A handsome and fully original piece dressed in a blend of warm sandy-silver and pinkish-apricot patina. Blushes of rose and blue tinting are also discernible at more direct viewing angles, particularly on the reverse. Boldly impressed with a soft satin texture, the surfaces are expectably smooth given the coveted Gem Mint State rating from NGC.The introductory sentence for this issue in the 2009 reference <em>A Register of Liberty Seated Half Dollar Varieties: Volume I, San Francisco Mint</em> by Bill Bugert is terse and to the point: "1865-S is fairly scarce especially in high grades of XF or better, rare in Uncirculated." Obviously this issue followed the pattern of most others from the early San Francisco Mint -- extensive commercial use during an era in which there was very little, indeed probably no numismatic activity on the American frontier. Collectors in the Eastern states, even if they had encountered an 1865-S half dollar, would almost certainly have ignored it as numismatically insignificant, their need for a coin of this date met by one of the Philadelphia Mints Proofs. Remarkable even to have survived in Mint State, the present example nearly defies belief as a condition rarity Gem. Among the finest certified, in fact, advanced Liberty Seated half dollar enthusiasts are sure to compete vigorously for the honor of securing this lovely 1865-S.The rare late die state of the WB-1 variety, represented here, features extensive cracks around much of the reverse periphery.,,PCGS# 6314. NGC ID: 24JG.,NGC Census: 2; 0 finer. The corresponding PCGS population is equally impressive at 1/0.,
