1929 $5 MS(PCGS#8533)

Spring 2022 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

5211

等级

MS63

价格

252,169

详细说明

Legendary 1929 Indian Half Eagle 1929 Indian Half Eagle. MS-63 (PCGS). CAC. Here is an outstanding Choice Mint State quality example of this legendary key date Indian half eagle. Both sides are lustrous and display lovely vivid colors of pale pink and golden-apricot. The strike is generally bold, the surfaces smooth, and the eye appeal is strong. This lovely coin will be just right for an advanced collection of 20th century U.S. Mint gold. This final year Indian half eagle issue is an excellent case study in how using mintage figures of gold coins from the 1920s and 1930s as a predictor of rarity is difficult. In 1916, production of the half eagle was suspended after only 240,000 coins were struck at the San Francisco Mint, and coinage of the denomination would not resume until 1929 and only at the Philadelphia Mint. While 662,000 half eagles were struck in 1929, the nation was on the brink of the Great Depression. With gold not needed in circulation under such circumstances, very few 1929 half eagles were distributed. Virtually the entire mintage languished in Treasury Department coffers until the great coinage melts of 1937, when they went straight into the Mint's crucibles to become ingots. These melts also destroyed many of the examples that had been released into circulation, as most had been returned to the Treasury after the Gold Surrender Order in 1933. With so few examples used in everyday commerce, circulated examples are significantly rarer than their elusive Mint State counterparts, which are usually at the lower end of the grading scale due to marks acquired while being jostled about in heavy bags. The 1929 half eagle has long been recognized as the prime rarity in the circulation strike Indian half eagle series. David W. Akers noted nearly 40 years ago that, "If anything exists that is better than MS-65 I have not seen or heard of it." Today, this remains true; not a single specimen has surpassed the Gem Mint State level. The present example is superior to most and, with abundant eye appeal, it is sure to please even the most discerning numismatist. Provenance: From the Fairmont Collection-Hendricks Set. PCGS# 8533. NGC ID: 28E2. Click here for certification details from PCGS. Image with the PCGS TrueView logo is obtained from and is subject to a license agreement with Collectors Universe, Inc. and its divisions PCGS and PSA. Click here to see Coins in Motion.[“Coins]