1/2 Dollar '1859' Pattern, copper

Judd-240 belongs to a remarkably productive year for U.S. pattern coinage — 1859 saw the Mint experimenting heavily with both designs and alloys as part of ongoing efforts to reform the cent, but the half dollar patterns from that year reflect a separate institutional habit of testing alternative compositions on higher denominations with no serious prospect of adoption. Copper at this size was never a genuine candidate for circulation; these were almost certainly produced for sale to contemporary collectors, a practice the Mint conducted openly and profitably throughout the 1850s and 1860s.

Surviving examples are typically found in near-pristine condition for exactly that reason.