A Capped Bust Half--Struck In Platinum!

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The Judd and Taxay Plate Coin 1814 Pattern Capped Bust half dollar. Judd-44, Pollock-48. Rarity-8. Regular die trials striking of the 1814 Capped Bust half dollar using the obverse and reverse dies of the Overton-107 variety. Struck in Platinum with a lettered edge. This is an extremely important pattern, and for several reasons. First, it is the only 19th century United States pattern type known to have been struck in platinum. Second, it enjoys widespread desirability due to the popularity of the regular-issue Capped Bust half dollar series. And finally, it is one of very few original United States patterns that have survived from the early years of the 19th century. We know that Judd-44 was actually struck in 1814 because the type was well known to Mint Director Colonel James Ross Snowden (term of office: June 1853-May 1861) and listed in his work A Description of Ancient and Modern Coins in the Cabinet of the United States. Snowden's description of the piece reads as follows: 1815 [sic]. A platina piece struck from the dies for the legal half dollar of that year. It was an experiment, platina being then a new metal... Further proof of this coin having been struck in 1814 is the use of both the obverse and reverse dies of the 1814 Overton-107 variety. Had the piece been struck in a later year, it is highly likely that dies from two different years would have been used from whatever stocks were still on hand at that time. We are aware of the existence of only three examples of the Judd-44 pattern Half Dollar, one of which is impounded in the Smithsonian Institution's National Numismatic Collection and, thus, is not obtainable for private ownership. Additionally, the third specimen is currently untraced.