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Sale 34
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Lot 831
1877 Pattern Fifty Dollars or "Half Union". Judd-1549. Copper (gilt), reeded edge. NGC graded Proof 64. Possibly the finest copper known. PCGS graded 2 in PF-63. Only 3 known. Two graded by NGC PF63 and PF64. Copper, gilt. Reeded edge. Light hairlines in the field, but essentially mirrorlike. Well struck and with excellent contrast. A beautiful example of a pattern variety that is unobtainable in gold, accessible only in copper or copper gilt, and rare as such. The current piece was struck as copper and then was gold plated very early, possibly at the mint (as was done every now and then), possibly not. The record is ambiguous. Fewer than 10 different examples have been traced today of Judd-1549, making the present coin a rarity in an absolute sense. Interestingly, more gilt examples of Judd-1549 are known than are copper pieces (while for J-1547, the opposite is true). Although today classic "trophy coins" have a way of bouncing around on the market and appearing more frequently than their rarity indicates, most 1877 pattern $50 pieces have remained rather quiet.
The $50 Half Union, as it was called, was the result of a proposal made to create a large gold coin for commerce, in view of quantities of bullion being available from California. The denomination has precedence in that decades earlier in 1851 and 1852 octagonal $50 "slugs" were produced in San Francisco, and in 1855 the famous Wass, Molitor, & Co. and the rare Kellogg & Co. $50 pieces were made in round format. The thought in 1877 was to have the $100 be called the Union, and the $50, as here, called the Half Union.
The design and dies were made by Chief Engraver William Barber, who inserted his initial B below the curl at the back of the neck truncation. The portrait of Liberty is instantly familiar as the same motif, in various reductions, was used on his other patterns, notably dollars through and including 1880. The head of Liberty superficially resembles that on current $20 pieces, but is strictly Barber's own work, with stylistic variations and with the coronet of an unusual configuration. The date 1877 is from the four-digit logotype used to produced double eagles this year. The stars around are small and are no doubt standard punches used on a smaller denomination.
The reverse is directly inspired by the contemporary $20 piece, designed by James B. Longacre in 1849, but here in larger size and adapted for the $50. Appropriate lettering is around the border as illustrated. The motto IN GOD WE/TRUST was probably entered into the die by hand, rather than being part of a hub. The alignment is rather irregular, the top line is not in a true arc, the D is distant and tilts to the right, and so on. The devil is in the details, they say, and often the examination of a seemingly routine pattern or regular die from this era of the 19th century will reveal many irregularities.
As to the $50 pattern, there are two different obverse dies, both combined with the reverse here. One striking of each was made in gold, and given to the Mint Collection. However, it seems that in the early 1890s Philadelphia dealer John W. Haseltine somehow persuaded the curator of the Mint Cabinet to part with them, after which they landed in Haseltine's inventory. The same gold impressions reappeared on the market in the next decade when he and Stephen K. Nagy sold them to William H. Woodin. A great furor arose, well delineated in the numismatic press of the time, and the two gold strikings were returned to the Mint. Today they are among the treasures in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.
The number of copper pieces struck was not recorded, but must have been quite low, judging from the rarity of such pieces today. The presently offered coin reflects not only an idea that might have been, but wasn't, but also is desirable for the $50 denomination (the toughest value to acquire for a type set of patterns), its rarity, and its fame.
Estimated Value $200,000 - 220,000.
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| Realized $230,000 |
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