Variety 31-W. Strong mintmark.  The 1851-D is the fifth rarest of 26 half eagles from this mint and the third rarest in high grades, trailiong on the 1842-D Large Date and the 1861-D. Despite its rarity, it remains undervalued and overlooked, even among specialists.

This is a very solid mid-range AU example which is much better struck than usual for the date. Other than a bit of weakness at the very center of the obverse, the detail is nearly full and the surfaces show just a few small, scattered abrasions. The color is a pleasing natural light green-gold and this is one of the few 1851-D half eagles that I have seen in sometime that was not scrubbed. In fact, this is an extremely hard issue to find with good eye appeal and the present example is among the nicest that I have handled in a number of years.

Since 2008, there have been just three auction records for AU55′s, all graded by NGC. These are $4,025, $4,313 and $4,025 and I believe that the present example is a nicer coin than any of these three.

on hold