1807 Draped Bust Half Cent. C-1, the only known dies. Rarity-1. MS-64 BN (PCGS). Type: Type IV: Draped Bust.Design: Obv: A draped bust of Liberty faces right, her hair tied with a ribbon. The word LIBERTY is above and the date 1807 is below. Rev: Design of 1802 to 1808. A wreath surrounds the denomination HALF CENT, the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the border and another expression of the denomination, 1/200, below. A ribbon knot with double bow binds the base of the wreath.Weight Standard: 84 grains (5.44 grams).Diameter: 23.5 mm.Die Variety: Cohen-1, Breen-1, Gilbert-1. Obv: Large 7 in the date, the digit repunched. This is the only 1807-dated obverse in the Draped Bust half cent series, and the dies only use. Rev: Stems to Wreath, with five berries on each branch. A die scratch extends right from the fraction bar. This die was used earlier in the 1806 C-4 pairing, although it no longer displays the light die scratch from the leaf tip below the letter R in AMERICA or the small lump protruding from the leaf above the letter T in CENT in the present 1807 C-1 marriage.Die State: Manley 3.0, the usual state. Obv: The die has been reground and repolished, removing most of the border denticulation and the small rust lump at the base of the digit 0 evident in the earlier Manley 2.0 state. A crack through the final two digits in the date extends through the drapery to the border at 5 oclock. The field is rough due to die rust. Rev: The die has been reground and repolished with minimal denticulation remaining from 4 to 9 oclock. The top of the letters in the legend are soft, especially those in the words UNITED and STATES.Edge: Plain.Mintage: The reported half cent mintage for calendar year 1807 is 476,000 coins, achieved in four deliveries:-February 21: 49,000 coins-March 31: 20,000 coins-June 29: 130,000 coins-September 28: 277,000 coinsMany of the coins delivered that year were from 1806-dated dies and, conversely, many 1807-dated specimens were struck in 1808. As such, the mintage of the 1807-dated issue is unknown.Estimated Surviving Population for the Issue: Since there is only a single die variety known for the 1807 half cent, the estimated surviving population for the issue is the same as that for the die variety.Estimated Surviving Population for the Die Variety: Rarity-1: More than 2,000 coins in all grades.Strike: This is a well struck coin by the standards of the late die state, with Libertys portrait sharp throughout and crisp delineation between most of the hair curls and drapery lines. The left wreath branch is soft, the right sharper, with the legend suitably bold in light of the aforementioned softness to the top of many letters.Surfaces: A marbling of deep golden-brown and copper-gray patina blankets both sides of this frosty example. Smooth with no significant marks, as befits the assigned grade, faint carbon flecks are largely confined to the central reverse.Commentary: All Mint State 1807 half cents known to Manley are from State 3.0, and all are rare despite the fact that this is a plentiful die marriage in an absolute sense. Three MS-64 BNs rank as the finest certified at PCGS:1 - Ex our (Stacks) American Numismatic Association Sale of August 1971, lot 508; Willard C. Blaisdell; R.E. "Ted" Naftzger, Jr., by sale, via Del Bland, September 1976; William K. Raymonds Fixed Price List of August 1977; R. Tettenhorst, by sale, August 1977; Missouri Cabinet (Eric P. Newman and R. Tettenhorst); Ira and Larry Goldbergs sale of the Missouri Cabinet Collection of U.S. Half Cents, January 2014, lot 87; D. Brent Pogue; our sale of the D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part V, March 2017, lot 5057.2 - Ex Bill Weber (not in the Superior sale of his collection); Red Headed Copper Collection; Heritages ANA Signature Auction of August 2018, lot 5023; High Desert Collection (PCGS Set Registry).3 - Ex ESM Collection. <em>The present example</em>.Here is a highlight of the present sale, that will be just right for another advanced half cent cabinet. From the ESM Collection.
