1861 $5 J-283, BN PR(PCGS#12118)

November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

8672

Grade

PR62BN

Price

5,040

Lot Description

<strong>Obv:</strong> A bust of Liberty faces right with 13 stars around the border and the date 1861 below. Liberty is wearing a soft cap ornamented with three stars, and a ribbon inscribed LIBERTY crosses her right shoulder. <strong>Rev:</strong> A spread wing eagle clutches an olive branch in its right talon and a group of three arrows in its left talon. The eagle also clutches a scroll inscribed E PLURIBUS UNUM in its beak. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is above and the denomination FIVE DOLLARS is below. The letter V in FIVE is actually an upside down A. Struck on a planchet that is unusually large for a half eagle and similar in size to that used to produce regular issue ten-dollar gold eagles.<p>The date is quite small for the size of the coin. This pattern was for a large diameter, thin planchet Half Eagle, designed to keep unscrupulous individuals from hollowing out gold coins and replacing their content with a less valuable metal, this being a often-seen practice at the time. This well struck but somewhat subdued specimen features an appearance that results from the post-striking plating.