1854-C $5 Weak C MS(PCGS#98257)

1854-C $5 Weak C MS (PCGS#98257)

The March 2011 Baltimore Auction

Lot Description: 1854-C Liberty Half Eagle. Winter Variety 2 (22-J). Weak C. MS-62 (NGC). The scarcest of the later-date Charlotte Mint Half Eagles, the 1854-C has an original mintage of 39,283 pieces. Attrition due to circulation and other causes was quite high for this issue, and Doug Winter (<em>Gold Coins of the Charlotte Mint: 1838-1861</em>, 2008 edition) accounts for only 140-170 survivors in all grades. The author's estimate on the number of Mint State coins extant is limited to just five or six pieces, figures that confirm the conditionally rare status of the present BU example.<br />     This is the Weak C die marriage of the 1854-C Half Eagle, the C mintmark not only softly impressed into the die but also placed much farther to the right than on Winter Variety 1 (22-I). A bright orange-gold piece, both sides exhibit the somewhat granular luster type that is often noted for this issue. Even so, more direct angles do call forth modest hints of reflectivity from the fields. Apart from the aforementioned C mintmark, which is still easy to see with the unaided eye, the devices are bold-to-sharp in strike. Wispy abrasions do not include any sizeable or otherwise individually mentionable detractions. In high grades (read: AU and Mint State), the 1854-C is rarer than such other Charlotte Mint Fives as the 1843-C, 1855-C and 1860-C.