hykyrone 的钱币相册
Garrett and Guth in their "Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins" comment, "As the low mintage of just over 15,800 coins suggest, the 1841 half eagle is scarce. In circulated condition this date is just about as rare as many of the branch-mint coins of the era." David Akers, in his book "United States Gold Coins - An Analysis of Auction Records - Volume IV - Half Eagles" describes the 1841 half eagle as "...very rare in all grades. It has appeared at auction less often than any of the 1839 or 1840 coins and also less often than the 1841-C or 1841-D." Walter Breen's monograph "Varieties of United States Half Eagles" (1964-1966) states, "There are no discernable cracks on specimens so far seen by me." The coin above shows significant cracking on the reverse die and is possibly one of the last batch of 3,633 coins delivered on Dec. 31, 1841 (pg. 5). It is interesting to note that PCGS CoinFacts estimates a surviving population of 1841 half eagles at 150, yet the current graded population by both PCGS and NGC is only 134, including resubmissions. A typo by PCGS? Should the estimated population be instead 100 or less?
First obtainable San Fransisco half eagle. Diagnostic (die chip?) at star 13 dentils is common to all 1855-S half eagles I've seen. Walter Breen in his monographs and encyclopedia suggests that multiple obverses exist with dates high or very high, however I haven't seen his " date placed very high, with tops of 5's weak, and 1 almost touching bust..." variety. The mint mark is located between the VE in FIVE although there appears to be slight differences in tilt and again from what I've seen this tilt difference is miniscule at most. Garrett and Guth in their "Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins" state, "The moderately high mintage of 61,000 coins fails to truly convey the rarity of the 1855-S half eagle. This issue saw extensive commercial usage and most of the surviving coins are heavily circulated or damaged."
First obtainable San Fransisco half eagle. Diagnostic (die chip?) at star 13 dentils is common to all 1855-S half eagles I've seen. Walter Breen in his monographs and encyclopedia suggests that multiple obverses exist with dates high or very high, however I haven't seen his " date placed very high, with tops of 5's weak, and 1 almost touching bust..." variety. The mint mark is located between the VE in FIVE although there appears to be slight differences in tilt and again from what I've seen this tilt difference is miniscule at most. Garrett and Guth in their "Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins" state, "The moderately high mintage of 61,000 coins fails to truly convey the rarity of the 1855-S half eagle. This issue saw extensive commercial usage and most of the surviving coins are heavily circulated or damaged."
First obtainable San Fransisco half eagle. Diagnostic (die chip?) at star 13 dentils is common to all 1855-S half eagles I've seen. Walter Breen in his monographs and encyclopedia suggests that multiple obverses exist with dates high or very high, however I haven't seen his " date placed very high, with tops of 5's weak, and 1 almost touching bust..." variety. The mint mark is located between the VE in FIVE although there appears to be slight differences in tilt and again from what I've seen this tilt difference is miniscule at most. Garrett and Guth in their "Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins" state, "The moderately high mintage of 61,000 coins fails to truly convey the rarity of the 1855-S half eagle. This issue saw extensive commercial usage and most of the surviving coins are heavily circulated or damaged."
First obtainable San Fransisco half eagle. Diagnostic (die chip?) at star 13 dentils is common to all 1855-S half eagles I've seen. Walter Breen in his monographs and encyclopedia suggests that multiple obverses exist with dates high or very high, however I haven't seen his " date placed very high, with tops of 5's weak, and 1 almost touching bust..." variety. The mint mark is located between the VE in FIVE although there appears to be slight differences in tilt and again from what I've seen this tilt difference is miniscule at most. Garrett and Guth in their "Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins" state, "The moderately high mintage of 61,000 coins fails to truly convey the rarity of the 1855-S half eagle. This issue saw extensive commercial usage and most of the surviving coins are heavily circulated or damaged."
First obtainable San Fransisco half eagle. Diagnostic (die chip?) at star 13 dentils is common to all 1855-S half eagles I've seen. Walter Breen in his monographs and encyclopedia suggests that multiple obverses exist with dates high or very high, however I haven't seen his " date placed very high, with tops of 5's weak, and 1 almost touching bust..." variety. The mint mark is located between the VE in FIVE although there appears to be slight differences in tilt and again from what I've seen this tilt difference is miniscule at most. Garrett and Guth in their "Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins" state, "The moderately high mintage of 61,000 coins fails to truly convey the rarity of the 1855-S half eagle. This issue saw extensive commercial usage and most of the surviving coins are heavily circulated or damaged."
Garrett and Guth in their "Encyclopedia Of U.S. Gold Coins 1795-1933" states, "The mintage of 98,188 examples for the 1857 half eagle is on the low side for the Philadelphia Mint issues of the era. This issue is scarce in any grade and very rare in full Mint State." David Akers Auction Analysis "Volume IV, Half Eagles 1795-1929" comments, "The 1857 is a very scarce coin in any condition and it is less often seen than some of the more popular mint marked coins of the 1840' and 1850's." His average grade for the 1857 half eagle is EF-42.
Garrett and Guth's "Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins" states, "The 1867 half eagle has nearly the same mintage as the 1866 issue and is of similar rarity. This date is very rare in all grades, with the typical specimen being heavily circulated." Breen considers the 1867 half eagle to be "Very rare" in his "Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins" David Aker's "Analysis of Auction Records - Volume IV - Half Eagles" opines, "With respect to both mintage and frequency of appearance, the 1867 is of almost identical rarity to the 1866. The known business strikes of this date are almost always well worn and VF or EF specimens are typical." His average grade is listed as VF-33.
Garrett and Guth's "Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins" states, "The 1867 half eagle has nearly the same mintage as the 1866 issue and is of similar rarity. This date is very rare in all grades, with the typical specimen being heavily circulated." Breen considers the 1867 half eagle to be "Very rare" in his "Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins" David Aker's "Analysis of Auction Records - Volume IV - Half Eagles" opines, "With respect to both mintage and frequency of appearance, the 1867 is of almost identical rarity to the 1866. The known business strikes of this date are almost always well worn and VF or EF specimens are typical." His average grade is listed as VF-33.
Garrett and Guth's "Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins" states, "The 1867 half eagle has nearly the same mintage as the 1866 issue and is of similar rarity. This date is very rare in all grades, with the typical specimen being heavily circulated." Breen considers the 1867 half eagle to be "Very rare" in his "Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins" David Aker's "Analysis of Auction Records - Volume IV - Half Eagles" opines, "With respect to both mintage and frequency of appearance, the 1867 is of almost identical rarity to the 1866. The known business strikes of this date are almost always well worn and VF or EF specimens are typical." His average grade is listed as VF-33.
David Akers in his "Analysis of Action Records - Volume IV - Half Eagles" comments, "Similar in overall rarity to the 1868-S, the 1869-S is an extraordinarily rare coin above VF. Only a few EF's have ever been offered at [public auction and not one specimen called AU or uncirculated. The rest of the listings have been for Fine and VF coins, or worse. I have seen a few EF examples but nothing better. The tiny mintmark is always quite weak." Garrett and Guth's "Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins" asserts, "The mintage of the 1869-S half eagle dropped significantly from the previous year and remains a rarity today. The San Fransisco issues of the 1860's were all very heavily circulated and most of the surviving coins are very well worn. This date is extremely rare in high grade, with just a couple of examples known in Uncirculated condition. Many of the 1869-S half eagles are weakly struck in the central portions and on the eagle's neck and head. The mintmark is also very small and weakly impressed."
Douglas Winter in his book "Gold Coins of the Carson City Mint" suggests the rarity is 15th of 19. He indicates that there are three Die States; I) Mintmark normal, scroll under the word WE in the motto is intact, II) Mintmark is normal and the scroll is broken, and III) Mintmark is doubled and scroll under WE is totally missing. The coin here appears to be a Die State II with the broken Scroll. That said, there is also faint doubling of the mintmark, TE in UNITED, and TA in STATES, which are not mentioned in Winter's book.
Douglas Winter in his book "Gold Coins of the Carson City Mint" suggests the rarity is 15th of 19. He indicates that there are three Die States; I) Mintmark normal, scroll under the word WE in the motto is intact, II) Mintmark is normal and the scroll is broken, and III) Mintmark is doubled and scroll under WE is totally missing. The coin here appears to be a Die State II with the broken Scroll. That said, there is also faint doubling of the mintmark, TE in UNITED, and TA in STATES, which are not mentioned in Winter's book.
Douglas Winter in his book "Gold Coins of the Carson City Mint" suggests the rarity is 15th of 19. He indicates that there are three Die States; I) Mintmark normal, scroll under the word WE in the motto is intact, II) Mintmark is normal and the scroll is broken, and III) Mintmark is doubled and scroll under WE is totally missing. The coin here appears to be a Die State II with the broken Scroll. That said, there is also faint doubling of the mintmark, TE in UNITED, and TA in STATES, which are not mentioned in Winter's book.
Douglas Winter in his book "Gold Coins of the Carson City Mint" suggests the rarity is 15th of 19. He indicates that there are three Die States; I) Mintmark normal, scroll under the word WE in the motto is intact, II) Mintmark is normal and the scroll is broken, and III) Mintmark is doubled and scroll under WE is totally missing. The coin here appears to be a Die State II with the broken Scroll. That said, there is also faint doubling of the mintmark, TE in UNITED, and TA in STATES, which are not mentioned in Winter's book.