Among
the world-class rarities in our upcoming March 2017 Baltimore Auction is a
Proof-67 BN (NGC) example of the 1845 Braided Hair half cent Restrike that
ranks as finest known of the issue. The earliest known appearance of this jewel
was in B. Max Mehl’s sale of the William B. Hale Collection in November 1939.
With a winning bid of $49 dollars, the coin sold to a numismatist by the name
of Floyd Starr, in whose collection it would reside until our sale of his
impressive cabinet in 1984. In the year prior to the Starr sale, this piece was
included by Breen in the census of his half cent encyclopedia, noting it as an
example of “Series IV, early.” Of the approximately two dozen
examples extant, this piece is the finest known to either PCGS or NGC in any
color designation. For collectors of early American copper and half cent
specialists, this will be a significant offering.
The
provenance of this truly superb specimen is matched by its preservation. A rich
patina of plum and midnight blue on each side is illuminated by fiery Mint red
that remains most prominent across the reverse. The luster is satiny and offers
faint notions of mirrored reflectivity throughout the reverse fields. Razor
sharp devices and square, wire-rimmed circumferences speak to the Proof nature
of this piece, and the quality of execution is close to perfection. The
surfaces are without a single noteworthy abrasion, though a slender impression
of debris below star 1 serves as a convenient identifier for tracing the
provenance.
This
1845 Proof Restrike half cent will be presented among other rarities in our
March 2017 Official Auction of the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Expo,
featuring the Blue Moon Collection and sold in conjunction with the D. Brent
Pogue Collection Part V. To secure your copies of these exciting catalogs,
please contact our offices today at 1-800-458-4646.
