdating fix to render it fit for service in 1827. Overdates are fairly commonplace in the Capped Bust half dollar series. In the 1820s alone, collectors can seek out 1820/19, 1824/1, 1824/various dates (sometimes called 1824/2/0), 1827/6, and 1829/7 among half dollars, along with overdates on denominations from cents to half eagles. Since the earliest days of variety collecting in the United States, overdates have been sought enthusiastically. Today, aided by the popularity of modern overdates like the 1942/1 Mercury dime, collectors place premium value on overdates of all kinds, a phenomenon that has spread to world coin collecting as well. This coin is tied as finest 1827/6 half dollar certified by PCGS with just one coin, offered in the preceding lot. PCGS# 39752. NGC ID: 24FP.
