The March 2010 Baltimore Auction

Pre-Bidding Ends: 3/5/2010 3:00:00 PM
Live Floor and Internet Bidding Begins: 3/5/2010 3:00:00 PM

Lot #3743. 1842-C Liberty Half Eagle. Small Date. Winter Variety 1 (4-C). MS-63 (NGC). CAC.

Top-of-the-Census 1842-C Small Date Half Eagle

 The Elrod-Dingler Specimen
Description: A major rarity in the Liberty Half Eagle series, the 1842-C Small Date is actually the most elusive issue of this denomination from the Charlotte Mint. A mere 4,595 pieces were produced, and these probably preceded the 1842-C Large Date examples. The Small Date logotype, after all, was phased out with this issue, all later-date Charlotte Mint Half Eagles displaying larger (if not much larger) digits.
    Writing in the 2008 edition of the book Gold Coins of the Charlotte Mint: 1838-1861, Doug Winter accounts for a mere 60-80 survivors of the 1842-C Small Date Five. Only a handful of Mint State coins are believed extant, the actually number probably not exceeding five coins despite PCGS and NGC population figures that are almost certainly inflated by resubmissions. And at the apex of Condition Census for the issue is this remarkable NGC/CAC MS-63.
    Of this particular coin Doug Winter (2008) writes:

                    The record for this variety was set in January 2005 when Heritage sold the finest known for $150,000. This coin had traded around a decade earlier for a six-figure price and, to the best of my knowledge, it was the first Charlotte half eagle ever to eclipse this mark.

Obviously a very special coin, this piece is also a true delight to behold. Bright, satin-to-softly frosted features are awash in even rose-orange color. We have no complaints about the strike, all devices being sharp-to-full in detail. And while slightly scuffiness to the surfaces precludes an even higher grade, individual pedigree markers are small in size and difficult to discern without the aid of a loupe. Pedigreed to some of the most famous Southern gold collections ever assembled, this lovely piece is sure to have no difficulty finding its way into another equally important cabinet.

Combined PCGS and NGC Population: just 3; 0 finer. At least one of these "coins" is thought to represent a resubmission.

PCGS# 8208.

From the Cuyahoga Collection of Charlotte and Dahlonega Mint Gold. Earlier Ex: Bell Collection; Numismatic Gallery's sale of March 1948, lot 426; New England Rare Coin Auctions' sale of the Orchard Hill Gold Collection, January 1982, lot 1407; Stanley Elrod Collection; various dealer intermediaries; Paul Dingler Collection; Pinnacle Rarities/Heritage Rare Coin Galleries; Heritage's FUN Signature Sale, January 2005, lot 30451.