1850-O Liberty Seated Half Dime. V-2. Large O. MS-65 (PCGS). CAC.Offered is an exceptional condition rarity for an issue that can be challenging to locate even in the finer circulated grades. Fully lustrous surfaces are predominantly softly frosted in texture, although direct lighting does call forth modest hints of semi-reflectivity from the obverse field. This coin is boldly to sharply struck and otherwise brilliant, a swath of reddish-apricot iridescence bisecting the right side of Libertys portrait from the upper left to the lower right. A few swirls of similar toning are also evident in the upper left reverse field. A relatively generous mintage of 690,000 pieces conceals the elusive nature of the 1850-O half dime. Worn examples are moderately scarce (Rarity-3, per Blythe) and we suspect that much of the mintage fell victim to the widespread melting of old tenor silver coins during the early California Gold Rush era. This issue is rare in Mint State. Q. David Bowers (2016) accounts for only four to six coins that grade MS-65 or finer, the present Gem certainly among our finest offerings for the 1850-O of all time.<p>Valentine-2 is the die pairing of this issue that the author describes as having a "Round, fat O." The present example exhibits bold obverse die clash in the field around Libertys portrait, and there are defects at many of the star points, the most prominent of which is between stars 10 and 11. Faint, spindly die cracks are evident through the base of the digits 185 in the date and from the lower right border to the end of Libertys foot. Struck from a different die state than that described by Valentine, there is no crack joining nearly all of the stars. We do, however, note evidence of die rust in the form of a rough, granular texture throughout Libertys portrait. The reverse exhibits pronounced clash marks at the letter M in DIME and to the right of the O mintmark.PCGS# 4346. NGC ID: 233G.PCGS Population: 3; 3 finer (MS-67 finest).From the Henry Collection of Liberty Seated Half Dimes. Earlier ex Heritages Dallas Signature Auction of December 2005, lot 398; Bob R. Simpson Collection; Tom Bender Collection. The plate coin for the issue in Q. David Bowers 2016 <em>Guide Book of Liberty Seated Silver Coins</em>.
