1838-D $5 MS(PCGS#8178)

Spring 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

3144

等级

AU55

价格

167,576

详细说明

From the Dahlonega Mint's first coinage issue comes this inviting, thoroughly PQ half eagle at the AU-55 grade level. There is plenty of satin to semi-reflective luster remaining to predominantly medium gold surfaces. Warmer honey highlights are also evident, enhancing the visual appeal. The detail is universally sharp throughout the central design elements, and we note only minor peripheral softness that is easily forgiven in an early Dahlonega Mint half eagle. With no sizable or otherwise notable marks, this is about as nice as they come for a Choice AU 1838-D, and it will certainly attract the attention of discerning collectors.<p>All 20,583 half eagles coined in Dahlonega in 1838 were struck by a single die pair. Most were distributed regionally and saw extensive circulation; 1838-D half eagles in Fine and Very Fine grade are not unusual. Sylvia Gailey Head and Elizabeth W. Etheridge's <em>The Neighborhood Mint: Dahlonega in the Age of Jackson</em> reports that the first coins struck at Dahlonega were half eagles. The first press run of 80 coins was struck on April 17, 1838, as recorded in a letter from Mint Superintendent Dr. Joseph J. Singleton to Philadelphia Mint Director Robert M. Patterson on May 1, 1838. Lacking good leadership and technical skills, the Dahlonega Mint got off to a rough start. Important equipment took ages to reach north Georgia from Philadelphia, or it never arrived at all. Quarter eagles were not struck until 1839, and new half eagle dies for 1839 were not received until April of that year. Though silver coinage was authorized by Congress to be struck in Dahlonega in 1840, the facility struck nothing but gold coins until its closure. Taken over by the Confederacy in 1861, the mint structure was left abandoned after the Civil War. In 1871, the building was given to the North Georgia Agricultural College. After the mint burned down in 1878, another structure was constructed on the foundation and now serves as an administration building for the University of North Georgia.<p>This issue attracts interest from several different quarters. Type collectors seek it out as the only Dahlonega Mint Classic Head half eagle. Dahlonega specialists require examples to complete date runs, and those who pursue first year of issue coins cherish the 1838-D as the first half eagle of the Dahlonega Mint. Once the present example finds its way into a tightly held collection, it may be several years before an 1838-D half eagle of similar desirability appears on the open market. Interested bidders are urged to prepare an aggressive strategy for this lot.