Lot 920
1847 $2.50 Liberty. Sharpness of MS-60 but cleaned long ago. In addition, we note recutting above the 1 and the 47 as well, with heavy die file lines on the rim below the date. Breen suggests the bizarre recuttings seen from this period are a result of political protests at the Philadelphia Mint. The old family organization had suddenly been turned upside down after Christian Gobrecht's death and the hiring of an outsider, James Barton Longacre. Breen believes it was Longacre himself who created all the mispunched dates from the period as he was the engraver at the time. Perhaps it was Mint workers who sought to undermine Longacre's career at the Mint, by producing blunders on every die available when the dates were punched into place, the balance of the design elements punched in by master hubs. Whoever caused these comedy of errors at least produced a large number of very popular varieties for collectors of today to pursue. Here is a delightful example, the date shows minor recutting, but someone obviously flipped the 1 punch upside down and pounded a portion of it into the field at Liberty's neck! The portion of the 1 visible is quite easily made out with a magnifier.
The surfaces show minor hairlines from a wiping with a soft cloth, and the devices show minor weakness on the usual high points of both sides. An impressive coin that a collector can long appreciate.
Estimated Value $1,500-UP.
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