1824 Capped Head Left Half Eagle. BD-1. Rarity-5+. MS-62 (PCGS). CAC.A stunning rarity from a series that is extremely challenging to collect across virtually all issues and die varieties. This key date 1824 delivers vivid olive and honey-gold colors on brightly lustrous, frosty to semi-reflective surfaces. Both sides showcase bold to sharp striking detail that allows full appreciation of this classic design type. There is a touch of glossiness to the texture and a few faint handling marks to justify the MS-62 grade from PCGS, but the overall quality and eye appeal are superior at this level and deserving of CAC approval. BD Die State a/b.<p>The 1824 half eagle was certainly not immune to the speculation of the 1820s and early 1830s that claimed most early U.S. Mint gold coins. The reported mintage for the half eagle during calendar year 1824 is 17,340 pieces, although given how rare this issue is even by the standards of the Capped Head Left series John W. Dannreuther (2006) opines that the actual number of coins struck from the single 1824-dated die pairing could be as few as 7,500 pieces. The author asserts that only 30 to 40 examples remain, an estimate that is similar to that of 30 to 35 pieces put forth by <em>PCGS CoinFacts</em>. The rest were destroyed through melting, usually after export to Europe.<p>The 1824 is even rarer from a market availability standpoint than these estimates suggest, for the issue is the province of the most advanced collectors with examples typically remaining off the market for years at a time in tightly held collections. Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth noted in 2008 that the 1824 $5 appears at auction on average less than one time a year. Prior to our May 2016 sale of the remarkable D. Brent Pogue specimen in PCGS MS-64+, we had not offered an 1824 half eagle since 2008. After our Pogue IV sale, only two other examples of this issue appear in our online auction archives: a coin certified Unc Details--Cleaning by PCGS from our August 2016 ANA Auction, and a low-ball offering for a Plugged and Damaged piece certified by NCS in our August 2018 ANA Auction. For the half eagle specialist, the appearance of even such lower quality examples as those are memorable and worthy of careful consideration. How much more significant, therefore, is our offering of the Chicago Collection specimen in premium PCGS/CAC MS-62. Given that this is one of the finest 1824 half eagles obtainable, only the most aggressive bidding strategy will prevail here.PCGS# 8132. NGC ID: BFY5.PCGS Population: 2; 13 finer (MS-65 finest).<p>CAC Stickered Population: 1; 3.From the Chicago Collection.
