First Known Proof 1824/1 Half Dollar Heads to Auction

A rare 1824/1 Capped Bust half dollar described as the first known proof example of the overdate is heading to sale with a conservative pre-auction estimate of $75,000 to $90,000.

PCGS graded the coin PR63 and attributed it as the Overton-101 variety, with a 4 struck over a 1 in the date. It will be offered as Lot 725 in Scotsman’s Midwest Summer Sale 2026, with bidding opening July 22 and closing Aug. 7.

Proof Designation Sets Coin Apart

Several circulation-strike Overton varieties of the 1824/1 half dollar are known, and PCGSCoinFacts.com estimates that about 750 examples survive across all grades.

The newly publicized coin stands apart because of its proof designation. Scotsman said its catalog team found no previously proof 1824/1 half dollar in the records it reviewed from PCGS, NGC or discussed in any known research literature.

“This is an astonishing discovery coin,” said John B. Woodside, vice president of Scotsman Coin & Jewelry.

The auction catalog describes the coin as having been struck from perfect O-101 dies. Cataloger James Garcia pointed to the unusually sharp rendering of Liberty’s hair beneath the cap, which he said could only have resulted from multiple strikes.

Held in a Collection Since 1972

The half dollar comes from the Opa Collection, a group of coins acquired by a Midwestern collector about half a century ago. His heirs consigned the coins to Scotsman without third-party certification, after which the company submitted them to PCGS.

The collector acquired the 1824/1 half dollar in 1972, more than a decade before today’s major third-party authentication, grading and encapsulation services began operations.

“Our family was deeply honored and humbled to learn that Dad’s 1824/1 proof half dollar had been graded as the finest known example, with no higher-graded specimen currently known,” the family stated.

The heirs said he began collecting coins at age 14 and spent his life studying American numismatics. Although he recognized that the half dollar was exceptional, he never submitted it for formal grading.

“Discovering its significance after his passing has made the moment both remarkable and bittersweet,” the family stated.

They recalled that when he showed them a particularly special coin, he would say, “Look at this beauty.”

Discovery Raises New Questions

The coin’s emergence raises questions about why the Philadelphia Mint may have selected an overdated obverse die for a specially produced half dollar.

Scotsman cited known proofs of the 1824 cent, 1824/2 dime, 1824/2 quarter and 1824/1 quarter eagle as precedents.

The catalog team also questioned whether the discovery could point to the existence of a proof 1824/2 half cent.

Additional details and bidding are available through Scotsman’s Midwest Summer Sale 2026.