1840 Liberty Seated Half Dime, Mint State-66 (PCGS/CAC)
With Drapery, Scarce Gem, PCGS Pop. 1/1

With Drapery At Elbow - The Robert Ball Hughes version of Gobrecht's Liberty Seated design, with added drapery below Liberty's elbow at right. Large Letters reverse of 1840 to 1859.

Boldly struck, as is generally the case for this issue, with sharp hair, stars and exposed foot detail on the obverse, while the reverse wreath shows some minor blunt detail in the upper left bunch of leaves. Soft gold, olive and amber toning is dusted with just a touch of powder blue, and is more vivid on the obverse. Some scattered marks and subtle hairlines are visible under 10x, yet are well camouflaged by the toning, with the most prominent mark on the obverse under star 8.

This is a scarce issue in Mint State, with about one-fourth as many certified MS-60 or better by PCGS compared to 1840 "No Drapery". Additionally, this is the only MS-66 reported by PCGS, an earlier graded "green tag", with one PCGS MS-67 the Finest Known.