1882 $5, DCAM PR(PCGS#98477)

February 2026 Showcase Auction - The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection Part II

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

23021

Grade

PR65DCAM

Price

84,000

Lot Description

This is a highly significant Proof half eagle that combines absolute and condition rarity with an impressive numismatic provenance. Fully defined with a soft satin texture, the devices appear to float atop deeply reflective fields. The entire coin is virtually pristine and displays deep, vivid, orange-gold color. Wisps of pale powder blue iridescence flash into view as the surfaces rotate into direct lighting, further confirming the originality of this splendid piece.<p>This is a rare issue, more elusive than many other classic U.S. Mint gold coins. The Proof 1882 half eagle is a low mintage affair with only 48 coins struck. These were delivered in three batches: 28 during the first quarter of the year, four during the second quarter, and the remaining 16 during the third quarter. Twenty-five of the coins delivered on February 4 and 15 on August 12 were intended for sale as part of complete Proof sets. In the end, however, no more than half of these coins appear to have been distributed to contemporary collectors; the extant population numbers only 18 to 22 specimens in all grades (per John W. Dannreuther, 2018). While sale of Proof minor coins reached a high water mark for the era in 1883, Proof gold coin sales of the Liberty Head type would not peak until around the turn of the century.<p>The number of Proof 1882 half eagles available for private ownership is further limited by the fact that three examples are permanently impounded in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution and American Numismatic Society. The James A. Stack, Sr. specimen offered here is not included in the 2018 Dannreuther census, and is making its first auction appearance in more than a century. Its last public offering was in B. Max Mehl's May 1922 sale of the celebrated James Ten Eyck Collection, lot 247, in which it was described as, "Perfect brilliant proof, sharp, with wire edge. Rare." Although they seem out of place on significant numismatic rarities such as this in today's market, such brief descriptions were commonplace for earlier generations of auctioneers and considered perfectly acceptable at the time. Returning to the Ten Eyck-Stack specimen, it is an exquisite Gem Deep Cameo Proof that ranks among the very finest examples of this rare issue available to today's advanced collectors. An exciting offering that will see spirited bidding.<p>Despite the multiple striking periods, the Mint employed only a single pair of dies to coin all 48 Proof 1882 half eagles. The reverse was previously used for the Proof 1881, John Dannreuther noting, "This likely is the last time [in the half eagle series] we find a leftover Proof-only die used for the next year's output."