SECOND FINEST KNOWN

I can go on and on about the superlatives associated with the date and this specific coin, but I’ll try not to overwhelm you.

​Let’s get right to the point: the 1864-S half eagle is a rarity in every sense of this overworked term.

With fewer than 35 total examples, this is an absolute rarity. It is the second rarest half eagle ever issued by the San Francisco Mint after the excessively rare 1854-S, and it is the fourth rarest of the hundreds of pre-1933 San Francisco gold issues. Here is a quick list of these:

1. 1870-S $3.00: Unique; sold for $5.52 million in early 2023.

2. 1854-S $5.00: Three known, with one in the Smithsonian. 

3. 1854-S $2.50: 13 to 14 known, with most lower than EF40. 

4. 1864-S $5.00: 30-35 known; unique in MS. 

Note that the first two issues on this list are seven-figure items and not likely available anytime soon, while the third coin on the list includes as few as three or four coins that I would write a check for.

With a current PCGS population of only six in all AU grades combined (see below), the 1864-S half eagle is also a Condition Rarity.

Here are the six coins currently graded AU by PCGS as on 3/2026:

• ​(2) in AU50

• ​(2) in AU53; one with CAC approval

• (1) in AU55

• ​(1) in AU58; this coin with CAC approval grades combined with this being the sole AU58. This is the second best CAC and it is approved by CAC.

To summarize, that’s a total of six 1864-S half eagles, all in About Uncirculated.

There is one better, and it’s one of my Top 10 all-time favorite coins: an amazing PCGS/CAC MS65+ ex Bass Collection and it has resided for over three decades in the Stellar Collection. If it were to become available—not likely—it has seven figure price potential.

This is from the Fairmont Hoard and, in my opinion, it is among the most numismatically exciting single items in the entire enormous group of coins that greatly changed the market for rare date gold between 2018 and 2025.

I’m certain that when it was shipped abroad many years ago, this coin had seen zero time in circulation as it exhibits no wear on the high spots. The color is a lovely rich olive and orange-gold hue on the entirely undisturbed surfaces.

The first time this coin sold was Lot 5110 in Stack’s Bowers 4/2022 auction where it brought a record-setting $264,000. It was later sold for a disappointing $192,000 as Heritage 2025 FUN: 4788.

This coin has been consigned to me by the buyer who obtained it the aforemtioned early 2025 Heritage auction. I am marking it up at exactly 10% more than what it last sold for at public auction.

This is an incredibly great coin priced at a significant discount of its high from just four years ago.

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