Lot 833
1879 Pattern Half Dollar. Silver, reeded edge. NGC graded Proof 66. Lovely blue and gold toning. Barber's Washlady motif is featured on the obverse. The head of Liberty faces left with IN GOD WE TRUST above and the date below. The reverse depicts an eagle with spread wings holding an olive branch in one talon and three long, slender arrows in the other. The legends surround the eagle, with the denomination below. Struck in silver with a reeded edge. Golden-rose color is seen over most of each side, lighter in the centers and deeper toward the rims, with deep cobalt-blue and sea-green around the peripheries. Nicely mirrored in the fields, we see no surface flaws that would aid in tracing this coin's pedigree, just slight irregularities in the pattern of the toning. Only one other piece has been so graded by the major services with none finer. Pop 2; tied for highest graded at NGC; only 3 graded by NGC.
Although the new dollar had been accepted the year before, ten more pattern dollars were minted in 1879. Charles E. Barber submitted his "Washlady" design not only for the dollar but for the half dollar, quarter dollar and dime. Geoge T. Morgan, his associate at the mint but also a competitor designed the "Schoolgirl" pattern dollar; he also combined his obverse adopted for the regular Morgan silver dollar with other reverses for pattern dollars, half dollars, quarter dollars and dimes.
Estimated Value $20,000 - 25,000.
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