Lot 896
1797. 13 stars. PCGS graded EF-40. Light toning on the obverse and reverse of gunmetal gray with deeper russet hues surrounding the periopheral devices. The strike is sharp for this rare issue, with all of Liberty's curls well separated and brought up by the dies, the eagle shows good feather definition as well. 1797 brought many star combinations to half dimes, one obverse die had 15 stars, the next obverse die had 16 stars as Tennessee joined the Union. At this point the Mint decided they had to quit adding stars as their was simply not enough room on the dies as more and more states came into the Union. Thus in 1797 it was determined to stick with the original 13 stars of the first states. When this obverse die was engraved, it shows the original 13 stars and is instantly recognizable. Furthermore this is one of the toughest die pairings of the entire series to find at all, let alone in a nice grade like XF40. This issue is a true rarity in all grades. Only 44,527 struck. Pop 5; 11 finer at PCGS. (PCGS # 4260) Estimate Value $9,000 - 10,000
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