1837 $5 HM-2 MS(PCGS#765244)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

3197

Grade

MS64+

Price

55,200

Lot Description

A frosty specimen with outstanding luster quality. The medium gold surfaces display warm olive and faint orange highlights. Both sides are devoid of all but a few tiny blemishes, none of them deep. In fact, most are simply faint, superficial scuffs that define the near-Gem grade from PCGS. The strike is bold and crisp with virtually all features fully rendered, and none less than sharp.<p>After producing record numbers of Classic Head half eagles in 1834 and 1836, production of this denomination returned to more normal levels in 1837 with 207,121 pieces. Comprising nearly half of the extant population of the issue, the HM-2 attribution is the most readily obtainable of the three known for the 1837 half eagle. We caution bidders, however, that the 1837 is one of the two scarcest Philadelphia Mint issues of the brief Classic Head half eagle design type. Irrespective of variety, a Mint State example of this issue is a rare find in today's market, with those grading MS-64 or finer very rare. This exquisite Condition Census offering from the Chicago Collection is ranked #5 in the list of finest knowns for the issue in Daryl J. Haynor's 2020 reference on Classic Head gold coinage. It is a premium quality coin that will please even the most discerning gold enthusiasts.