1849 Braided Hair Half Cent. C-1. Rarity-2. Large Date. MS-65 BN (PCGS). CAC. Type: Type VI: Braided Hair.Design: Obv: Liberty faces left, a coronet inscribed LIBERTY on her head. Thirteen stars encircle the portrait with the date 1849 below. Rev: A single branch bound at the bottom by a single bowed ribbon surrounds the denomination HALF CENT. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is around the border.Weight Standard: 84 grains (5.44 grams).Diameter: 23 mm.Die Variety: Cohen-1, Breen-4, Gilbert-3. Obv: The digits in the date are large, as opposed to small as seen on Proofs of this date. There is a tiny die dot at the top of Libertys neck, a concentration of die lines slanting down to the right in the recessed area behind Libertys eye. Additional die lines are evident at the base of the letters BER in LIBERTY. This is the only use of this obverse. Rev: Small berries on the branch, faint die lines in the field between the letters NI in UNITED and the border. This is the only use of this reverse.Die State: Manley 1.0. Obv: Perfect. Rev: Perfect, with the aforementioned die file lines above the letters NI in UNITED discernible with the aid of a loupe.Edge: Plain.Mintage: 39,864 coins.Estimated Surviving Population for the Issue: Since there is only a single die variety known for the circulation strike 1849 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-2: 600 to 2,000 coins in all grades.Strike: This is a sharp early die state with all design elements fully rendered and crisp.Surfaces: Glossy copper-brown surfaces exhibit a smooth satin to softly frosted texture. Free of detracting blemishes, a minuscule strike through at the lower border below the digits 49 in the date is as made and serves as a useful provenance marker.Commentary: By the end of 1835 the Philadelphia Mints backlog of half cents amounted to 539,000 coins, and new coinage was suspended until these could be distributed into commercial channels. This was likely to take a while, given the unpopularity of this denomination in commerce at the time and, indeed, it was not until 1849 that circulation strike production resumed. By that time Christian Gobrechts Braided Hair motif had already been in use for Proof coinage since 1840. That would prove the be the final design in the half cent series.Known as the Large Date variety to distinguish it from its identically dated Proof counterpart, the 1849 C-1 vies with the 1857 as the second scarcest circulation strike issue in the Braided Hair half cent series. This is an exceptionally well preserved Gem that will please even the most discerning numismatist.The planchets for all circulation strike half cent issues from 1849 to 1857 were supplied by Crocker Brothers & Co. of Taunton, Massachusetts. From the ESM Collection. Earlier from Heritages Long Beach Signature Sale of June 2004, lot 5038.
