1839 $5 MS64 PCGS....

Description

1839 Liberty Half Eagle, MS64
First Year of the Design

1839 $5 MS64 PCGS. Following the last of the William Kneass-designed Classic Head half eagles that were struck in 1838, the new Liberty Head design that Christian Gobrecht created made its appearance in 1839 with a production of 118,143 coins. Kneass had served the Mint as engraver from his commission in 1824 until his death in 1840. Gobrecht, who served as the assistant engraver for the last few years of Kneass's employment, began creating coinage designs in 1836 with the silver dollars that are named for him. His Liberty Head gold design first appeared on eagles in 1838, half eagles in 1839, and quarter eagles in 1840. The 1839 half eagles were struck in Philadelphia, Charlotte, and Dahlonega, and high grade survivors from any of those Mints are extremely rare. This piece is tied for the finest certified at PCGS or NGC, with a total of just 10 examples at both grading companies.

With this offering, we have been fortunate to handle all three of the PCGS certified examples graded MS64. We handled our first MS64 PCGS piece in August 2006, and our second in January 2014. That second example was previously NGC certified as MS64. Past offerings suggest that another six to eight years might pass before another opportunity arises to bid on a Choice Mint State PCGS-certified example of this important issue.

This piece is sharply struck and exhibits brilliant light yellow luster with satin surfaces. Scattered marks are expected at the MS64 grade level. For those collectors interested in die variations, stars 6 and 7 are recut, as on both of the other MS64 PCGS examples. Population: 3 in 64, 0 finer (3/20).(Registry values: P5)

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 25S7, PCGS# 8191, Greysheet# 8883)

Weight: 8.36 grams

Metal: 90% Gold, 10% Copper

Note for clients in the European Union: This lot is considered by the European Union to be “investment gold”. We believe that it meets the criteria established in Article 344(1), point (2) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC and thus should be exempt from import VAT regardless of the selling price. Any questions or concerns about VAT should be addressed to your accountant or local tax authority.

View Certification Details from PCGS