1856-S $5 MS(PCGS#8270)

March 2021 U.S. Coins Auction

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

5762

Grade

AU53

Price

2,880

Lot Description

1856-S Liberty Head Half Eagle. AU-53 (PCGS). CAC. A sharply struck, satiny to softly frosted example with subtle pale pink highlights to dominant honey-gold patina. Because of distrust of paper money, gold coins were the workhorse medium of exchange in the Old West. The entirety of the 105,100 mintage of 1856-S half eagles immediately entered circulation with little notice and went to work helping to make a dent in the enormous demand for lower denomination gold coins. And stay there they did -- the half eagle denomination had long been popular in commerce throughout the United States and especially so in California. In all degrees of preservation, the issue is notably scarce. Of the survivors, the typically offered grades are VF to low end AU. For the Western Americana specialist, here is a significant opportunity to acquire an uncommonly high grade survivor from the earliest days of the San Francisco Mint, and an underappreciated rarity. Provenance: From the Fairmont Collection. PCGS# 8270. NGC ID: 25UZ. Click here for certification details from PCGS. Image with the PCGS TrueView logo is obtained from and is subject to a license agreement with Collectors Universe, Inc. and its divisions PCGS and PSA.