1851-C $5 MS(PCGS#8247)

Spring 2022 U.S. Coins Auction

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

5059

Grade

AU53

Price

6,000

Lot Description

1851-C Liberty Head Half Eagle. Winter-2. AU-53 (PCGS). Rich olive-orange color blankets surfaces that display semi-prooflike reflectivity in the fields. Otherwise satiny, a strike that wanes only at the central high points enhances the appeal of this condition rarity example. Despite a mintage of 49,176 coins struck, the 1851-C is a median rarity in this series alongside the 1855-C and 1859-C. About Uncirculated and Mint State examples are particularly elusive, especially with the quality and eye appeal offered here. Doug Winter (2008) describes two die marriages for the 1851-C half eagle issue. Winter-2, represented here, employs the same reverse die used to strike the 1849-C Winter-1, Die State II and 1850-C Winter-1 varieties, with a readily evident die crack from the border before the word UNITED to the olive branch. The author describes the 1851-C Winter-2 variety as "very rare." Provenance: From the Fairmont Collection-Hendricks Set. PCGS Population: 13; 19 finer (MS-64 finest). PCGS# 8247. NGC ID: 25U6. Click here for certification details from PCGS.