1855-O $5 MS(PCGS#8264)

The November 2011 Baltimore Auction

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

9519

Grade

MS61

Price

15,525

Lot Description

1855-O Liberty Half Eagle. MS-61 (NGC). One of the finest examples of this date to survive, and just a few are known that qualify as Mint State. This particular coin boasts frosty luster in the fields and a sharp strike on the stars and curls, although trivial weakness is found on the talons and arrows on the reverse. For identification there is a short scratch on the base of the letter E in LIBERTY, and a thin bagmark between the feathers and the uppermost arrowhead. The slanting 5s in the date are seen on several denominations, which began with the 1854 coinage, then was straightened up soon thereafter. Tied with a total of four coins as the finest seen of this issue by both major grading services.