KEY DATE 1842-D LARGE DATE HALF EAGLE, PCGS AU53

Variety 8-G (designated by PCGS).

The 1842-D Large Date is the second scarcest half eagle from this mint after the 1861-D but it is the most difficult issue to locate in high grades. My best estimate is that only a dozen or so exist in AU grades and just one or two lay claim to an Uncirculated grade. Despite this coin’s obvious rarity, it is way undervalued when compared to other less desirable issues from this mint.

As with virtually every known example of this date, the surfaces have been lightened but this piece is not as “scrubby” as most and there is some natural mint luster on both sides. There are some marks noted on the obverse the majority clustered in the lower left obverse and a few inconsequential mint-made planchet chips are seen on the obverse as well. The overall quality is better than average for the date.

There has not been a single PCGS AU53 example of the 1842-D Large Date half eagle sold at auction since April 2006 when a coin realized $12,650. The last PCGS AU55 sold at auction in January 2008. Other than a nice PCGS/CAC AU55 which I sold around seven years ago, I haven’t handled a better example than this in some time.

Unless you are really patient and really well-connected, you’ll likely not find a significantly better 1842-D Large Date $5 than this.

From the Indian Rocks Beach Collection

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