A major error coin almost two hundred years old. An error type rarely seen. A problem-free host coin for that error type with excellent eye appeal. This coin is an extremely attractive 1831 Half Dollar with an incomplete clip.

It showcases all three of the descriptions above: a piece of American numismatic history, with a rare error type, and with excellent eye appeal.

This half dollar, specifically an Overton (O-116) die pairing, is a problem-free NGC graded XF45 example. The irony of calling an error coin "problem free" does not go without notice but in this case the designation refers not to the error as a problem, but rather to the excellent surfaces of the coin and how they are devoid of any major marks, or damage to the devices or fields.

What truly differentiates this coin as special is clear diagnostics of an error in the planchet cutting process. We typically see clipped planchets that resemble a curved area missing from the planchet. This occurs when the blanking press, the cutters which slice blanks out of a rolled planchet strip, cut either through a planchet that didn't get ejected from the machinery once "blanked" by the press, or overlap a previously cut hole in the planchet strip.

The net result is a thin cutting curve which does not penetrate the entire planchet and instead curves from K-10 to K-1 (on the obverse) with a corresponding curved area on the reverse. One way to tell if an incomplete clip is likely authentic is if the curved line from the cutting tool can be seen on both sides of the coin. If there is only a curved line on one side, the coin has likely been damaged post-mint. This coin however is indeed authentic, as certified.

Major auction house Stacks Bowers reports only one sale of a far inferior and cleaned example of an incomplete clip on a Capped Bust half. Heritage cites two sales (one, the same as the Stacks Bowers coin, and another, also harshly cleaned). Noted early US early half dollar dealer Sheridan Downey, when presented with this coin, noted that had not seen an example of the error type in-hand.

This is the finest known incomplete clip on a Capped Bust Half to be publicly available in recent years.

This is a coin which should appeal to any student of early US numismatics, any Capped Bust Half collector, error enthusiasts, or simply those fascinated by the minting process itself.

The coin will be offered for sale this summer through dealer and auctioneer Sheridan Downey, who will be conducting a mail bid sale in conjunction before the ANA World's Fair of Money in Pittsburgh. More information can be found at sheridanscoins.com.