LIKELY UNIQUE UNCIRCULATED 1866-S WITH MOTTO HALF EAGLE

The 1866-S With Motto half eagle is a numismatically significant transitional issue which marks the first With Motto half eagle from San Francisco. A total of 9,000 No Motto 1866-S half eagles were made followed by 34,920 of the With Motto variety. There are fewer than 100 known of the latter and this issue becomes rare in properly graded AU55. In Uncirculated, it appears to be unique.

This is an unquestionably "new" coin with full luster and no wear seen on the moderately abraded yellow-gold surfaces. In fairness to this coin, it should be stressed that the marks are far less obtrusive than normal for the issue and this is one of the only high grade 66-S Motto half eagles I have seen that hasn't been harshly scrubbed.

The only APR for an Uncirculated 1866-S No Motto was for this coin close to a decade ago; see below for full pedigree information.

It is not often that a rare gold collector has the opportunity to obtain a unique condition rarity and it is even less often that such a coin is priced in the reasonable-five-figures territory.

Ex Heritage 5/08: 3272 where it sold for $22,425 as an NGC MS61.