1792 H10C VF20 Certification #03295048, PCGS #11020

The most historic United States coin! 1500 were struck in July 1792 under Mint auspices ,in the cellar of John Harper ,before the first mint building was completed.The silver for these was deposited by Thomas Jefferson on July 11,1792. He received the coins on July 13 and then left for Monticello spending the coins for services and also giving some to small children that he encountered. There was probably a second striking of about 500 on or about October 9,1792 . President Washington referred to these coins in his fourth Annual Address to Congress on November 6,1792 as: " There has been a small beginning in the coinage of Half Dimes, the want of small coins in circulation calling the first attention to them ". There are around 250 surviving coins. Fully 30% of those will not straight grade because of problems. Obverse well centered; reverse off center toward K-10.5. Obverse has double triangular ding in field under U, another like a comma after Y. Obverse dent at A of PAR. Weak central reverse. Reverse rim dent over TE of STATES. Early die state [ 1- A ] no crack on reverse. EX: Coins & Currency , Inc. May 21-23,1970, lot 1540 where curiously no grade was listed ; American Auction Association November 16,1973, lot 735 [ VF ] @ $2,700 ; Butterfield Johnson Gillio January 31,1995, as PCGS F-15 ,lot 2185 @$6975 ; California collector ; Certified as PCGS VF-20 on 2-28-1995 ;Tom Reynolds ; purchased from Kenneth Goldman at the 1996 FUN show. Some of this information is from " 1792: Birth of a Nation's Coinage " by Pete Smith, Joel J. Orosz and Leonard Augsburger.

David Hall

The PCGS graded MS67 is from the great John Pittman collection, one of the highest quality U.S. coin collections ever assembled. This specimen has amazing mark-free surfaces and a fully rounded cheek. The luster and originality are outstanding in every way. This coin, along with the PCGS graded SP67, is the finest known example of the first coin officially struck by the U.S. Mint.