MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 10: Mint Condition pose for a photo at the KDWB radio party at Rupert's nightclub in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 27, 1991. (Photo by J
Half Dimes, Coins in Old Holders Highlight Heritage Auctions
The forgotten denomination of
The Old Orchard Collection of Half Dimes. Bidding in this month-long auction is open now, continuing through a live session beginning at 6 PM CT (7 PM ET) on May 29.
The Old Orchard Collection features 133 coins, ranging from 1794 through the end of the series, with a majority in Mint State grades. As is all too common with older coinage that was freely used in circulation, some issues are all but impossible to locate in a Mint State grade, such as the
1846 half dime. No fewer than 10 examples of this low-mintage key date are offered in this collection, with the finest graded AU58 by NGC. The major grading services combined have seen fit to award Mint State grades to a mere four coins of the date, putting this attractive, colorful, blatantly original piece in the lower part of the condition census.
Type I double eagle and is recognized well beyond the specialists of the series.
Anthony C. Paquet was born in
Hamburg,
Philadelphia in 1848. In early 1857, he took up contract work for the
Philadelphia Mint before finally being hired on as an assistant engraver. By far his most well-known work is the United States military’s highest decoration for valor, the
Medal of Honor instituted by President
Abraham Lincoln on July 12, 1861. Among his other projects at the Mint were a series of unsigned pattern coins, including a fascinating copper double eagle pattern,
Judd-257. To this day, the reverse dies he prepared for the 1861 double eagles remain the only coin designs that have been positively attributed to Paquet, who left the Mint in 1864.
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