The various sizes of the mint marks O, S, D, C, and CC, ranging from the capital letters of average book type to infinitesimal spots on the coin, as well as the varied location of these letters, defy any accusation of monotony, and are far more distinguishable than the characteristics of many classified varieties of old cents and ‘colonials.’” — Augustus G. Heaton, A Treatise on the Coinage of the United States Branch Mints, 1893</em>Both sides remain thoroughly lustrous despite a short stay in circulation, with cartwheel spinning around both sides. The surfaces are pleasing light yellow gold, scattered with many tiny marks and lines. A short horizontal scratch is noted between stars 10 and 11, and a longer scratch diagonally underscores ATE of STATES. The field in front of Liberty chin and beneath her bun is a bit low and granular, as struck, and similar texture is present but less noticeable above and below the eagle on the reverse. The strike is very nice for the issue, though the ear is a bit flat from light gentle wear, but the fine details of the eagle’s talons and other often-soft areas are well defined. A slender die crack appears at the tips of the denticles above the space between OF.The second half eagle issue of the Dahlonega Mint is, like the first issue struck the previous year, a one-year type coin. No other Liberty half eagle struck in Dahlonega features the mintmark on the obverse, and the only other half eagle of the type to share this characteristic is the 1839-C. The interesting nature of aspects like this were first pointed out by Augustus Goodyear Heaton, a native Philadelphia who gained fame as a painter and author. Perhaps his best known painting, <em>The Recall of Columbus</em>, was purchased by the United States Senate in 1884 and was featured on a postage stamp in 1892; today it hangs in the Capital Rotunda. Heaton was a also pioneering numismatist, joining the American Numismatic Association as member 88 and authoring <em>A Treatise on the Coinage of the United States Branch Mints in 1893</em>. Before Heaton’s effort, few numismatists made notice of the tiny letters seen on some coins struck after 1837, and fewer still paid enough attention to adjudge the rarity of the pieces coined at the various branch mints. Though his introduction of collecting by mint marks must stand as a tally in his favor, his poetic contribution to The Numismatist in December 1892 accrues to the other side of his balance sheet. Beginning “An amorous numismatist / met a fair damsel in a grove,” the poem devolves into a pun-laden romantic rhyme that ends with the “sad numismatist” suggesting to drill holes in his coins to form a bracelet and necklace for his love interest before she at last promises to be “aquies-cent then.”It is not for lack of interest that collectors have trouble finding 1839-D half eagles finer than this one. Calling it a “very important and distinct one year type coin,” Doug Winter adjudges this the eighth rarest Dahlonega half eagle in high grade. A preponderance of those encountered are struck from this die combination, the more common of the two known, but fewer than a half dozen true Mint State examples are known. PCGS# 8193. NGC ID: 25S9.
