News, Information, Announcements and Tips for Collectors.
John Dannreuther makes the point that the “mintage figure for this year may be one of the firmest to date, as it is believed that all 1,781 coins delivered in 1805 were of that date… .” This was the only die pair used to strike those coins, and it was later employed in the production…
From a reported mintage of 371,534 pieces, the 1835 Classic Head half eagle is known in seven different die varieties. The 1835 is reasonably easy to locate in lower Mint State grades, but it is a prime condition rarity in higher grades. This particular example boasts a bold strike and flashy semi-prooflike surfaces. The overall…
The 1853-O Liberty double eagle claims a small mintage of 71,000 pieces, a much smaller production than any previous year at the famous Southern facility. Undoubtedly, some of the output from the California gold fields was held back, in anticipation of the opening of the San Francisco Mint the following year, rather than risking the…
The 1910-S Indian eagle’s high mintage of 811,000 coins is deceiving. Availability was drastically reduced in the mid-1930s during the massive gold melts. Mint State survivors are seldom available, typically grading only in the MS62 and lower range. The date is scarce in MS63, and rare at grades beyond that. That’s easily illustrated by the…
A change in the weight specifications for U.S. gold coins in 1834 prompted a design change to distinguish the new, lower-weight half eagles from previous old-tenor pieces. Earlier half eagles had a greater intrinsic value than their face value, which led to widespread hoarding and melting. Many of the heavier-weight coins were melted and struck…
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