1866 Liberty Seated Half Dollar. Motto. Proof-66+ Deep Cameo (PCGS). CAC. CMQ.

This is a beautiful, conditionally rare example of a significant issue in the Proof Liberty Seated half dollar series. Lightly toned around the peripheries in iridescent champagne-gold, both sides are brilliant in the centers. The devices are sharply struck, well frosted in texture, and contrast strongly with mirrored fields. Uncommonly smooth for an issue that is typically offered no finer than Proof-64, this impressive Gem is sure to catch the eye of high quality type collectors. The year 1866 saw the official launch of the Motto design type in the Liberty Seated half dollar series. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST made its first appearance in the regular issue U.S. coin series in 1864, on the newly introduced two-cent piece, and by 1866 it had been introduced to all silver and gold coins of sufficient size. Proof production for the 1866 Motto half dollar amounted to 725 pieces, the coins offered to contemporary collectors as part of the year's silver Proof sets. Enough have survived to make this a readily obtainable issue by the standards of the type, but only in lower grades through Proof-64. As a premium quality, deeply cameoed Gem, the coin offered here is a decided condition rarity.

PCGS# 96424. NGC ID: 27TZ.

PCGS Population: just 3 in all grades in the Deep Cameo category: Proof-65+ DCAM; the present specimen in Proof-66+ DCAM; Proof-67 DCAM. CAC Stickered Population: just 1 in all grades in the Deep Cameo category.

From the Arlington Collection. Earlier from David Lawrence Rare Coins' Internet Auction #1145, November 2020, lot 9159.

Estimate: $30000