1860 Liberty Head Half Eagle. MS-63 (PCGS).This is a rarely offered Choice Uncirculated example of an underrated Philadelphia Mint half eagle from just before the Civil War. Bright, beautiful color on both sides alternates between light golden-rose and warmer orange-gold depending on the lighting. The surfaces are enhanced by full, soft, satiny luster. A touch of softness to the hair curls over Libertys brow and the opposing high point near the bottom of the eagle on the reverse notwithstanding, this is an overall boldly struck coin with most features crisp. There are few marks (none that are readily distracting); most useful for provenance tracing is a pair of trivial scuffs in the obverse filed between stars 2 and 3. A lovely example that will be just right for an advanced Liberty Head gold cabinet.<p>The 1860 is the last in a short run of low mintage Philadelphia Mint half eagles that commenced with the 1858. Uncirculated survivors from a mintage of 19,763 pieces are few and far between, and any Mint State coin is of the utmost rarity. It is significant in this regard that the extensive Fairmont holdings have yielded only a single Uncirculated 1860 half eagle, the PCGS MS-61 specimen in our Spring 2022 Auction offering of the Hendricks Set. Indeed, the Fairmont-Hendricks specimen is the only other Mint State example of this issue that we have offered in recent decades, during which time numerous Uncirculated 1860-C and 1860-D half eagles appeared in our sales. Clearly this is a grossly underrated issue in Mint State preservation; our offering of this Condition Census Choice example represents an important bidding opportunity.PCGS# 8284. NGC ID: 25VF.PCGS Population: 3; 1 finer (MS-66).
