1840 50C SM LT REVERSE OF 1839 MS66 PCGS CAC EX CLAPP/ ELIASBERG

The 1840 Liberty Seated Half Dollar with Reverse of 1839 also known as Small Letter type is an important transitional issue of the early Seated Liberty series. This example is frankly put one of the best if not the best. Pedigreed to Clapp and Eliasberg and graded MS66 PCGS with CAC approval, the surfaces exhibit original character with soft silver-gray coloration accented by subtle champagne and pale gold highlights that drift gently across the fields, while underlying mint luster remains visible beneath the light toning. With a PCGS population of just 6 in MS66 and 1 finer, while CAC reports 3 with none finer. Despite a mintage of 1,323,008 pieces, only an estimated 1,700 examples survive today across all grades, making this a scarce and desirable issue. There have been a few sales for CAC examples; however, they are all clustered within 2013 to 2016 mostly around the $21,000 to $26,000 range, and for the past decade no example has been available since, with the last example selling in 2016 for $23,500 03/2016 HA. Today CAC places a value of $26,000 and PCGS at $27,500. Considering the pedigree, no sale in a decade and the quality we can see this example locked for many years to come.

Pedigree:

Acquired by J.M Clapp prior to 1894; Clapp Estate 1942; Louis E Eliasberg, Sr, then The Eliasberg Sale 04/1997 Bowers & Merena.

PCGS Cert Verification # 64224864

• PCGS Price Guide -$27,500
• PCGS POP - 6/1
• CAC Price Guide - $26,000
• CAC POP - 3/0
• PCGS Coin# 6234