Valentine 6 : Date high with 185 touching the base, and 0 nearly touching. Heavy reverse die break TES to rim.
The toning is typical for many of the Eliasberg silver coins, soft champagne gold and olive, and a few scattered hairlines set the grade, most notably from the pendant up towards star 12.
As a date, 1850 is one of the more common Stars Obverse Liberty Seated Half Dimes in the upper Mint State grades with over 30 coins reported as MS66 or better by PCGS. However, examples with attractive, natural toning and original surfaces as found here can be elusive.
The finest certified 1850 Half Dime is the ex Gardner PCGS MS68 #25387741, previously certified by NGC as MS68 #1828662-001. This coin was last sold by Heritage Auctions as Gene’s primary coin as part of “Gardner II”, October 2014, lot 98191 @ $12,925. However, Gene’s favorite 1850, and his primary coin, included in his self-published book of his Liberty Seated Half Dime Collection, is the ex ‘Boston’ PCGS MS67 #50069959 sold by Heritage Auctions as Gene’s duplicate, October 2015, lot 98144 @ $7,050.
Provenance
Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr.; Bowers and Merena, May 1996, lot 977 @ $2,640 as “MS-67”