Lot Number 18

A consummate rarity with a great story behind it.   It is the nicer of 4 known specimens.  The hitherto unknown die variety came to light in June 2004.  It sports a new obverse married to a known reverse (found on the 1807 O.103 and 104).  To my knowledge, the sharp-eyed collector who found it still owns the discovery piece.  A month later Dr. Glenn Peterson, author of The Ultimate Guide to Attributing Bust Half Dollars, decided to check the attribution of his 1807 O.104.  Good news, bad news.  He’d blown the attribution.  It was not an O.104.  But it was the 2nd known example of the O.115!  Glenn brought his coin to the Pittsburgh ANA in hopes of cashing it in for enough to buy John Tidwell’s R.8 1827 O.149 that I was handling.  Bingo!  His 1807 O.115 sold privately to Charlton Meyer and he landed the 149 at $57,640.  

Three months later another 1807 O.115 appeared.  This one was dug from the ground in upstate New York, near the Mohawk Valley.  It was damaged.  Still, it was a “quick sell.”  I helped the owner place that coin in the Overton Collection.  The Peterson/Meyer coin is lovely.  Luster sparkles around the devices, especially the reverse legend.  The generally soft strike induced a conservative grade from PCGS.  Many will agree with Meyer’s grade of VF 30.  The Meyer coin failed to sell in July 2008 when I offered it in a sale of “Selected Rarities” from his collection.  I later arranged a private sale to the consignor of the coin at Heritage’s January 2010 FUN Show Sale.  The coin brought $24,150.  Chris Merrill was the winning bidder.  Merrill consigned his advanced die variety collection to Heritage in 2017.  His `07-115, the coin offered here, appeared in Heritage’s February 2018 Long Beach Sale, lot 3872.  Steve Nomura was thrilled to win the coin at $19,200, significantly less than he was prepared to pay.  One other 1807 O.115 has appeared at auction.  I offered a PCGS F.12 as part of Mail Bid Sale 34 in August 2009.  Lot 159 brought $17,133. Estimate: $20,000 to $30,000

Auction Ended

High Bid	Maximum Bid	Total Price
$17,500 Reserve met	$21,600	$19,250