1874-S $5 Liberty Head Half Eagle PCGS AU50 (CAC) Ex. Fairmont Collection

Formerly sold in the Fairmont Collection-Hendricks Set by Stacks Bowers for $6,900 on April 2022, Lot #5136, and described as:

1874-S Liberty Head Half Eagle. AU-50 (PCGS). CAC.

A very well defined, vivid reddish-gold and deep honey-orange example of a gold issue that is seldom offered in any grade. Most design elements are sharply rendered, in fact, and ample luster remains. The S mintmark is a tad faint, but not so much as to have warranted a Weak S designation from PCGS. (It is readily appreciable even to the unaided eye.) Highly elusive in numismatic circles, the 1874-S half eagle has a mintage of 16,000 coins, most of which were worn out and eventually lost in circulation on the West Coast. When we further consider that this is one of a select group of U.S. Mint issues that are currently unknown in Mint State, the PCGS-certified AU from the Hendricks Set is a significant offering.

Provenance: From the Fairmont Collection-Hendricks Set.

PCGS Population: 14; 24 finer (AU-58 finest). There are also no Mint State examples certified at NGC. CAC Population: 2; 6.