Heritage is pleased to offer the newly discovered ninth known specimen of the rare 1817/4 overdate half dollar to the numismatic community. ICG grades this piece VG8, and indicates on the insert the Overton variety, “9th Known,” and “Obv. Scratch.”

The discovery was announced in the December 17, 2007 issue of Coin World, that says a Colorado woman, who requested anonymity, received the coin from the dispersal of her father’s coin collection to her and her three siblings 10 years ago. She indicated that she received several silver dollars, as well as many foreign coins he obtained during his military service in World War II. She said she did not know how the 1817/4 Capped Bust half dollar came to be in his possession.

According to Coin World, the woman, who believed the half dollar might be something special, purchased coin reference books over the past eight years in an attempt to place a value on the coin. After turning down an offer of around $100 from a local Colorado Springs dealer, she took the half dollar to the headquarters of the American Numismatic Association in Colorado Springs, where she was referred to Independent Coin Grading (ICG) in Englewood, a suburb of Denver.

Donald Parsley’s 2005 rewrite of Al Overton’s United States Early Half Dollar Die Varieties, 1794-1836 indicates that a later die state of this variety (O-102a) has “… a die crack spanning the entire obverse, from edge above upper peak of cap and running downward across cap, lobe of ear, lower curl and just right of 7 to edge.” In addition to the current coin, three others are classified as O-102, and five as O-102a (see roster below)

The 1817/4 half dollar was first announced to the numismatic community in the October 1930 issue of The Numismatist, under the “Editorial Comments-Numismatic News” section. The commentary, entitled NEW VARIETY OF HALF DOLLAR OF 1817 REPORTED, says:

“E.T. Wallis, of Los Angeles, Cal., writes that he has recently discovered a heretofore unknown variety of the 1817 half dollar, the last figure of the date being cut over a 4. A number of half dollars of 1817 over ‘13 are known, but this is the first one over ‘14 reported, Mr. Wallis says. He also says the coin is practically Uncirculated and the overdate can be seen plainly. The reverse is also an unlisted variety, as both I’s in United and America have the lower ceriphs broken off diagonally toward the right, and the I in United also has the left side of the top ceriph broken off. The obverse shows a die break across the coin, starting from the border to the right of the figure 7 and through the ear and between B and E of Liberty to the top of the border. Mr. Wallis thinks the die may have been cracked when the 7 was cut over the 4 and the die may have been broken when the striking began. Howard R. Newcomb, of Los Angeles, and M.L. Beistle, of Shippensburg, Pa., both authorities on the half-dollar series, have examined the coin and pronounced it a hitherto unknown variety.”

Why were so few 1817/4 half dollars apparently minted? Part of the reason may stem from Wallis’ thought above that the die may have broken when the 7 was cut over the 4, which had been partially effaced by Mint personnel. We might speculate that this effacing weakened the die, causing premature failure after just a few strikings. In this regard, it is interesting to note that the 1817/4’s cousin, the 1817/3, did not have the 3 effaced, and was produced with a considerably higher mintage.

Early half dollar specialist Sheridan Downey presents additional information that may help to explain the shorter-than-normal life of the 1817/4 obverse die. In his April 1, 1997 catalog of the Alfred E. Burke 1817/4 specimen, he states:

“I have seen and studied the Dosier, Overton, Burke and Meyer specimens. It is apparent that the obverse die was poorly prepared, either in 1814 or when it was reworked in 1817. Its face was ’sprung’ or warped, not flat. When brought down in the screw press it unevenly impressed the planchet. The high portion of the left side of the die, the fields, could not properly smooth the natural roughness of a raw planchet. The adjoining curls, struck from the low areas of the die, are noticeably flat. The absence of pressure on the obverse, of course, led to weakness on the reverse. Thus we see flatness along the right side of the shield, the claws below and the tip of the right wing. Two theories seek to explain the shorter life of the die. First, it was not properly hardened after the annealing process, leading to its early fracture. Second, its irregular shape subjected portions of the die to unusual pressure during the coining process, again leading to early deterioration.”

The following roster of 1817/4 half dollars is an update of Mark Borckardt’s registry prepared for the April 1997 sale of the Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. specimen:

1. AU50 PCGS. O-102a. The finest known specimen. Sheridan Downey considers this example to be the Wallis discovery coin described in the October 30 The Numismatist. Al Overton; Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection (Bowers and Merena/Stack’s, 4/1997), lot 1735; Juan XII Suros Collection (Superior, 2/1999), lot 180; The 2003 ANA Sale (Bowers and Merena, 7/2003), lot 1443; The Richmond II Collection (David Lawrence Rare Coins, 11/2004), lot 1388; The George Byers Collection (Stack’s, 10/2006), lot 1031.

2. VF25. O-102. Considered finer today by most experts. The Meyer coin. Purchased from a coin dealer in 1962 by Al Overton, who advertised it for sale in The Numismatist, June 1962, p. 793, and sold it that year to Bowers and Ruddy’s Empire Coin Company; privately to Hazen B. Hinman; The Century Sale (Paramount Coin Company, 5/1965), lot 1112; next offered privately in The Rare Coin Review (Bowers and Ruddy, issues #18-22 from 1973-1975); purchased by Gloria Meyer for her husband Charlton Meyer.

3. VF25. O-102a. Considered finer today by most experts. The Farley coin. Discovered or first reported by Thomas Pfeffer in 1967 or 1968 and sent to coin dealer and numismatic author Don Taxay for authentication and sale. Sold to Stewart P. Witham in early 1968 and resold in March 1968 to Floyd Farley; The Floyd Farley Collection (Sheridan Downey, 7/2002), lot 8.

4. F/VF. O-102a. Considered finer today by most experts. The Witham coin. Apparently discovered by coin dealer Ed Johnson in the 1940s; purchased by Stewart P. Witham on May 18, 1966; last offered privately in 1983.

5. VF20 NGC. O-102a. The Burke coin. Discovered by Alfred E. Burke in 1973 or 1974; Sheridan Downey Phone/MBS (4/1997).

6. Fine 15. PCGS. O-102. The Dosier coin. Discovered by Milton Silverman in 1976; Sheridan Downey privately in 1988 to Leonard Elton Dosier; Crowley Selected Rarities Sale (Sheridan Downey, 8/2001), lot 4; Anthony Terranova privately in 2004 into the Charles Link Collection.

7. XF Details, Corroded. ANACS. O-102a. Net Fine to Very Fine. The Williams coin. Discovered by George Williams in 2005; 2006 FUN Sale (Heritage, 1/2006), lot 3184.

8. VG8, Obverse Scratch. ICG. O-102. The present coin.

9. Good 6, Repaired. O-102. The Overton coin. Located in 1963 or 1964 by Ed Shapiro, to Dan Messer in 1964 or 1965, then to John Cobb in 1965; sold to Steve Markoff in 1969; Al Overton bought the coin in 1969 and had the gouge on the reverse repaired; to Donald and Bonnie Parsley in 1972 after Al Overton died; sold with the collection by Sheridan Downey in July 1993 privately.

This is the second newly-discovered 1817/4 half dollar that we have offered within the past two years. As indicated in number 7 of the roster, the first was consigned to our January 2006 FUN Sale by George Williams.

Natural gray toning covers both sides of the current specimen. The slightly deeper-colored fields highlight all of the lighter silver-gray design elements, yielding a pleasing two-toned appearance. As mentioned in the Coin World article: “On the recent discovery, metal from the wear on the denticles has been smoothed over the lower half of and to the right of the 7, blocking some of the diagnostic markers. The lower left point of the 4 in front of the 7, however, is still visible, despite the wear.” The diagnostic I’s in UNITED and AMERICA, with their lower right serifs missing (causing them to look J’s), are apparent on the ICG submission.

All letters in LIBERTY are bold, and Liberty’s eye and eyelid show clearly. The clasp is partially visible, as are about three-quarters of the horizontal shield lines. Most of the letters in the ribbon motto are relatively strong. The coin has a diagnostic weakness to the right of Liberty’s portrait on the obverse and the corresponding right side of the eagle on the reverse. Several faint pinscratches are noted, more so on the obverse, and an old, toned-over, deep diagonal scratch extends from the clasp over the top left of the first 1 in the date to the rim, accounting for the ICG qualifier.

Despite the flaw, this piece will elicit keen attention from early half dollar specialists, as it is truly one of the rarest of all U.S. coins. In addition to its desirability among specialists, the 1817/4 half dollar, with its first listing in the 1955 Guide Book, is a popular variety among numismatists in general.(Registry values: N10218) (#6112)