1845 $5 MS(PCGS#8223)

Spring 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

4533

Grade

MS62

Price

5,040

Lot Description

A sharply struck and vivid example with full mint frost throughout. Dominant golden-honey color with blushes of pale reddish-apricot evident as the coin rotates under a light. The 1845 is one of the highest mintage half eagles from the 1840s with 417,099 circulation strikes produced. Worn survivors are plentiful by the standards of the early No Motto Liberty Head series, although in Mint State the 1845 is surprisingly rare. This is true of virtually all Philadelphia Mint half eagles from the 1840s, as these coins saw active commercial use in an era when there was essentially no numismatic interest in preserving circulation strikes. It is truly remarkable, therefore, that the present example not only survived in Mint State, but that it did so with such attractive surfaces.