1838o Capped Bust Half Dollar

Ebeneezer

One of the most interesting a storied coins to come from the New Orleans Mint.

Opened in 1838, New Orleans Mint Superintendent, David Bradford instructed coinier Rufus Tyler to ready the presses for production. Working dies for the half dime, dime and half dollar arrived from Philadelphia. Dies which were not intended to test for design or alloy (specimen or "proof").

On May, 8th, thirty dimes were struck before the press encountered mechanical problems causing a slight delay in production which resumed through July. Yet another delay occurred when yellow fever shut down the mint from late July through October before pressing would begin once more on November the first. With costly delays throughout the year, only dimes and half dimes would be struck for commerce the remainder of the year lasting into January of 1839.

With no half dollars coming out of the New Orleans Mint, a letter arrived from Director Patterson on January 17 instructing the superintendent to waste no time coining them. Since the only dies on hand were those which had sent the previous year, Tyler went to work setting up the presses. Once again, a problem arose. The working dies were too short to be held in place by the screws. In order for the dies to work, a support had to be fashioned which brought the bottom die up just enough to hold. Having struck ten "extremely detailed impressions", the support failed. Through trial and error, approximately 20 half dollars were struck in January before new dies arrived from Philadelphia bearing the date 1839.

Of the estimated 20 pieces, two sets of dies are known to have been used. No 1838o halves were meant for circulation. PCGS has graded only 9.

ThreeCentSilverFL

Wow what an awesome rare coin! And the ‘39 also, both the the O under the bust on the obverse. Thanks for sharing 👍

Sunshine Rare Coins

That's an awesome example of a classic rarity. My favorite United States half dollar!

amwldcoin

So is it yours?

TommyType

Must admit....I saw the title, and immediately thought, "Those don't exist!"

I find it interesting that CoinFacts and the PCGS price guide don't list them either....

golden

@TommyType said:
Must admit....I saw the title, and immediately thought, "Those don't exist!"

I find it interesting that CoinFacts and the PCGS price guide don't list them either....

They are listed under Proofs.

ricko

Very interesting....Thanks for the bit of history...Cheers, RickO

GoBust

That's the Eliasberg specimen that last sold in the auction of the Eugene Gardner Collection in 2015. The coin was previously owned by Beistle (who authored the first book on half dollar varities decades before Overton) and Col. Green. I crossed it from NGC PR64 to PCGS PR64 CAC a year or so after the Gardner sale.

Thanks Ebeneezer for the post!

Ebeneezer

@amwldcoin said:
So is it yours?

I wish. This was just something I thought of sharing since it has graced the collection of every famous collector.

oih82w8

Beautiful Branch Mint Proof!