RARE 1862-S HALF EAGLE

A strong case can be made for calling the 1862-S the third rarest San Francisco half eagle after the 1854-S and the 1864-S. Around 50-60 are known from a mintage of 9,500 and this is a solid R-7 in AU grades with fewer than 10 known. Two exist in Uncirculated: a PCGS MS61 and an MS62 from this service.

This is a solid coin for the grade with good overall detail and warm natural light orange-gold color which is "right" for a San Francisco gold coin of this era. There are scuffs consistent with the grade on both sides and a few dirt spots on the reverse including one on the lower half of the mintmark.

The present example (see below for the pedigree) is the only PCGS AU50 1862-S half eagle to sell at auction since 2005. An NGC AU53 sold for $15,275 in Heritage's March 2014 and it had a detracting cut on Liberty's face.

This date was missing from the exceptional offering of Civil War half eagles in the recent HandH offering and it is only the third piece that I have offered in the last three years.

Ex Legend 1/17: 275 where it realized $12,388.