SOLD – $5.00 – 1859-S NGC AU55
SOLD – $5.00 – 1859-S NGC AU55
Serial Number 3604093-001
PCGS Lookup Number 8283
Only 13,220 1859-S half eagles were produced. There are around 60-70 known with most in the VF-EF range. In AU, this date is rare and it is exceedingly rare in Uncirculated with just two known: an NGC MS62 (which I sold privately a few years ago) and the Bass/Milas PCGS MS62.
This well detailed, frosty example shows light to moderate russet and rose-gold colors atop surfaces which have fewer marks than normal for the issue. A few small marks can be seen in the obverse fields and there is a shallow scrape on the reverse down from the right foot of the second T in STATES.
There are auction price records of $5,520 for an AU55 1859-S dating all the way back to October 1999 (Bass II: 1119) and this was an era in which San Francisco half eagles were not appreciated by most collectors.
A borderline Condition Census example of this very scarce pre-Civil War issue.
