1880-CC $5 Liberty Head Half Eagle PCGS XF45

Wouldn't it be great to add this affordable golden relic from the Carson City mint to your coin collection? Out of its low mintage of 51,017, only 354 have been graded by PCGS. Of those, there are 53 in XF45 with 173 finer.

This issue saw much circulation in the Old West of the 1880s onward. There are a mere handful graded mint state by PCGS with MS63 being the highest grade. Gold specialist Doug Winter writes, "Half eagles, as a rule, have become a much more collected denomination in the last few years. For many collectors, gold dollars and quarter eagles are too small, three Dollar gold pieces are too weird, and eagles/double eagles have gotten really expensive. That leaves half eagles as a sweet spot for a number of new (and existing) collectors."

The storied Carson City Mint in Nevada, where this coin was struck in 1880.

Here's an interesting aside for collectors: Did you know that the Liberty head half eagles were the only coin to be struck at every single U.S. mint? So, if you would like to put together a type 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! Imagine putting together that unique set of seven coins from seven different mints. Wouldn't that be a great numismatic accomplishment? And the perfect affordable Carson City example is within your reach, waiting for you to claim it as your own.