1797 Draped Bust Half Dime. LM-3. Rarity-5. 16 Stars. MS-62 (NGC). A delightful satin to modestly semi-reflective example of a challenging early half dime variety. Otherwise untoned with a predominantly silver-gray appearance, the obverse periphery is ringed in pale champagne-gold iridescence while the reverse exhibits a blush of steel-olive at the viewers left. Striking detail is impressively sharp from an expertly centered, well executed impression. Of the four known die pairings for the 1797 Draped Bust half dime, LM-3 is the rarest in numismatic circles after only LM-4. The variety is easy to attribute as it combines the 16-star obverse die with a reverse that has an outer berry on the wreath under the upright of the letter D in UNITED. A very scarce die marriage in Mint State, the coin we offer here is certainly among the finest extant. It is also a significant coin for high grade type purposes, as the Draped Bust half dime series as a whole is elusive in Mint State with market appearances usually few and far between. From Heritages sale of the GATOR Collection, August 2016 Anaheim ANA Signature Auction, lot 3996.
