Offered is a legendary rarity -- a Proof striking of the one-year type 1839 Liberty Seated, No Drapery half dollar. This is a beautiful and fully Choice specimen with slight mottling to the dominant mauve-gray and medium sandy-silver patina on both sides. The toning is iridescent with undertones of gold, blue and, to a lesser extent, pale pink. A vibrant and uniformly reflective finish helps to confirm this coins Proof status as does the strike, which is razor sharp over even the most intricate design elements and the rims are squared off with a partial "fin" (a.k.a. wire rim) around both sides. The level of preservation justifies the Proof-64 rating from PCGS, both sides being smooth and highly attractive in all regards.The Liberty Seated motif that dominated the United States Mints silver coinage for much of the 19th century owes its existence to Mint Director Robert Maskell Patterson who, in 1835, envisioned a design modeled after the seated figure of Britannia then in use on certain English coins. Engraver William Kneass prepared the first sketch of Pattersons idea, which was improved upon by noted Philadelphia artists Thomas Sully and Titian Peale. After Kneass suffered a debilitating stroke, the task of creating the first metallic impression of what would become known as the Liberty Seated design fell to Christian Gobrecht. Approved by Secretary of the Treasury Levi Woodbury, Gobrechts Liberty Seated design was first used for the coinage of silver dollars in late 1836. By 1839 the other silver denominations then in use -- half dime, dime, quarter and half dollar -- had all followed suit and had the basic Liberty Seated motif for their obverse design.The half dollar was the last silver denomination to switch from the Capped Bust design to the Liberty Seated motif. The new half dollar type made its debut in 1839 but, like quarter before it in 1838, did not adopt the majestic flying eagle from the reverse of the Gobrecht silver dollar. Rather, the reverse of the Liberty Seated half dollar featured a revised version of the spread-wing eagle with shield of its predecessor. This familiar reverse design would also replace the flying eagle motif when quantity production of the silver dollar commenced in 1840.The first Liberty Seated half dollars struck in 1839 form a distinct type unto themselves in that they lack extra folds of drapery at Libertys left elbow. For whatever reason, the Mint prepared a modified Liberty Seated design with drapery in this area. The Drapery type introduced in the half dime, dime, quarter and silver dollar series in 1840 is popularly credited to Robert Ball Hughes, who also made other changes to the basic Liberty Seated motif, most of which resulted in a bulkier and less refined portrait. However, recent research by Q. David Bowers and John Dannreuther suggests that while Ball may have made some changes, most of the work was probably done by Gobrecht. It strains credulity that Gobrecht would have had an outsider make significant changes to his design. Christian Gobrechts original rendering of the Liberty Seated design survived on the half dollar, however, for the engraver added the extra drapery folds to the master die for that denomination himself in 1839. The combined circulation strike mintage for the 1839 Liberty Seated half dollar of both the No Drapery and Drapery types is 1,972,400 coins. Based on the relative rarity of survivors, less than half of the original mintage is believed to have been composed of No Drapery examples.In addition to the circulation strikes, the Philadelphia Mint also prepared a small number of Proofs for the 1839 No Drapery half dollar. According to Walter Breen (<em>Walter Breens Encyclopedia of United States and Colonial Proof Coins: 1722-1989</em>), one of these pieces was forwarded to Treasury Secretary Woodbury on August 13 of that year, along with what Breen calls a "frosty unc." The exact number of Proofs struck is unknown as the Mint did not keep records on the production of such pieces during the 1830s, although the total was likely fewer than 10 pieces. The Mint would not begin the widespread marketing and distribution of Proof coinage until the late 1850s. Our research indicates that only five different Proof 1839 No Drapery half dollars can be accounted for in modern numismatic circles, only four of which are available for private ownership:1 - <strong>PCGS Proof-64+</strong>. Ex Heritages sale of the Findley Collection, January 2009, lot 3861; Heritages CSNS U.S. Coin Auction of April 2009, lot 2481; Heritages sale of the Greensboro Collection, Part II, January 2013, lot 5653; Heritages U.S. Coin Signature Auction of November 2013, lot 3621. Possibly also from Frank Katens 1948 ANA Auction, lot 1766.2 - <strong>PCGS Proof-64</strong>. <em><strong>The present example</strong></em>, complete provenance provided below.3 - <strong>Proof-63</strong>. Bibliotheque Nationale Library Collection, France, acquired 1858.4 - <strong>NGC Proof-62</strong>. Ex F.C.C. Boyd; Numismatic Gallerys sale of the "World Greatest Collection" (Boyd), April 1945, lot 246; Adolph Friedman; Numismatic Gallerys ANA Sale of August 1946, lot 812; our (Stacks) sale of the E.M. Seneca Collection, March 1965, lot 440; our (Stacks) New York ANA Sale of August 1976, lot 1172; our (Stacks) December Sale of 1985, lot 942; Superiors sale of the Worrell Collection, September 1993, lot 712; Heritages sale of the Phil Kaufman Collection of Early Seated Proof Sets, Part III, April 2008, lot 2376; Heritages FUN U.S. Coin Auction of January 2010, lot 2554; Heritages Boston ANA Auction of August 2010, lot 3167.5 - <strong>NGC Proof-62</strong>. Ex our (Stacks) sale of October 1996, lot 300; our (Stacks) sale of the George "Buddy" Byers Collection, October 2006, lot 1113; Heritages sale of the Sweet Bloomfield Collection, January 2015, lot 4141; Heritages Long Beach Expo U.S. Coin Signature Auction of February 2016, lot 3238. This may be the specimen discovered in a European collection by Marc Emory in 1981.Solidly ranked as Condition Census #2 for this exceedingly rare issue, this lovely and important specimen will be just right for inclusion in a world class collection of early U.S. Mint Proof coinage, a complete set of Liberty Seated half dollars, or an advanced Proof type set.,,PCGS# 6381. NGC ID: 27SZ.,PCGS Population: 2 in all grades, the present Proof-64 and a Proof-64+.,From our (Stacks) sale of the Reed Hawn Collection, August 1973, lot 125; our (Bowers and Merenas) sale of the Long Beach Connoisseur Collection, August 1999, lot 200; Ira & Larry Goldbergs sale of the Benson Collection, Part I, February 2001, lot 1752; Superiors New York ANA Sale of August 2002, lot 973; Heritages Long Beach Signature Sale of January 2004, lot 5941; David Lawrences sale of the Richmond Collection, Part III, March 2005, lot 1784; Heritages FUN Signature Sale of January 2007, lot 988; Heritages sale of the Eugene H. Gardner Collection, June 2014, lot 30526.
