1859 Half Dollar Pattern - J-245 1859 50C Pattern PCGS PR63 CAC. R6+. This rare, Choice proof 1859 Half Dollar Pattern has light silvery rose-gold devices over dark blue-gray fields. The colors indicate the coins originality. A very small obverse scratch and a few light hairlines keep this lovely piece from a Gem grade. As expected for a proof coin, the strike is strong with full details on Libertys hair and ear, on the obverse legend, and on the eagles neck and wings. The lustrous devices seem to float on the darker fields creating a semi-cameo look. The coin is tied for the second finest known at PCGS. Its CAC sticker tells us that it is a premium quality piece that fully merits the assigned grade. 

Also struck in copper, the J-245 shows Longacres French Liberty Head. She faces right and is wearing a wreath on her head. A LIBERTY inscribed ribbon flows from behind her neck across the front of the bust and up to the front of her neck. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA surrounds the whole with the date below. The reverse shows Paquets Perched Eagle. The heraldic eagle holds a ribbon inscribed E PLURIBUS UNUM in its beak. The ribbon starts above the eagles head and flows down across the shield. The legend UNITED STATS OF AMERICA is above and the denomination, HALF DOLLAR, is below.

James Barton Longacre was born in Pennsylvania in 1794. When he finished his apprenticeship in Philadelphia as a bookseller and a banknote engraver, he worked on his own as an engraver of book illustrations and bank notes. His works included one on the signers of the Declaration of Independence and another on stage personalities. In 1830, Longacre began a series of biographies of famous men in the military and the political arena. In 1834 the result of this series became the National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans that was published in four volumes.

Longacre and those who worked with him became famous because of this work. In 1844 Longacre came to work at the Mint. He was opposed by Franklin Peale, the Chief Coiner. Peale was probably responsible for some blundered dies that Longacre was criticized for making. Peal was involved in a private, illegal medal manufacturing business using Mint facilities. He was concerned that this new political appointee would interfere with his business, and he resisted Longacres appointment as Chief Engraver. Finally in 1854, Peale was fired by President Franklin Pearce. Longacre flourished in his position and was responsible for creating many new designs including the Indian Head cent, the two-cent piece, the Shield nickel, the Liberty Head gold dollar, the Indian Princess gold dollar, the three-dollar gold piece, and the Liberty Head double eagle. 

Assistant Engraver Anthony C. Paquet was born in 1814 in Hamburg, Germany. He emigrated in 1848. He began working at the Mint in 1857 and remained there as an employee until 1864. He did additional contract work after his regular employment. He died in 1882. Paquet is most famous for his double eagles of 1861 that were named for him. In his book The U.S. Mint and Coinage, Donald Taxay said of him, Paquet possessed a very modest talent, and his dies, with but one brief exception, were never adopted on the coinage. A peculiar ugliness in portraiture, stiffness in anatomy, and tall, thin lettering distinguish the work of this artist.

The J-245 1859 Half Dollar Pattern has a high 6 rarity rating. In its population report, PCGS shows 2 in PR63 condition with 4 better. CAC, as of May 2013, has confirmed 2 in PR63 condition with 1 better.