1869 $5 Liberty Head Half Eagle PCGS AU58

Great rarity with less than 100 survivors known!

Writes David Akers, “The 1869 has one of the lowest mintages in the series and the date is just as rare as that low mintage implies. There are not all that many specimens known in any condition, but the typically available 1869 is EF or AU with proof-like or partially proof-like surfaces. I have not seen a strictly uncirculated 1869 and the Kern specimen is the only one ever catalogued as such.” (Editor’s note: as of 1980).

PCGS has graded 6 as AU58 with none finer. Collector’s Universe prices this issue at $18,500.00 in AU58.

Between the years 1862 and 1877, the Philadelphia Mint produced very small amounts of half eagles. These small numbers were intended to reduce speculation on gold proof sets, since commercial demand was met with Federal paper currency. Only 1,760 1869 five-dollar pieces were minted in business strike, and those coins were generally ignored by collectors before the 1890s. The 1869 half eagle is rare in any grade, with a total of only 38 pieces certified by PCGS, none as Mint State. This offering from AU Capital Management represents the finest known at PCGS, while NGC has graded a single example as MS61 and one other as MS64.

The Second Philadelphia Mint, where this rarity was struck in 1869. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.