1797 Draped Bust Half Dime. LM-2. Rarity-4. 16 Stars. MS-65 (PCGS). This is a richly original, exceptionally well preserved example of a scarce early half dime variety. Handsome surfaces are bathed in warm pewter-gray patina, both sides with intermingled highlights of antique gold, reddish-apricot and powder blue. The texture is soft and frosty with full mint luster. The strike is well executed, both by early U.S. Mint standards and for this particular die pairing. The centering is good with virtually full denticulation around both sides. The obverse is sharply struck apart from an area in the center of Libertys portrait. The central reverse is equally soft with much of the eagles body and both clouds blunt, although the detail on that side does sharpen appreciably toward the border. In general, the quality of strike on this coin is the same as that seen in the Logan-McCloskey plate coin for the 1797 LM-2 variety (<em>Federal Half Dimes: 1792-1837</em>, 1998). The level of surface preservation is far superior to what is typically seen in Draped Bust half dimes, regardless of die pairing, and even among other Mint State coins. At the upper end of Condition Census for the variety, this awe-inspiring Gem is eagerly awaiting inclusion in the finest type, date or variety set.<p>The replacement for the brief Flowing Hair half dime of 1794 to 1795, the initial type of the Draped Bust design with the Small Eagle reverse proved equally short lived with examples struck only in 1796 and 1797. The second year 1797 is remarkable in that each of the three different obverse dies displays a different number of stars around the border. The first die prepared had 15 stars, reflective of the number of states in the Union at that time. The admission of Tennessee to the Union during the summer of 1796 resulted in the second die for the 1797 half dime being prepared with 16 stars -- for the only time in the half dime series. The crowding of the design caused by this many stars prompted Mint officials to default to 13 stars in recognition of the original 13 colonies. As such, the third obverse die used in production of 1797 half dimes displays 13 stars.<p>Logan-McCloskey 2 is the (slightly) less scarce of the two 16 Stars varieties of this issue. It shares its obverse with the 1797 LM-3 attribution, and its reverse with the 1797 LM-1 15 Stars variety. As with all Draped Bust, Small Eagle half dimes the 1797 LM-2 it is highly elusive in Mint State. The present MS-65 example was clearly set aside at the time of striking and subsequently preserved with the utmost care, perhaps by an early European collector who visited the young United States. While this coins earliest provenance may never be known, what is known for certain is that it is among the finest Draped Bust, Small Eagle half dimes of any date or variety available to todays discerning numismatists. PCGS# 4259. PCGS Population (both die marriages of the 16 Stars variety): 1; 3 finer (MS-66 finest).
