The 1846-O half eagle is a reasonably available coin in lower grades but it is scarce in properly grade AU50 to AU55, rare in AU58 and very rare in Uncirculated. I know of 5 or 6 in Uncirculated with the present example being unquestionably the finest known; not to mentioned the best pedigreed 1846-O half eagle in existence.

This semi-prooflike example shows warm natural sunflower-gold color and it is very well struck for a date that is often found weak at the centers. There is a small amount of planchet roughness, as made, but this coin is virtually “as struck” with the exception of a few ticks in the left obverse field and on the upper portion of the reverse. I have handled every single 1846-O half eagle graded MS60 and higher by the two services (an admittedly short list) and this is by far the best I have seen.

Needless to say, if you are a serious collector of New Orleans gold coinage and you want the very best 1846-O half eagle in existence, this is your shot!

Ex Heritage 1999 ANA: 7982 ($16,100), Stack’s 5/95: 465 ($19,800), Milas collection, Bowers and Ruddy 10/82: 442 ($2,200), Eliasberg collection, Clapp collection.