Variety 2. Late die state with a massive bisecting break on the reverse. The scarcer of the two varieties for this year.

The 1838-C is the most popular half eagle from this mint and one of the most avidly sought-after branch mint gold coins. It is in demand as a first-year-of-issue coin and a one-year type as well as being a member of the Charlotte half eagle series. It is not scarce in terms of total number known but it becomes hard to find in EF grades and is very scarce to rare in properly graded AU.

This is an above-average example for the grade with sharper detail than usual and fewer marks than normal. The obverse is choice and has the crispness of a 45 with some remaining luster and nice accents of reddish color; the reverse is less well-detailed because of the aforementioned die break.

The last two auction records for a PCGS EF40 1838-C half eagle are $10,575 in August 2013 and $1,500 in May 2012.

The 1838-C half eagle has become the most in-demand coin from this mint and nice PCGS graded EF coins have become extremely hard to locate.