SOLD – $5.00 – 1860-S PCGS AU53 CAC
SOLD – $5.00 – 1860-S PCGS AU53 CAC
Serial Number 8287.53/33031860
PCGS Lookup Number 8287
RARE PCGS/CAC AU53 1860-S HALF EAGLE
Of the 21,200 half eagles struck in San Francisco in 1860, around 75 are known today with most in the VF-EF range. Higher grade examples are rare although not as much so as for the 1858-S and 1859-S. Properly graded AU53 to AU55 pieces are very hard to locate and there are only a handful with natural color and choice surfaces.
This fresh-to-the-market example has wonderful russet and orange-gold color with similar hues seen on the obverse and the reverse. There are a few scuffs in the left obverse field which limit the grade but for an AU53, this piece has real eye appeal and I wish every coin I sold in this grade looked like this!
No PCGS AU53 has sold at auction since June 2006 when a coin traded in a Heritage sale for $5,031. I sold a nice NGC AU53 last year for $6,250 which was not approved by CAC.
This is an important pre-Civil war half eagle for the specialist.
CAC has approved three in this grade with two finer (both AU58).
