A total of 41,000 half eagles were struck at the New Orleans mint in 1851. The survival rate was low and today only a few hundred coins are known, making this date rarer than the 1851-C and comparable to–if not rarer than–the 1851-D. The 1851-O is quite rare in the higher AU grades and it is extremely rare in Mint State with around seven or eight known.

This very lustrous slider shows a better than average strike with only minor weakness at the central obverse and corresponding reverse; many examples are very flat on the hair below BERT in LIBERTY. There is limited wear mainly confined to the high spots and some splashes of orange-gold color, mostly near the date and right obverse. With a glass, it is possible to see two intersecting obverse marks below the E in LIBERTY that form an “X” pattern.

There have been six auction records for this date in AU58 since 2004 ranging from a low of $5,463 to a high of $8,338.

Uncirculated examples of this date are out of the question for most collectors, making this nice AU58 just about the best available quality for the issue.

Ex Heritage 6/13: 4772 where it sold for $6,463.