1844-D $5 MS(PCGS#8221)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

3308

Grade

MS61

Price

16,800

Lot Description

A thoroughly appealing, solidly graded Mint State Dahlonega Mint $5. Displaying warm olive-gold color, both sides also exhibit blushes of pale rose patina here and there around the peripheries. Satiny luster is full and lively, and it includes modest semi-reflectivity in the fields. With a razor sharp strike and abundant eye appeal, this premium quality example is worthy of the strongest bids.<p>Vying with the 1843-D and 1845-D as the most readily obtainable Dahlonega Mint half eagle from the 1840s, the 1844-D is still scarce in an absolute sense. A mintage of 88,982 pieces is generous by the standards of this Southern gold series, but attrition through circulation and melting has left only 325 to 375 survivors throughout the numismatic grading scale (per Doug Winter, 2023). Of these, the typical grade is VF or EF, although the persistent collector should find this issue easier than most other Dahlonega Mint fives to locate in AU. Mint State examples are rare and number only 10 to 12 coins. With CAC approval, the specimen offered here is solidly in the Condition Census.<p>Winter 11-G is encountered more frequently than 12-G, the only other die pairing known for this issue. The former attribution is identifiable by the close spacing between the digit 4 in the date and the base of Liberty's portrait.