1908 $5 Liberty Head Half Eagle NGC MS65
SOLD
SKU
1288559009
Out of the original mintage of 421,874, only 6,685 have been graded by NGC. Of those, there have been 301 graded in MS65, with 66 finer (as of 3/2021). Here is an opportunity to get a reasonably priced gold registry coin, one that will give you years of pleasure. It's got a lot going for it: beautiful yellow-gold coloration, dramatic design, the last year of a popular series, clean surfaces, and a gem MS65 grade. So if you want just one really great gold coin, this is the one for you! Also, check out the daily price graph we've added to our images. At this level, this is one of our strong BUY recommendations!
1908 $5 Liberty Head Half Eagle NGC MS65--$1,575.00
It is with pleasure that we offer for consideration a quite affordable registry coin for the gold enthusiast. Gold specialist David Akers writes, "The 1908 Liberty Head is the last year of this long lived type and is one of the most common dates of the Half Eagle series." Here's an interesting fact for collectors: the Liberty head half eagle was the only series to be struck at each and every 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?
At the time the design was crafted for this $5 Liberty Head half eagle, the art world was firmly in the grasp of Neoclassicism. For Neoclassical sculptors and die engravers, contemporary garb and hair styles were too fleeting, and portraying figures on coins in such a manner could inspire criticism. Therefore they fashioned their subjects in classical attire and took inspiration from stylized busts of known works by ancient sculptors and their later copyists. Neoclassicism relished cold profiles, and the precise art of die sinking is quite suited to such an influence.
Commenting upon the inspiration for Gobrecht's Liberty, Vermeule writes, "The motivation for this Roman head of Liberty stems from vast, varied neoclassicism of the Napoleonic era. Typical of the source is a small painting...by Jacques-Louis David's contemporary Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, Phythagoras or The Earth is Round, painted about 1800. ...[On the painting it] is the diademed or coroneted, white-robed, seated female that should attract our attention, for she is related to the heads of Liberty on our 19th century gold...coinage."
| PCGS # | 8418 |
|---|---|
| Grading Service | NONE |
| Year of Issue | NONE |
| Grade | NONE |
| Denom Type | N/A |
| Numeric Denomination | $5 |
| Mint Location | NONE |
| Designation | NONE |
| Circ/UnCirc | Not Specified |
| Strike Type | N/A |
| Grade Add On | NONE |
| Holder Type | N/A |
