1846 $5 Small Date MS(PCGS#88226)

March 2021 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

5896

等级

MS61

价格

20,505

详细说明

1846 Liberty Head Half Eagle. Small Date. MS-61 (NGC). Lovely reddish-gold surfaces exhibit semi-prooflike tendencies in the fields, the finish otherwise satiny in texture. Sharply to fully struck throughout with superior eye appeal for an early date Liberty Head gold coin at the lower reaches of Mint State preservation. The 1846 Small Date half eagle is a hugely underrated issue. The reported mintage for the year was 395,942 pieces, though this included both the Small Date and Large Date varieties. Writing in 1988, U.S. gold coinage specialist David Akers noted that the "1846 is moderately rare in all grades and generally available only in VF to AU condition. Strictly uncirculated examples are rare, just as rare as those of 1844 and 1845. Both Small Date and Large Date varieties exist, the Small Date being the rarer of the two." We can conclude from certified populations that the Small Date is roughly six times rarer than the Large Date variety, representing only about 15% of the surviving examples. If we apply this same ratio to the reported mintage we can assume about only about 60,000 Small Date examples were struck, placing it on par with some of the prized Charlotte and Dahlonega mint issues of the same era. A find for the astute gold collector, and sure to see spirited bidding at auction. Provenance: From the Steve Studer Collection. NGC Census: 8; 4 finer (MS-63 finest). This total includes the present example, although it is not designated Small Date on the NGC insert, but it does not include any of the other 1846 half eagles certified by NGC that are not designated as to Small or Large Date. PCGS# 88226. NGC ID: 25TE. Click here for certification details from NGC.