Variety 44-HH. Medium D mintmark.

The 1859-D has the second lowest mintage figure of any half eagle from this mint. It is tied for the 10th rarest date in the series but it is slightly more available in higher grades than one might think. That said, finding a properly graded AU55 to AU58 example is not easy, especially in the current market.

This attractive slider has the naked-eye appearance of an MS62 but there is a small amount of friction in the cheek of Liberty. The surfaces are very frosty with nice medium yellow-gold color and the detail is above-average for the issue. There are a few scattered marks seen on the obverse with the most noticeable located between star three and star four.

The last PCGS AU58 example of this date to sell at auction was ex Stack’s Bowers 11/11: 9529 at $5,175. Before this, you have to go all the way back to October 2006 for another 1859-D half eagle graded AU58 by this service.

It has become extremely hard to locate nice Dahlonega half eagles–especially in PCGS holders–and this 1859-D should be of interest to both date and type collectors.