By CoinWeek ….
GreatCollections is currently offering an 1862 Liberty Head $5 Half Eagle gold coin graded Proof-65+ DCAM by CACG.
Why Is This Gold Coin so Rare?
Civil War gold coins are already tough, but the minuscule size of the collector market for valuable gold Proofs in the 1860s makes the auction appearance of any of these coins noteworthy – even more so in the present example’s Gem state of preservation.
U.S. gold coin expert John W. Dannreuther states in his important reference United States Proof Coins, Volume IV: Gold, Part Two (2018), that the Philadelphia Mint struck the entire mintage of 35 pieces on February 16, 1862. On that same pivotal day, the Battle of Fort Donelson culminated in a decisive Union victory and large parts of Kentucky and Tennessee fell under Union control.
GreatCollections’ listing does not offer any pedigree information in its listing, but CoinWeek used image analysis to determine that this example is likely the Ed Trompeter coin. Trompter coin images published by Heritage Auctions from the coin’s 2015 sale match the GreatPhotos image, including a small number of die chips that are scattered along the obverse and reverse. In 2015, the coin was graded PF-66 Ultra Cameo by NGC. This coin is the Top Pop coin in the CAC census and has an estimated grade of PR-65DCAM in the PCGS condition census table published by CoinFacts.
At the time of writing, the highest of 14 bids is $7,250 USD. CoinWeek expects the 1862 Liberty Head $5 Half Eagle Proof to sell for over $125,000 when the auction closes on April 7, 2024 at 5:11 PM Pacific Time (8:11 PM Eastern).
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To search through GreatCollection’s archive of over 600,000 certified coins the company has sold over the past eight years, please visit the GreatCollections Auction Archives.
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