|
Images courtesy of Hancock
& Harwell Rare Coins
Notes:
The first real Gold Rush in America took place not in California in
1848 but in Georgia and North Carolina in the early 1830's. In fact,
so much gold was discovered in these two states that the U.S. government
decided to locate two new Mints there - one in Dahlonega, Georgia and
another in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 1838-D Half Eagle was one
of the first coins produced at Dahlonega, it's the only Classic Head $5
from this Mint, and it has the second lowest mintage of any Classic Head
$5.
The finest example graded by PCGS is a single MS-63.
Significant examples:
PCGS MS-62 (illustrated above). Ex - the "Duke's Creek"
collection of Southern Gold coins (as of October 20, 1999).
Recent appearances:
NGC MS-63. Ex - Chestatee
Collection (Heritage 08/1999: 7665, $20,700); Royalty Coins (Jack
Copeland); Ashland City Collection (Heritage 01/2003: 4727, $36,800) -
Heritage 01/2004: 9009, $28,750.00, Variety 1-A, McCloskey 1-A, R.3
PCGS MS-62. Ex - Heritage
Numismatic Auctions, Inc.'s "Philadelphia 2000 Signature Sale",
August 6-7, 2000, Lot 7229, illustrated, sold for $21,850.00
PCGS MS-61 (illustrated
below). Ex - Ira
& Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles, Inc.'s "The California
Sale", October 2-3, 2000, Lot 893, sold for $16,675.00, plated, where it was described (in
part) as follows: "Bright yellow-gold in color and boldly struck
throughout. The dies appear to have been lapped when this one was coined,
as Liberty's forecurl is a single disconnected lump, and the left claws of
the eagle show pitiful definition. There is also a light die crack through
the tops of MERICA on the reverse. Only 20,583 were struck, of these
perhaps 10 are known in the lower mint state grades. The NGC and PCGS
combined Population Reports tell us the following for the date: in MS-60,
1 coin; MS-61, 3 coins; MS-62, 8 coins. We strongly suspect that single
coins are represented multiple times as every grade point can mean
thousands of dollars in value, giving people tremendous incentive to crack
out and resubmit coins multiple times. It is very probable, therefore,
that the actual number may be only one-half or less of those reported, and
further research will have to be done to actually identify each coin,
rather than just the population numbers. We do note, that none have been
graded as MS-63 or higher, yet. Color photo."
PCGS EF-45. Ex
– American Numismatic Rarities, LLC’s “The Classics Sale,”
July 25, 2003, Lot
701, illustrated, sold for $6,440.00 Ex - From Auctions by Bowers
and Merena, Inc.'s sale of May 1998, Lot 1324.
PCGS
AU-50. Heritage 01/2004: 9008, $5,750.00, Variety 1-A, McCloskey
1-A, R.3
AU-50, Cleaned. Ex -
Heritage Numismatic Auctions, Inc.'s "Philadelphia 2000 Signature
Sale", August 6-7, 2000, Lot 5680, illustrated, sold for $4,600.00
Sources and/or recommended
reading:
"Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia Of U.S. And Colonial
Coins" by Walter Breen
"The PCGS Population
Report, July 2003" by The
Professional Coin Grading Service
|
