UNDERVALUED SLIDER 1840-O HALF EAGLE

Narrow Mill variety; Winter-3.

The 1840-O is numismatically significant as the very first half eagle made at the New Orleans mint. It is more available than its counterparts from Charlotte and Dahlonega but I regard it as a very overlooked issue which is very scarce above AU55 and very rare in Uncirculated.

This lustrous slider shows very little in the way of actual wear but it is slightly weak at the centers, especially on the reverse. The color is a pleasing light orange-gold and there are some scattered ticks visible including a small nick on the cheek and a cluster of shallow abrasions on Liberty’s jaw.

The last AU58 to sell at auction was an NGC graded coin which realized $5,405 as Heritage 6/15: 5263. None of the AU58′s to cross the block have been CAC approved.

While price levels on this issue are finally beginning to rise, I believe that nice AU and Uncirculated 1840-O half eagles remain extremely underappreciated.

CAC has approved three in this grade with none finer.

Ex Heritage 9/07: 3399 where it sold for $3,450.