1838 Proof Half Dollar Pattern - J-77, Restrike

Coin Details

Auction Record

$12,338 PR65BN 07-26-2018 Legend Rare Coin Auctions

Description

Cataloged as Judd-77 (Pollock-85) and rated High R.7, indicating approximately four to twelve survivors, this copper striking of the 1838 half dollar pattern is a restrike produced in the 1870s. The obverse shows Liberty seated on a rock, holding a shield and pole, with a scroll inscribed LIBERTY in incuse letters draped across the shield. Thirteen stars surround the figure and the date appears below. The reverse features a spread-winged eagle holding an olive branch and four arrows, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and HALF DOLLAR around the periphery. Struck in copper with a plain edge. All known examples exhibit significant die rust, consistent with extended storage of the dies between their original creation in 1838 and the restrike production roughly four decades later. The pattern first appeared at auction in the Parmelee Collection sale conducted by New York Coin & Stamp in June 1890, where it was offered as lot 34. The preceding lot in that sale contained a Judd-76 specimen struck in silver from the same dies. The variety went unrecorded in Adams-Woodin and was absent from the 1914 American Numismatic Society Exhibition, underscoring its extreme obscurity even among period collectors. Current census estimates place the surviving population at approximately four pieces.