1894-S $5 MS(PCGS#8389)

August 2023 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

1128

等级

MS62

价格

31,457

详细说明

1894-S Liberty Head Half Eagle. MS-62 (PCGS). Handsome honey-rose surfaces are frosty in texture with a sharply to fully executed strike. The 1894-S inaugurates a run of condition rarity San Francisco Mint half eagles that continues through 1897. This first year issue is by far the rarest in the group, due in no small part to a limited mintage of 55,900 coins. Most survivors are well worn, which confirms that gold coinage continued to see active circulation on the West Coast through the 1890s. Very few must have seen service in export trade as Mint State examples are rare and seldom offered in today's market. Writing in the 2008 edition of their Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins: 1795-1933, Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth sum up the challenge presented by the 1894-S nicely: This is one of the dates that are taken for granted until one makes an effort to locate an example. Very few 1894-S half eagles have traded at auction in the last two decades because low-grade coins of the date are not deemed worthy of a major auction sale and there are very few high-grade coins known. Indeed, this particular example from the Fairmont Collection is one of very few Mint State 1894-S fives that we have brought to auction in the last decade. A fleeting bidding opportunity worthy of one's undivided attention. Provenance: From the Fairmont Collection - Rhone Set. PCGS Population: 23; 5 finer (MS-64 finest). PCGS# 8389. NGC ID: 25YG. 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.