“This was more than the sale of the year, more than the sale of the decade, more than the sale of the century – more than the sale of a lifetime. This was the greatest gold coin sale ever.” — David Hall, “The Gold Coins of Louis Eliasberg,” Coin Dealer Newsletter, November 1982 The discovery specimen of the variety, the finest known example, and the most thoroughly provenanced: this coin can carry the weight of no further superlatives. Coronas of satiny luster and copper orange highlights surround every design element, magnificently toned with hints of violet and pale blue standing out against the perfect deep yellow patina. Aesthetically blessed like few other examples of this type, this coin also reaches the pinnacle of technical excellence. The fields reveal no contact marks of consequence and yield precious few scattered lines to magnified scrutiny. A tiny vertical nick is noted near the bust tip, a single line crosses the base of Liberty’s ear curl, and an even shorter line holds close to the tip of the eagle’s beak. Very little else of similarly minimal impact can be found. The strike is bold, soft only on Liberty’s ear curl, revealing all intended fine details on both sides. The repunching error in the denomination is visible to the naked eye and clear under low magnification. The reverse die is rotated very slightly, perhaps 10 degrees clockwise from proper coin turn. Both dies are clashed, deeply at the centers, where some of the shield details appear in the recesses of LIBERTY and a retrograde impression of LIBERTY is seen within the right side of the shield. In the fields, the evidence of clashing is far shallower. The obverse shows traces under the bust, at the angle of Liberty’s chin and throat, and at her forecurl. The reverse vestiges appear above and beneath each wing of the eagle and on either side of his neck. Fine die cracks, undescribed in the Bass-Dannreuther text, connect NI of UNITED at their top serifs, TES of STATES at the lower half of their top serifs, and the tops of OF. This variety was likely discovered by Harlan Page Smith, a dealer who was one of the foremost collectors of United States gold coins of his generation, but it wasn’t described in print until this coin was sold after his death. S. Hudson and Henry Chapman offered the H.P. Smith Collection in May 1906, noting in their description of this specimen “The D in the denomination has been cut over the letter O showing that the die sinker originally made it 50 instead of 5D.” They correctly surmised that the die originally read 50; the character beneath the D is a 0, not a O. John Dannreuther credits this coin as the discovery piece for the variety in Early U.S. Gold Coin Varieties, further noting that specimens of this die marriage were recognized by Waldo Newcomer, Edgar H. Adams, and William H. Woodin, all early 20th century specialists in early U.S. gold. Woodin brought a specimen of the 1818 5D/50 variety to the 1914 ANS Exhibition. Lavished with a full page description in the 1982 Eliasberg sale, its first and only auction offering since 1906, this coin was graded “Gem Brilliant Uncirculated, MS-67, superb.” “While the error is interesting,” the catalog noted, “the outstanding appeal of the present specimen lies in its condition ... we have never seen a finer business strike half eagle of any early date.” It looks just as pristine today. This coin is one of four half eagles of the 1813 to 1829 design type graded MS-66+ by PCGS. All four are part of the D. Brent Pogue Collection; three of them are in the present sale. PCGS# 519916. NGC ID: 25PR.
