1795 1/2C Punctuated Date, LE, BN MS(PCGS#1015)

Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

2013

Grade

MS62BN

Price

41,480

Lot Description

Manley 1.0-2.0 (intermediate die state), Fuhrman Die State 2. A significant condition rarity in the Liberty Cap half cent series. The strike is suitably bold by early U.S. Mint standards, both sides with full denticulation, although the borders are thinner along the upper right obverse and reverse than elsewhere. All major design elements are fully appreciable, the detail sharper toward the peripheries. Surfaces are overall smooth with even, light, somewhat dusky rose-brown patina. A trio of minor planchet flaws along the obverse border from 3 to 4 o'clock and an extremely faint graze in the left obverse field between the cap and border will identify this coin in future appearances.<p>One of the most popular and readily attributable die marriages in the Liberty Cap half cent series, the 1795 C-2a is the only variety that combines the Punctuated Date obverse with a lettered edge, and an example is required for completion of a <em>Guide Book</em> variety set of this denomination. The last Lettered Edge half cent produced, with most included in the December 1 delivery of that year, the 1795 C-2a is also a historically significant variety. Writing in the 2019 reference <em>The Half Cent, 1793-1857: The Story of America's Greatest Little Coin</em>, William R. Eckberg accounts for just 200 survivors in all grades. Fortunately for advanced collectors, a few Mint State survivors are known from this die pairing, but we caution that they are rare in an absolute sense and seldom appear in the market outside of major auction sales, as here.