Lot 713
Half Eagle. 1803/2. PCGS graded MS-66. Premium Quality. This is the finest graded early gold coin of this date, and is tied with only one other of its type, an 1802/1 Half Eagle, also PCGS graded Mint State 66. Far and away this is the finest early United States gold coin we have ever seen in all our decades of numismatic experience. There is abundant original mint bloom on this coin, with fresh, original luster throughout. As to the surfaces, they are pristine, even a glass scarcely locates microscopic handling marks. Liberty's face, the stars, hair and cap are all virtually perfect, fully struck in every nuance of Robert Scot's design, with a delicate coppery and greenish gold color from years of careful storage. On the reverse, the stars above the eagle are all needle-sharp, and each feather on the proud eagle is full and complete. Even a faint die crack, extending from the U of UNITED to the E of STATES shows minute detail as it bisects the reverse. Any numismatic expert would be well advised to spend a few minutes examining this coin, linger over the velvety fields that are incomprehensibly free of marks, incomprehensible because this is an early gold coin, the softest metal that normally attracts contact marks, note the virtual absence of contact on either side here. Many may aspire to be gems, but all will fall short of the quality of this magnificent and stunning coin.
Located 21 years ago by Tony Terranova, who pried it away from a collector by paying four times the current bid for a gem, an astronomical price at the time, and quickly put away in another collection. We believe this to be the finest early U.S. gold coin, of any denomination, in existence.
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