1834 $5 Classic Head Half Eagle NGC AU-55 Plain 4, Ex.SS New York

1834 $5 Classic Head Half Eagle, Plain 4 variety. Ex. S.S. New York. Launched in New York City in 1837, the side-wheel steamship S.S. New York measured 160.5 feet and initially plied the coastal route from New York to Charleston under Charles Morgan's management. Soon reassigned to New Orleans, she capitalized on the Republic of Texas's allure—a vast, fertile frontier beckoning immigrants amid America's Manifest Destiny ethos, where cheap land promised prosperity. With Galveston as Texas's bustling hub and premier Gulf port, the New York and her sister ship, S.S. Columbia, ferried eager passengers and light cargo between Galveston and New Orleans.

On September 5, 1846, she departed Galveston amid fog and light winds, carrying dozens aboard. A sudden hurricane unleashed towering waves, forcing her to anchor 50 miles offshore. By nightfall on September 6, the vessel wrenched apart, flooding and capsizing; most survived by clinging to debris, but 18 perished. News of the tragedy rippled across U.S. papers by September 10.

In 1990, divers off Galveston unearthed clues: two 1843 U.S. silver half dollars and a 1827 British gold sovereign. Confirmation came in 1994 with the inscribed bell. Unencumbered by claims, salvage efforts culminated by 2007, recovering safe remnants fused with silt—yielding over 400 gold coins and 2,000 silver pieces. This haul elevates the S.S. New York among rarified wrecks boasting significant U.S. gold, predating the double-eagle era of peers like the S.S. Yankee Blade (1854), S.S. Central America (1857, with 7,500 coins), S.S. Brother Jonathan (1865), and S.S. Republic (1865). Her earlier trove, blending diverse denominations, renders its coins exceptionally scarce.