Lot 118
118
CLASSIC 1829 HALF-EAGLE ONE OF THREE PROOFS KNOWN MINTED THE YEAR OF BYRON REED'S BIRTH
Half-Eagle, 1829, capped head left, small date, small planchet, engraved by William Kneass, after designs by Robert Scot and John Reich (Breen 2B, rarity 7), a few scattered marks and faint hairlines, otherwise very choice Proof, lustrous mirror surfaces and frosty devices create a pleasing cameo contrast, one of the most famous rarities in the entire United States gold series, just eight to twelve examples known and only three Proofs, including one coin permanently housed in the Smithsonian Institution, the specimen offered here has been in the Byron Reed Collection since 1880

Details
Half-Eagle, 1829, capped head left, small date, small planchet, engraved by William Kneass, after designs by Robert Scot and John Reich (Breen 2B, rarity 7), a few scattered marks and faint hairlines, otherwise very choice Proof, lustrous mirror surfaces and frosty devices create a pleasing cameo contrast, one of the most famous rarities in the entire United States gold series, just eight to twelve examples known and only three Proofs, including one coin permanently housed in the Smithsonian Institution, the specimen offered here has been in the Byron Reed Collection since 1880

Lot Essay

Perhaps it is fitting that one of the great rarities in the United States gold series was "born" in the same year as its former owner, Byron Reed. According to Breen's Encyclopedia, Reed obtained this specimen from the 19th Century coin dealer W. Eliot Woodward's sale of the Emery, Taylor and Loomis Collections on March 9, 1880, just three days short of his 51st birthday. The 1829 Half-Eagle was known as a great rarity even then, and Reed was probably quite pleased with the important "birthday present" he added to his considerable numismatic holdings. Appropriately enough, another specimen of this great rarity was handled earlier this Century by Spink, who eventually sold it to Mrs. R. Henry Norweb, one of the most prominent of all 20th Century numismatists. A roster of the known specimens from Breen's Encyclopedia, reads as follows:

1. Mint Cabinet Collection; Smithsonian Institution.
2. McCoy; J.O. Emery; Byron Reed Estate.
3. Cohen; Parmelee; Low; Ten Eyck; Newcomer; Green; Farouk; Spink; Norweb.
4. Newlin; T.H. Garrett; J.W. Garrett; Johns Hopkins University; Kesselman.
5. Ely; Cleneay; Smith; Dunham; Flanagan; FUN; Superior Galleries; RARCOA; Private Collection.
6. Green; Clapp; Eliasberg; Lipton.
7. Stickney; Earle; Bell; Menjou; Melish; Kagin.
8. Yorktown, Indiana Estate; Hendrickson; Grand Central; Pradeau-Bothamely; Davies-Niewoehner; Burnheimer.