“The late Peter Mougey, Esq. may be said to have been a numismatic seer. The perfect preservation of practically every one of his coins proves that when, many years ago, he purchased the pieces, he looked far into the future. He prized only those coins which were beautifully preserved, only the ones which turn out to be the most valuable today.” — Thomas Elder, 1910 A lovely example, with a far more crisp appearance than most specimens of this date, the second 1814/3 half eagle in the Pogue Collection is struck from the elusive unclashed state of the obverse die. The color and luster lend exceptional visual appeal for the grade, with obverse cartwheel and satiny reverse bloom enlivening deep yellow gold surfaces that retain highlights of pale green and subtle orange. The strike is excellent, fully realizing the designs of both sides. Though tiny marks are scattered over both sides, none are individually noteworthy. A thin scratch over the top arrowhead is barely visible to the naked eye, as are a thin nearly vertical abrasion just off the tip of Liberty’s nose and a tiny nick high on her cheek. LIBERTY on the cap resembles a theatre marquee, brightly polished in the depths of the die and somewhat prooflike here. The die states are equivalent to Bass-Dannreuther states b/c, with the fine crack at the base of 4 visible on the obverse, as are a batch of lapping lines beneath the lowest curl. No clash is yet seen on the obverse. On the reverse, evidence of a clash is buried within the bottom of the shield; otherwise the die state is much as it was on the latest state of 1813 BD-2. A healthy helping of fine vertically oriented lapping lines run parallel to each other over much of the reverse, resembling fine adjustment marks over much of that side but more obviously raised die lines among the letters of AMERICA. In the midst of a war that brought the enemy to the American homeland, and even into the parlors of the White House, specie was scarce, and gold was kept close at hand. Deposits at the Mint were minimal, and the mintage of gold coins reflects it. Just over 15,000 half eagles were struck at the United States Mint in 1814, all from a single pair of dies. All were saved instead of spent, and most were exported as soon as the opportunity presented itself amidst the trans-Atlantic conflict. The Bass-Dannreuther text estimates that fewer than 100 pieces survive in all states of preservation today. David Akers suggested to Mr. Pogue many years ago that this was the Jake Bell (Jacob Shapiro) coin, sold in his 1963 RARCOA auction, but that coin had a very distinctive flaw on the rim beneath the date and was unquestionably a different specimen. While this coin was not offered in that sale or other auctions to which Bell (a nom-de-coin) was a principal consignor (including Abe Kosoff’s 1948 “Memorable” sale and Stack’s 1944 J.F. Bell sale), it may have been handled privately by him during his long career as a collector and dealer of rare gold coins. This coin’s provenance to the Mougey Collection is a history to be prized. Peter Mougey, a resident of Cincinnati, formed a particularly famous cabinet of early cents, but “in gold coins this collection is especially rich,” Thomas Elder wrote in the catalog’s introduction. Mougey was most acquisitive in the 1880s and 1890s, and the list of sales his coins come from, printed in the catalog’s front matter, reads like a litany of numismatic saints: “Mickley, Winsor, Bushnell, Parmelee, Frothingham, Cleneay, Maris, and others.” The sale was held over three days in September 1910, and its total price realized of $20,459.79 was “the largest amount ever realized at a coin sale in New York City” up to that time. With uniformly superb condition among the coins sold, the Mougey name has been associated with connoisseur-quality preservation for over a century. This coin is no exception. PCGS# 8117. NGC ID: 25PN.
