With the exception of the 1861, the Philadelphia half eagles from the Civil War years range from rare to very rare and the 1862, despite being overlooked for many years, is a coin that is extremely hard to find in all grades. There were only 4,430 business strikes made and there are an estimated 60-70 known. This date ismostly seen in the VF-EF grade range and it is quite rare in AU55 to AU58. In Mint State, I know of just one or two coins.

This is an extremely original example with dark green-gold and orange colors seen on the obverse and reverse. This coin has the appearance of a piece that was stored in a European vault and I don’t know its past history but it might be possible that it was repatriated a few years ago. There are scattered marks in the fields on both sides and a mint-made copper spot at ME in AMERICA that serves as ready identification.

There hasn’t been an AU55 example of this date sold at auction since June 1998. In February 2012, Stacks Bowers sold a PCGS AU53 for $10,350 and a year earlier, the same firm sold an NGC AU53 for $8,338. A PCGS EF45 is currently being offered for $9,500 by a competitor on their website.

This is an important coin, given its rarity, nice appearance and Civil War issuance.