Rare $5 Gold Coin to be Offered by Heritage

Dallas, Texas: Heritage Numismatic Auctions, Inc. (HNAI) will offer a rare 1842-C $5 Small Date MS62 PCGS Variety 4-C, Die State I in their upcoming FUN auction, to be held January 12-15, 2005 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

"The 1842-C Small Date is the rarest Charlotte Half Eagle, and is the second rarest issue of all Charlotte coins, trailing only 1849-C Open Wreath Gold Dollar," said Greg Rohan, President of HNAI. "Only 4,595 pieces were originally struck, and it is estimated that today a mere 50-55 coins are extant in all grades. Current population data from NGC and PCGS (12/04) indicates that only six pieces have been certified in mint condition between the two services."

"To the best of our knowledge, this is a new addition to the Condition Census," continued Rohan, "and there are probably no more than two, maybe three coins represented by the population figures from NGC and PCGS. We seriously doubt that the population data represents six individual coins, as three years ago this issue was considered unique in Uncirculated (the Ex: Elrod coin). As such, we consider this coin to be among the finest examples known of this very rare issue."

"The striking details are exceptionally well defined on this coin," added Jim Jones, cataloger for HNAI. "The hair curls and peripheral stars are very strong with the only area of weakness being the feathers on the eagle's neck, as always seen. The few survivors of the estimated 2,555 pieces struck from Die State I are generally sharply struck and they are especially well defined when compared to the Die State II coins. The surfaces overall are quite clean and show only minimal abrasions for this usually extensively abraded issue. As with many Charlotte and Dahlonega coins, the fields are semi-reflective, no doubt from the minimal usage of the dies, and the coin shows light reddish-gold coloration overall."

Rohan concluded, "The collector of Charlotte gold would be well advised to bid generously on this coin as another Mint State example may not be on the market for many years."

Images, descriptions, and prices realized from all of Heritage's previous sales are available in the Permanent Auction Archives at the Heritage website.

To purchase a catalog for any Heritage Sale, please contact Customer Service, 800-872-6467, 3500 Maple Avenue, 17th Floor, Dallas, TX., 75219 or visit HeritageGalleries.com to order by credit card.