David Akers (1975/88):
Description: Obverse. Head of Liberty facing right wearing a coronet with LIBERTY inscribed below a band of pearls. (The facial features are more finely detailed and the hair is much fuller than on the figure of Liberty on the 1872 gold patterns). Surrounding the head are thirteen stars. Below the bust is the date, 1873. Reverse. Identical to J-1240.
Comments: In his March, 1876 auction catalogue, the Philadelphia dealer John W. Haseltine stated that only two specimens of this half eagle pattern were struck. Adams and Woodin, in their pattern book of 1913, called this pattern R15 (unique) and therefore the piece in the Haseltine sale must have been the same one that was later offered in the H.P. Smith sale of 1906. The Smith specimen was purchased by John Story Jenks and was sold with his collection in 1921 where it was again catalogued as "unique."
F.C.C. Boyd, in his personal copy of the Adams and Woodin pattern book, crossed out "R15" and wrote in "R14," meaning he knew of at least one other specimen, undoubtedly the one in his own collection whose pedigree he listed as Brand to Newcomer to Boyd.
One piece is now owned by Paramount International Coin Corporation who purchased it in 1973 from Dr. J.E. Wilkison. Wilkison acquired the piece from the Judd collection in 1962 and Judd obtained it when Boyd's collection was sold in the 1940's. The other known specimen was offered in the Farouk sale in 1954 and was probably the Jenks-Smith coin. However, if it was not, then it would be the third specimen that is mentioned in Judd's book.
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