“Half of the United States coins in the Norweb Collection were purchased by Bert Holden from 1907 to 1912, the majority being collected in the two years from September 1908 to October 1910.” — Q. David Bowers, The Norweb Collection: An American Legacy, 1987 With light yellow gold surfaces that retain beautiful highlights of faint green and a provenance that extends back over a century, this half eagle is a showcase of extraordinary originality. Its satiny luster is profound on both sides. A few small coppery highlights are seen, outside of stars 1 and 2, below star 5, below the centering dot, in the space between O and F of OF, and above the top left serif of D in the denomination. All intended details are present, well struck and bold. Scattered light marks do nothing to diminish the superb visual appeal, including a short line of nicks along Liberty’s jawline, a fine rim abrasion below the first 8 of the date, a shallow abrasion in the field above the eagle’s head, and a similar abrasion among the feathers of the eagle’s throat. The overdate is easily seen at the last date digit, where the top left serif of the flag of the 7 protrudes beyond the upper left of the 8 and the base of that flag is visible within it. The scalloped 13th star hallmark of the designer is crisp. The die state is early, with no cracks or clashing. The rim is crumbled above N of UNITED, as seen on the brief previous use of this reverse. Kendrick’s Money Exchange, located in 1909 at 218 Washington Street in Boston, was a dabbler in the rare coin market. Primarily an exchange broker, buying and selling foreign currency for the commercial and tourist markets, Kendrick’s storefront signage advertised steam-ship tickets and postage stamps for sale. The latter racket landed Kendrick’s in the Boston newspapers in 1902, when 21-year-old Henry J. Gordon was arrested for stealing stamps from his workplace and selling them for 95% of face value at Kendrick’s. In the numismatic world, Kendrick’s was a distributor of premium price lists published by other dealers, including Lyman Low of New York, and an advertiser in The Numismatist. John P. Conroy was named in the advertisements as the manager of Kendrick’s, which occasionally included individual listings of valuable pieces, almost always gold coins. The tenor of their marketing suggests that Kendrick’s primary business was buying coins from the general public of Boston, not making a retail marketplace or carrying an extensive inventory. The appearance of this coin on the counter of Kendrick’s Money Exchange must have been exciting, a change of pace from the “mutilated gold and silver coin” they advertised to buy. This was a very valuable coin in 1909; the Edgar H. Adams premium list published that year cited a value of $12 for an Uncirculated 1808 half eagle, the price realized for the example of this date sold in Thomas Elder’s October 1908 James B. Wilson sale, the precise coin that appears in the next lot. Albert Fairchild Holden was a fairly private collector, eschewing mention of his name in contemporary publications, begging the question: how did Kendrick’s Money Exchange know of him, or how did he find out about their gem 1808/7 half eagle discovery? Two die marriages of 1808/7 half eagles exist, both struck with a reverse die that made its debut on the final die combination of 1807, BD-8. The first 1808/7 variety is a significant rarity, its life truncated by a die crack that essentially bisects the obverse. Fewer than 30 survivors are known in all grades. That broken obverse die was replaced with the present obverse, creating 1808/7 BD-2, but this die also broke apart, rendering this die variety almost as scarce as the first. The PCGS population of 1808/7 half eagles is more than four times smaller than that of normal date 1808 coins. In Mint State, the 1808/7 half eagle is particularly rare, and a grade higher than MS-63 has been extended on just three occasions. This is the only gem, the sole PCGS MS-65, acquired in the first Norweb sale in 1987 and prized in the D. Brent Pogue Collection ever since. It has been sold just once since it appeared at Kendrick’s Money Exchange in the first decade of the 20th century. PCGS# 45637. NGC ID: 25PB.
