The 1856-O is the third rarest New Orleans half eagle in higher grades, trailing only the 1847-O and the 1842-O. There were 10,000 struck and around 100 are known today with most in the VF30-EF45 grade range. This date is very rare in properly graded AU58 and it is extremely rare in Uncirculated with just six currently known to me. The finest which I know of is the Milas: 503 coin, now graded MS62 by NGC.

This semi-prooflike example is fresh to the market and it shows deep orange-gold color atop very lightly rubbed surfaces. The obverse is clean and choice with just a few small ticks in the fields; the reverse shows a bit more handling with some denser abrasions clustered in the fields. As on nearly all examples of this date, the first two stars are weakly impressed at the centers; the rest of the detail is clear and bold.

The last PCGS AU58 1856-O half eagle to sell at auction was ANR 7/05: 251 which was bid to $9,775. The auction price record for this date in this grade is held by Bass 2: 1088, which brought $12,650 all the way back in October 1999. And since the start of 1999, there has been a grand total of just five slabbed AU58 1856-O offered at public auction.

With all of the Uncirculated examples of this date off the market in strongly-held collections, it is likely that this choice “slider” is the best 1856-O half eagle which will be available to collectors for some time to come.

PCGS has graded four in this grade with just two finer.