1854 1/2C, RB MS(PCGS#1231)

Spring 2026 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

2072

Grade

MS65+RB

Price

4,800

Lot Description

Manley Die State 1.0. A premium quality example through and through, more Red than Brown, with vivid rose-red mint color dominating the appearance on both sides. Toning is minimal and largely confined to iridescent olive-gray drifting through and around the central obverse. Sharply struck and crisp with only tiny, faint carbon flecks precluding an even higher Gem Mint State grade.<p>The 1854 represents the beginning of the end for half cent coinage by the United States Mint. The disappearance of silver from circulation early in the California Gold Rush era resulted in heightened demand for copper coinage to take its place, which probably explains the slight bump in half cent mintages in both 1851 and 1853. By 1854, however, the moment had passed, and yearly mintages for this commercially unpopular denomination dropped considerably; they would remain limited through the series' end in 1857. Only 55,358 coins were struck for theoretical circulation in 1854 (as opposed to 129,694 in 1853) and, in a repeat of what had happened during the mid and late 1830s, many never even reached the avenues of commerce. The Gies hoard alone, discovered circa 1935 and dispersed by the early 1940s, distributed 1,000 Mint State 1854 half cents into numismatic hands. The Widmer Family specimen is likely from that source. It is one of the finest certified for the issue as confirmed by its PCGS MS-65+ RB grade and would make an outstanding addition to a high quality type, date, or variety set.