1839 Liberty Seated Half Dollar. No Drapery. WB-2. Rarity-3. MS-64 (NGC). CAC. OH.Rare and exceptionally beautiful near-Gem preservation for this significant one year design type produced at the inception of the Liberty Seated half dollar series. Highly lustrous with a lively frosty texture, both sides are further adorned with splashes of vivid cobalt blue, pinkish-apricot and silver-lilac iridescence. Fully struck over all features save for a few of the obverse stars, this predominantly smooth and visually appealing coin would do justice to an advanced type set or specialized Liberty Seated half dollar collection.<p>Gobrechts Liberty Seated design came last to half dollars, three years after its introduction to dollars, two years after it first appeared on dimes and half dimes, and a year after it was first seen on quarter dollars. Half dollars since 1836 had displayed a Gobrecht reworking of the old design by John Reich, with a capped bust of Liberty on the obverse and eagle on the reverse. The reverse design was retained with slight modifications; in 1842; the size of the reverse motto increased notably, a change that would remain until the motif was retired in 1891. Of vital importance to type collectors, the No Drapery design was used exclusively in 1839, and for only a portion of that year. Breen once called any Mint State example "prohibitively rare," and high grade pieces such as this are even more so.From the E. Horatio Morgan Collection.
