A rare 1795 Flowing Hair half dollar graded Mint State 65+ by Professional Coin Grading Service and bearing a green Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker brought $552,000, leading bidding at Heritage’s Feb. 23 auction featuring Part IV of Texas businessman Bob Simpson’s collection.

The 312 lots offered realized $7,896,748, as the total for Heritage’s Simpson sales approaches $30 million, with more auctions on the way.

The leading half dollar is listed as Overton 117 in the reference to early half dollars and is of the 2 Leaves reverse variety, further classified as Tompkins Die State 2/1, showing clash marks below the chin and above the head.

Heritage calls it “clearly the finest” example of the die variety known, pointing out, “This lovely coin has full and brilliant mint luster with delicate blue, violet and gold toning that is nicely matched between the obverse and the reverse.”

It had previously sold in 2015 in the first D. Brent Pogue auction by Stack’s Bowers Galleries and Sotheby’s — then graded MS-65 by PCGS — for $411,250.

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