1839-O Liberty Seated Half Dime. No Drapery. V-4. Medium O. MS-64 (PCGS). CAC.Blushes of iridescent powder blue adorn the peripheries of this endearing piece. The centers alternate between silvery near-brilliance and pinkish-rose iridescence. Lustrous and satiny throughout with a bold to sharp strike. The 1839-O is the New Orleans Mints second contribution to the half dime series, and the first of the Stars Obverse Liberty Seated design type. One million sixty thousand coins were struck, enough to make this a plentiful issue in circulated grades. In Mint State the situation is quite different, however, for the 1839-O was produced in a locality and during an era when there was virtually no contemporary numismatic activity. There were few collectors active in the Antebellum South, with the result that New Orleans Mint issues such as this were largely consumed by commercial use which, after all, was their intended purpose. The few Mint State coins that have come down to the present day survived almost exclusively as a matter of chance. The present example may be an exception, however, for it is so well preserved to suggest the intervening hand of more than one knowledgeable numismatist over the years. With Q. David Bowers (2016) accounting for only seven to nine coins extant MS-64, the significance of this offering for the advanced numismatist will be obvious. The brevity of the Stars Obverse, No Drapery design type (1838 to 1840) further guarantees this coins appeal to high quality type collectors as well as Liberty Seated enthusiasts.<p>Valentine-4 is one of the Medium O die pairings of the 1839-O issue, per Al Blythe in the 1992 reference <em>The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dimes</em>. Star 9 is boldly repunched, with more minor repunching also evident on stars 4, 8 and 10. On the reverse, the O mintmark measures 0.8 mm.PCGS# 4320. NGC ID: 232T.PCGS Population: 9; 5 finer (MS-66 finest).From the Henry Collection of Liberty Seated Half Dimes.
