SOLD – $5.00 – 1870-S PCGS EF45 CAC
SOLD – $5.00 – 1870-S PCGS EF45 CAC
Serial Number 8321.45/28547967
PCGS Lookup Number 8321
Only 17,000 1870-S half eagles were produced and there are fewer than 100 known today. Most are in the VF-EF range and this date is likely unknown in grades higher than AU55. Nearly every EF example that I have seen has been bright and unnatural in appearance. Choice pieces with nice color are very rare and fantastically undervalued.
This fresh-to-the-market 1870-S half eagle came out of a recent European auction and it is as choice as one could hope for with deep, even russet color, very sharp details and surfaces which lack all but the smallest scattered ticks. Were a bit more luster present, this piece would have graded at least AU50 if not higher.
No PCGS AU50 example has been sold at auction since Heritage 4/07: 2516, which brought $2,760.
Like the similarly dated eagle, the 1870-S half eagle represents one of the better values in With Motto San Francisco gold.
CAC has approved two in this grade with four finer.
