With the exception of the 1861, the Civil War half eagles from Philadelphia are all rare to very rare. The 1862 has an original mintage of 4,430 of which 60-70 are known, mostly in the EF40 to AU50 range. Properly graded AU55 examples are quite rare and I know of just one or two in Uncirculated.

This fresh-to-the-market example is very lustrous with light wear which is limited to the high spots of the obverse. The fields show some scattered marks which is typical for this issue; the most noticeable rest in the right obverse field. The color is a nice natural rose and light yellow-gold and the strike is excellent. This is among the nicer 1862 half eagles to appear on the market in the last few years.

Heritage 1/14: 6706, graded AU55 by NGC, sold for $14,100 while a PCGS AU55 realized $17,625 in Stacks Bowers’ 4/13 auction.

Only five finer have been graded at PCGS and this choice piece is likely in the tail end of the Condition Census. An important coin for the advanced collector of Liberty Head half eagles.