RARE 1862-S HALF EAGLE IN CHOICE PCGS AU53, ex Fairmont

The 1862-S is the third rarest half eagle from San Francisco, trailing only the excessively rare 1854-S (a multi-million dollar coin and just two extant outside of museums) and the elusive 1864-S (DWN recently sold the Fairmont PCGS/CAC AU58—the second finest known trailing the single 1864-S known in Uncirculated; an amazing PCGS/CAC MS65+. There are two known in Uncirculated; the marginal quality PCGS MS61 that brought $42,000 in 4/2025 after bringing $42,300 in a 12/2020 sale and a nice PCGS MS62 illustrated in PCGS Coinfatcs but unseen by me.

This is the sole 1862-S to come out of the Fairmont hoard which is an excellent testament to the rarity of this date I estimate that between 30 and 35 are known and here are likely not more than seven or eight AU examples. Taking this further, the present coin is the single best AU 1862-S half eagle I have seen and it is the only example I can recall having seen that was 100% original.

A quick perusal of the PCGS population demonstrates the importance of this coin. Prior to the first sale of this exact coin in 2022 (see below), no other PCGS AU53 1862-S half eagles have sold at auction since early 2005. For AU55 coins, one has to go back to the beginning of 2009 for the newest auction appearance while no AU58’s have ever been graded. Taking the quality of this coin and combining it with its demonstrable rarity makes this an exciting coin for the specialist.

Ex Heritage 6/2026: 92052 at $19,520, earlier sold as Stacks Bowers 2022 ANA: 3092 at $20,400.

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