Lot 1022
1794 Flowing Hair Half Dime. PCGS graded MS-64. Valentine-2, LM-2. Mostly well struck includidng the breast feathers on the eagle. We note a tad of weakness on the falling hair curls of Liberty. A gorgeous example of our first half dime and free from adjustment marks and other defects that often accompany our earliest coins. Lovely original antique toning on both sides.
The flowing hair half dimes of 1794-95, a key two-year Type, were by Robert Scot, the chief engraver of the Mint. His design differs from that found on Birch's 1792 half dismes (the spelling of "disme" would gradually change to "dime" in the writings of the period. On the 1792 coins, the denomination is spelled HALF DISME).
Scot's design features a head of Liberty facing to the right with distinctive flowing hair. Fifteen stars, arranged 8x7, surround the head with the date below and the word LIBERTY above. On the reverse, an eagle stands amid an olive branch with the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around it. There is no indication of this coin's value on either side, nor would there be until the Capped Bust design was adopted in 1829.
All of the 7,756 Flowing Hair half dimes dated 1794 were actually struck in March of 1795. The 1794 half dime is a scarce coin in any grade. In Mint State it is a major rarity, although a group of a dozen or so extremely choice uncirculated pieces exist from a hoard found and dispersed around 1880, possibly the source of this beautiful MS64 specimen. Pop 11; 8 finer in 65 (PCGS # 4250) .
Die Variety: This is the second rarest variety of the year, and it was struck second in the LM-1 to LM-4 sequence. On the obverse, star 2 points between curls 3 and 4 while the reverse has a double leaf below the final S in STATES, confirming the identity of the variety. A short die crack from a dentil into the field between A and M is about the same as found in later die states of LM-1 which shares this reverse.
Estimated Value $40,000 - 44,000.
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