1857-S $5 Liberty Head Half Eagle PCGS AU55 (CAC)*

Here's a great coin from the watershed year of 1857, the same year as the tragic sinking of the S.S. Central America (aka the "Ship of Gold") as well as the economic Panic of 1857. Out of its small mintage of 87,000, there have been only 199 graded by PCGS. Of those, there are 16 that carry the grade of AU55 with 74 finer. In CAC, there are 3 in AU55 with 18 finer.  

 The first San Francisco Mint, where this coin was struck in 1857.

Here's an interesting fact for numismatists: Did you know that the Liberty head half eagles were the only coins to be struck at every single U.S. mint? So, if you would like to put together a set of Liberty head $5 half eagles, then a great project would be to acquire one of each minted in Philadelphia, Charlotte, Dahlonega, New Orleans, San Francisco, Carson City, and Denver! You can mix rare with more common issues, or focus solely upon the former or the latter. Imagine putting together a unique set of seven gold coins from seven different mints. Wouldn't that be a great numismatic feather in your cap? Perhaps the current S-Mint offering from AUCM could be part of that set!