Lot 1813
1847-C. PCGS graded MS-63. Well struck and lustrous. The surfaces are radiant and each side has a nice veneer of vivid and frosty golden patina that whips and tosses about as it alternates between heavier frost (on the portrait and eagle) and slightly smoother luster shades in the surrounding field. All this is perhaps obvious from the photos. What we need to put emphasis on also is that the strike is unusually crisp and detailed for this important C-mint issue. It displays sharp metal flows into the deepest recesses of the dies on both sides. Complete stars and bold date; resolute hair waves and coronet with a strong LIBERTY inscribed thereon. The trend continues on the other side, for the reverse is quintessential sharp strike, including all eagle feathers, the shield and legends, as well as the rim dentils. A bold example of this desirable Charlotte, North Carolina branch mint Half Eagle.
Half eagles were coined at Charlotte nearly every year from 1838 to 1861 with the exception being 1845, when the mint was under repair from a catastrophic fire that had nearly destroyed it the year before. The greater utility of this denomination and its more widespread popularity with depositors resulted in higher mintage for this denomination than for quarter eagles. The record was set in 1847, when 84,151 five-dollar pieces were struck. Mintages rarely went below 10,000 pieces, though 6,879 half eagles were struck in 1861, the final year of operation. Pop 2; 1 finer in 65 (PCGS # 8233) .
Estimated Value $22,000 - 24,000.
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| Realized $32,900 |
