1842-O Liberty Seated Half Dollar. WB-4. Rarity-4. Medium Date, Medium Letters (a.k.a. Reverse of 1842). MS-64 (PCGS). CAC. A richly original example with a lovely "old time cabinet" appearance that will delight advanced collectors. Fully struck, and unusually so for the issuing mint, with softly frosted luster throughout. In the 1830s, continuing through 1854, the New Orleans Mint was the only branch facility to strike half dollars. There was no numismatic interest in them at the time, with the result that examples survived in Mint State, as here, by rare chance. As we have said so often about similar offerings over the years, opportunity is more important than the price paid. PCGS# 6242. NGC ID: 24GW. PCGS Population: 5; just 2 finer through MS-65. Ex Heritages FUN Signature Sale of January 2003, lot 7136; Superiors Santa Clara Elite Coin Auction of April 2004, lot 1212; Heritages CSNS Signature Auction of April-May 2009, lot 751; Heritages Long Beach Signature Auction of September 2009, lot 770; Heritages CSNS Signature Auction of April 2014, lot 4391; Legend Rare Coin Auctions sale of the Boylston Collection, Part II, Regency Auction 45, May 2021, lot 44; Pinnacle Rarities; Rare Coin Wholesalers, March 2022; Narva River & Lake Balaton Collection.
