1848 Liberty Seated Half Dime. V-1, FS-301. Large Date. MS-65 (PCGS). CAC. OGH.This charming example is warmly patinated in blended olive-gray and cobalt blue patina that yields to a blush of mauve-gray in the center of the reverse. Vivid multicolored undertones are also present to delight to viewer at direct lighting angles. Fully lustrous with a modestly semi-prooflike finish in the fields, the design elements are sharply struck with a softly frosted texture. A generous mintage of 668,000 pieces conceals the rarity of the 1848 in Mint State, for it was saved in far fewer numbers than many other Philadelphia Mint half dimes from the 1840s. This is a particularly attractive Gem Mint State survivor that ranks high in the Condition Census for the popular Large Date variety.<p>Writing in the 2012 edition of the <em>Cherrypickers Guide</em>, Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton describes the 1848 V-1, FS-301 as follows:<p><em>"The digits of the date are much larger than normal. It is very obvious a 4-digit logotype punch intended for a dime was used. The digits protrude well into the rock."</em><p>Al Blythe (1992) describes two die states, one with repunching on the final digit 8 and the stars on the right side bluntly struck, the other with the repunching effaced through die lapping and the stars sharp. The Henry Collection specimen represents the latter variety, striations and modest semi-reflectivity in the fields also confirming that the dies were relapped before this coin was struck. There are die file marks at the reverse border at the letters RIC in AMERICA and, even more interestingly, a bisecting crack on that side that meanders from the upper to lower left border passing through the letters E in STATES, AL in HALF and I in DIME along the way.PCGS# 4339.PCGS Population: 2; with a single MS-66 finer.From the Henry Collection of Liberty Seated Half Dimes. Earlier from Heritages FUN Signature Auction of January 2007, lot 2489; Heritages sale of the Beau Clerc Collection, September 2007 Long Beach Signature Auction, lot 877.
