“When we say ‘half a dollar,’ we mean in value only, but ‘a half dollar’ means a coin or piece of money.” — Noah Webster, An Improved Grammar of the English Language, 1833 Perilously close to perfection, this gem’s blend of pastel blue and silvery gold toning is as distinctive as it is beautiful. Its luster has lost none of its brilliance since the moment it was minted, and its visual appeal has only improved. The fields are close to pristine, displaying very few marks of any caliber under extended magnified scrutiny. Some lines are seen on the cheek, trivial though they may be, and a shallow abrasion is present near the lower point of star 6. The strike is excellent, full on the reverse and very close to full on the obverse, where the high points of a few curls are a bit rounded. The obverse fields show some fatigued texture and a tiny raised die artifact above the inside point of star 11, but neither die is cracked nor clashed. Some elements of the reverse periphery are drawn to the rim, but only to a minor degree. The half dollars of 1833 were the first to be struck in the brand new Mint building at Juniper and Chestnut streets in Philadelphia. The Mint operations would remain at the new edifice until 1901, presenting a more impressive exterior to the world than the original structure, complete with Ionic columns and white marble facing Chestnut Street. While the laying of the cornerstone on July 4, 1829, received a good deal of publicity, little attended the official opening of the new Mint. The first coins struck at the second Philadelphia Mint would bear no hallmarks of new technology, nor any other distinguishing feature, as they were struck with the same methods and on the same equipment as the issues that had preceded them. This half dollar is proof that the coiners of the second Philadelphia Mint took no time getting accustomed to their new situation. It displays the sort of luster, color, strike, and immaculate surface that answers the question of why a gem MS-65 is only a MS-65. The answer, in short, is because coins like this exist. Rare though they may be, they prove that it is possible for an American coin of this era that was intended for circulation to be preserved in a state that surpasses the typical condition of most coins on the day they left the Mint. PCGS has seen just three examples of this type that rise to the MS-67+ standard, including this coin. Only two examples of the type have been graded finer. One is the Simpson 1824 O-104, the other is the James W. Lull 1833 O-108. This company places this coin among the top five Capped Bust half dollars certified by PCGS among total submissions of over 53,000 pieces, a rarified strata equal to the top .009%. PCGS# 39903. NGC ID: 24FX.
