1817 Capped Bust Half Dollar. O-106. Rarity-2. MS-66 (PCGS).Fully struck and lightly reflective, this impressive Gem offers a wealth of fine details not entirely unlike those found on a Proof striking. Swirls of cartwheel luster are present on both sides, more satiny and bold on the reverse, where the field is less reflective than the obverse. The obverse appeals mostly golden-gray over brilliant surfaces, though scrutiny finds hints of blue inside the rim and deeper olive tones around the periphery. The reverse is more deeply toned with similar rich gold over most of the surface and hints of violet and blue. Details are strongly impressed on both sides, with each star but star 8 showing its center in high relief and all fine elements of the central devices fully present. The obverse exhibits light spotting around Libertys lower jaw and in the right field between the device and stars 11 and 12. The dies are heavily clashed, with the elements of the reverse shield impressed beneath Libertys ear and outlines of the major devices present in the obverse field. On the reverse, clash marks from the obverse device can be seen above and below the eagle. A heavy vertical die crack descends from the front of Libertys headband through her eye, and the injury that gives this variety its "Comet" moniker is easily seen behind Libertys cap to the denticles above star 8. A die crack delicately connects the D in UNITED to the first S in STATES, but the reverse has not yet been lapped, placing this die state before Overtons 106a.This is a superb example of this easily distinguished naked eye variety, perhaps ranking as the finest survivor from these dies, and tied for that honor in the Spring 2017 revision to Stephen J. Herrmans <em>Auction & Mail Bid Prices Realized for Bust Half Dollars: 1794-1839</em>. PCGS has certified just four 1817 half dollars of all die varieties as MS-66: this coin, another Overton-106 (ex Superior Galleries, May 1991 and May 2006), the D. Brent Pogue 1817 Overton-113 (September 2015, lot 2024), and a fourth example that we have been unable to identify. The only 1817 half dollar graded finer by PCGS, a single MS-67, is the D. Brent Pogue specimen from the O-110a die state that appeared as lot 2023 in our Pogue Collection Part II sale. Comparison of this piece and the coin sold by Superior in May 1991 would be required to decide which coin was finer, and ten seasoned numismatists could be divided evenly on the question. Certainly among the finest known examples of both the issue and die marriage, this Condition Census Gem is seemingly earmarked for inclusion in another highly regarded numismatic cabinet.Ex George H. Earle, Jr.; Henry Chapmans sale of the George H. Earle, Jr. Collection, June 1912, lot 2881; John H. Clapp; Clapp estate; Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr., by sale, via Stacks, 1942; Richard A. Eliasberg, by descent, 1976; our (Bowers and Merenas) sale of the Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, April 1997, lot 1739; Heritages sale of July 2003, lot 7409; Stuart Levine, by sale; D. Brent Pogue; our sale of the D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part II, September 2015, lot 2022.
