Rare branch mint proof half dollar sells for $504,000 at auction
(Artdaily.org)

Numismatic auction powerhouse Stack’s Bowers Galleries just sold a famous and ultra-rare 1838-O Capped Bust Half Dollar at the Whitman Baltimore Winter Expo at the Baltimore Convention Center for $504,000. The 1838-O half dollar is one of only nine known to exist from an estimated mintage of no more than 20 coins. This issue represents the first half dollars struck by the then newly opened New Orleans Mint and were produced in a special presentation format known as Proof or Specimen. The New Orleans Mint was established to produce coins of several different denominations, but its main focus was the half dollar. The half dollar was the most convenient medium of converting the flow of uneven quality Latin American silver coins into a sufficient quantity of new United States coins fit for banking and commerce. However,