Picked up this Bridgeport Centennial over the weekend. It was a good price so I pulled the trigger on it. Considered selling it but may keep it instead. Maybe even slab it and hope for MS-64+.
That is the first time I saw a Bridgeport Half Dollar, the eagle on the reverse is very unusual, very minimalist, do you know who designed it? I just read PT Barnums autobiography a short while ago, one of the things he was very interested in was prohibition of alcohol.
Yeah, from those pics, I'm not thinking you should slab it at all. MS64's don't fetch that much, and yours doesn't appear to be a MS64 at all, cleaned, and there looks like there is a fingerprint starting at the T in CENTENNIAL.
I was thinking that there might be some hairlines on it, but I wasn't sure so I didn't mention it. I'm still not 100% sure. Chris
Which is why I was thinking cleaned. I was thinking maybe some overexposure due to lighting at first, but I honestly think this coin is a cleaned coin with maybe low MS details.
The coin does appear to have some visible, parallel hairlines perhaps indicating a cleaning. The red book describes the eagle on the reverse as an art-deco theme.
The designer was Henry G. Kreis. Born in Essen, Germany (Heinrich Kreis), he emigrated to the US in 1923 where he later designed many sculptures and also various coins. That eagle is interesting, but I don't think the styles of the two sides match. The portrait is quite realistic while the eagle is almost abstract ... Christian
I agree. It's kind of like oil & vinegar. I like the art deco eagle. Why couldn't they have stylized the bust? Chris
My mom grew up in Stratford near Bridgeport. My grandparents both worked in Bridgeport and as a kid I would take the bus into the city. So I always liked this coin and always wanted one. Don't have one yet. Yes it is kind of a funky eagle.
The way the light is hitting it gives a "cleaned" impression. Can't expect too much for a camera phone though. The 'fingerprint' I'm going to have to look at some more.
"There's a sucker born every minute." It's a great eagle. Very unusual per others of the era, but very unique for the graphic look and vision of modernity in the period the coin was minted. Henry Kreis designed the coin. Bridgeport Centennial Half Dollar Commemorative History I too see the print as T$ points out and the hairlines also pointed out.
