1878-CC $5 Liberty Head Half Eagle PCGS AU50 (CAC)

The 1878-CC $5 Liberty Head half eagle, with its mintage of only 9,054 pieces, is one of the rarest Carson City half eagles. Rusty Goe, in his book Confident Carson City Collector, is of the opinion that "no more than one percent of the original output of this date-denomination minted ... comprises the total population today." However, David Bowers’ estimate is a bit higher than that of Goe. He believes that there are about 90-120 pieces surviving today.

PCGS has graded 8 as AU50 with just 15 finer. The finest at PCGS is AU58+. Collectors Universe prices this issue at $40,000.00 in AU50. In CAC, there is 1 in AU50 with just 2 finer. CAC gives this issue a price of $31,200.00 in AU58.

Christian Gobrecht, who crafted the iconic Liberty head design for the $5 half eagle and other gold coinage. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

But why was the mintage of Carson City half eagles that year so low? in 1878, Director of the Mint Henry R. Linderman in his 1878 annual report wrote, "Our gold coinage since the suspension of specie payments in 1861 has consisted principally of double eagles..." In other words, Americans, especially those who lived east of the Rocky Mountains, had become familiarized with using paper money for payment in most everyday transactions.

Previously, before 1861, specie (gold and silver coins) up to $10 in value had circulated as the chief currency. People in the western states and territories, however, never used paper money. That makes the low Carson City mintage of 1878 half eagles curious, for Westerners have always embraced specie.