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HBCC #3138 – 1820 Half Eagle – Obverse HBCC #3138 – 1820 Half Eagle – Reverse
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1820 Half Eagle

HBCC#:
3138
Breen#:
6478
BD#:
8
Judd#:
n/a
Pollock#:
n/a

In his monograph, Walter Breen identified obverse dies 3 and 4 with very similar descriptions. One key point in his descriptions concerns the first star at the lower left. For obverse 3 he noted that this star is less than a millimeter from the bust and “is still closer on obverse 4.” This comment helps with proper attribution. The example presently displayed is attributed as Breen 4-D and has small letters on the reverse, labeled a third grouping by Breen.

Provenance:
Purchased from Stanley Kesselman, August 24, 1978.
Obverse:
Reverse:
Commentary:
"Obverse: Curve-based 2. Belted 8. Sides of interior of 0 parallelized. Bottom tight curl over left side of 0. Star 7 points in front of a cap angle, while star 8 points at a cap angle. Minute die center punch in front of ear. Vertical rust lumps in field at tip of front lock, and in front of L. Reverse: Small Letters. Perfect T (no triangular punch in bottom of upright). S over E and space right. T over I and space left. S over S. Base of E in line with that of adjacent T. Perfect M. Distinctive raised horizontal line fragments within openings of shield's lower section."