Variety 1. Early die state with the mintmark very sharply impressed.

The 1854-C is ranked as the seventh rarest of 24 dates in this series but this figure is misleading as many of the AU50 and finer coins have weakly impressed mintmark. In AU50 and better with a sharp mintmark, the 1854-C is extremely hard to find and this is one of the best examples I have owned in the last few years.

From the standpoint of detail and “body,” this coin is close to an AU55, if not a bit better. PCGS has net graded it, probably due to the presence of some mint-made extra metal on the reverse rim above ES; I have never seen this on another 1854-C half eagle and it is, technically a mint error. The surfaces are very lustrous for the issue with nice light yellow-gold color and the centers are uncommonly sharp for this issue.

As proof of the scarcity of this date in AU53, only two examples in PCGS holders have sold at auction since 1999. ANR 8/06: 1422 brought $3,220.

If you collect Charlotte half eagles by date, you are no doubt aware of just how hard it is to find PCGS-graded AU examples of the 1854-C with sharp mintmarks.