RARE AND IN DEMAND 1861-D HALF EAGLE

Variety 47-GG.

The 1861-D is the rarest and by far the most popular half eagle struck at the Dahlonega mint. There are an estimated 75-85 pieces known with many in the VF-EF range. As many as a dozen Uncirculated pieces are known but nearly all are off the market and many years may pass until one is made available. I have owned dozens of 1861-D half eagles over the years but since 2012, I have offered only two on my site: a PCGS/CAC AU55 in November 2012 and a PCGS/CAC EF45 in April 2013.

I purchased this coin in an NGC AU55 holder and downcrossed it to PCGS AU53 which I think is more appropriate given the quality. This piece doesn’t show a huge amount of wear but it does have typical weakness of strike as a result of misaligned dies (I have always thought that these pieces represented the Confederate strikings but can’t prove this…). The surfaces are bright and vibrant with a few small, scattered marks with the most notable being near stars eleven and thirteen. The overall look of the coin is very satisfactory from a commercial standpoint.

The last PCGS AU53 to sell at auction was Stacks Bowers 2012 ANA: 11708 at $47,150. That coin was very similar in appearance to the coin offered here and since 2012, the market for this issue has increased dramatically as the number of collectors seeking Civil War rarities has risen by a factor of at least three.