Capped Head Left Half Eagle

Prooflike Gem 1820 BD-7 Half Eagle

Rarity-7, None Finer for the Variety The Wolfson-Pogue Specimen

1820 Capped Head Left Half Eagle. BD-7. Rarity-7. Curved-Base 2, Large Letters. MS-65+ (PCGS). CAC.

Here is a phenomenal early half eagle rarity with incredible eye appeal and an outstanding provenance. It is truly stunning, displaying an intense combination of satiny luster and fully prooflike fields. Even medium yellow-gold color yields to deeper yellow amidst the frosty arcs at the borders, an ideal and beautiful pairing. There are only a very few of the most minor contact marks, none significant and hardly any visible to the unaided eye. A tiny mark below the eagle's wing at left, far inside the letters T in UNITED, is perhaps the most useful provenance marker. The letters in LIBERTY are about half polished out, reflective at the tops of LIBERT, somewhat frosty and textured at the bases. The presence of a tiny eruption of die spalling off of Liberty's forecurl places this in order as BD Die State b/c. The visual appeal is spectacular, and this coin is capable of amazing even the most jaded of numismatists. Specks of transparent lacquer or glue are noted beneath the lower left serif of the letter D in the denomination, above the crown of the eagle's head, and outside the left upright of the first letter A in AMERICA. On the obverse, they appear outside the lower left point of star 5 and on either side of star 9. Seemingly identical specks appear on the Gem Mickley-Appleton-Garrett-Pogue 1819 half eagle. While this piece is not from the Garrett Collection, it could have been among the Mickley coins later acquired by William Sumner Appleton; the presence of identical detritus may suggest an identical provenance. PCGS has assigned a MS-65 or finer grade to a 1820 half eagle on just seven occasions. Among Curved-Base 2, Large Letters coins, only a single example has been graded finer. Within the elusive BD-7 die marriage, this coin is tied as the finest known with the Einstein specimen, making it an important offering for the most advanced specialists. Nine die marriages of 1820 half eagles are known, of which three are Curved-Base 2 obverse, Large Letters reverse combinations. All three of these are rare. BD-5 is perhaps the most often encountered, with a population estimated at 20 to 25 pieces. BD-7 appears to have a population of six coins, as listed below. BD-9 may be the rarest of the varieties, with a population estimated in the Bass-Dannreuther book at four to six coins. We count six distinct specimens of the 1820 BD-7 die marriage. Aside from the Norweb-Bass Proof, each has been described as Gem Mint State in previous appearances. Among circulation strikes of this variety, three of the below listed specimens are frosty; the other two (this coin and the James A. Stack specimen) are deeply prooflike. 1 - Proof-63. Ex Henry Chapman's sale of the George H. Earle Jr. Collection, June 1912, lot 2387; Abe Kosoff's sale of the Thomas G. Melish Collection at the April 1956 Central States Numismatic Society Convention, lot 1943; "J.W.", apparently an agent for the Norweb family; our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the Norweb Collection, Part I, October 1987, lot 772; Harry W. Bass, Jr. Core Collection. 2 - MS-65+ (PCGS). CAC. Ex Samuel W. Wolfson Collection; our (Stack's) sale of the Samuel W. Wolfson Collection, Part I, October 1962, lot 363; Julian Leidman; Paramount (David Akers), by sale, August 1984; D. Brent Pogue Collection; our sale of the D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part III, February 2016, lot 3157; our sale of the D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part VII, March 2020 lot 7333. The present example . 3 - MS-65+ (PCGS). CAC. Ex Bowers and Merena's sale of the Harry Einstein Collection, June 1986, lot 344; Heritage's sale of April 2008, lot 2435; D. Brent Pogue Collection; our March 2020 sale of the D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part VII, lot 7332. 4 - MS-65 (PCGS). Ex Wayne Pratali, August 13, 1969, to the following by private sale; Harry W. Bass, Jr.; our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection, Part II, October 1999, lot 814; Superior's Pre-Long Beach Coin Sale of February 2001, lot 4580; our (American Numismatic Rarities') Allison Park Collection sale, August 2004, lot 1009. 5 - Gem Mint State. Ex our (Stack's) sale of the James A. Stack, Sr. Collection, October 1994, lot 1068. 6 - Gem Mint State . Ex Kreisberg and Cohen's sale of the John A. Beck Collection, Part I, January 1975, lot 403.

PCGS# 519926.

PCGS Population (all die marriages of the Curved-Base 2, Large Letters variety): 3; with a single MS-66 finer.

Ex Samuel W. Wolfson Collection; our (Stack's) sale of the Samuel W. Wolfson Collection, Part I, October 1962, lot 363; Julian Leidman; Paramount (David Akers), by sale, August 1984; D. Brent Pogue Collection; our sale of the D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part III, February 2016, lot 3157; our sale of the D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part VII, March 2020 lot 7333.

Estimate: 175000