1855-S $5 AU58+ 认证号41789767, PCGS号8265

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."

David Akers (1975/88)

The 1855-S is actually more rare than the 1855-C or 1855-D based on my survey of 337 sales dating back to 1921. I think, however, that I have seen a few more of this date than I have of those two and also more than I have of the 1855-O. However, almost all specimens I have seen were well worn, VF or EF being typical, and I can recall seeing only two uncs and three or four AU's.