Lot 1026
A Snowy White Gem 1853 Arrows and Rays. NGC graded MS-65. We don't have too much to say about this lovely coin because it is completely untoned (so we cannot describe any color), very boldly struck (so we cannot mention any faults here), and without marks of any size of any kind (so we cannot, again, think of anything to point out to prospective bidders). Rest assured, this is a Gem BU that is boldly minted and fantastically preserved. Oh yeah, okay: the last three stars are a touch soft, there are a few tiny ticks on the obverse, and the dies were clashed.
The Arrows & Rays which marked this coinage issue as different from previous half dollars were a reflection of things changing, and not for the better. They indicated a reduced silver content, or total weight, even though it was slight (you might say this was the first precursor of inflation in the general economy--as opposed to isolated incidents like the Gold Rush's wild prices). What caused it? Natural causes: America was rapidly becoming much more than the agrarian country that had existed since Colonial days. And a huge war was clearly looming. Congress passed the Coinage Act of 1853 on February 21st in order to stem the trickle of silver out of the USA into such places as Central America, where silver would flood in during the coming two decades as the gold-to-silver-to-greenbacks ratios gyrated out of control, largely as a result of the exigencies of the horrific Civil War, but also because the Nation was growing and growing and therefore entering a natural phase in the life of any democracy, called inflation. And just look where we are today, when our government insists there's "no inflation" and kids ask for fifty-dollar bills to go to the mall. As we said at first, things were not changing for the better. So here's a fine memento of how it all began.
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| Realized $13,513 |
