NEWP for the New Orleans Half Eagle Set
Boosibri
Posts: 11,876 ✭✭✭✭✭
I love the New Orleans half eagles and find the set to be one of the best value in the hobby. No less than 8 coins of the 16 in the set, the 42-O, 45-O, 46-O, 47-O, 51-O, 55-O, 56-O and 57-O, have less than 100 coins extant. Meanwhile the 42-O and 47-O (in particular the 47-O, likely rank in the top 10 for total rarity for the Liberty half eagle type). Despite these fundamentals, the series does not have the following of the Dahlonega, Charlotte or the Civil War dated San Francisco series.
I have gone in and out of doing this set but with a core holding of mine being the 1842-O EF40 CAC ex. Littlejohn & RYK and the 1847-O $5 VF35 CAC which I bought in 2012. To that I added a very rare variety of the 1851-O in EF45 CAC which has a dramatically prepunched date and doubled mintmark.
Today I added another coin to my VF/EF set, a very choice 1846-O $5 in EF40. While I could buy more highly graded coins, I love the look of original surfaced EF gold and will continue to add in this space.
The others:
1842-O $5 EF40 CAC
1847-O $5 VF35 CAC.jpg)
1851-O $5 EF45 CAC
Comments
Nice collection!
Nice coins and wonderful photography!
Nice! I used to collect half eagles a while back. I would love to see them in hand. For fun I checked ebay yesterday to see what was for sale and it was almost all crap. The non crap was higher grade generics that of course look lovely in 65. Great choice of a subset to concentrate on. Under appreciated mint when you consider what an awesome city new Orleans is.
Beautiful! A overlooked and except for maybe the 47-O also undervalued series in my opinion. I'm lacking the 47-O, 56-O and 57-O to fill out my set. Most of mine were obtained in in the 70s and 80s when prices were much lower. I'll have to dig my 51-O out of the bank and check it out for the doubled mint mark. I like yours a lot.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
Like it. I don't get why the big -O- doesn't have the following of C, D, or even S, but you might as well take advantage of it while you can. Maybe DW's new book will move the needle a bit. I wrote an article about the birth of gold coinage at the New Orleans mint for the John Reich Journal. Should be in the issue coming out next month.
Nice group. Not the appeal of the D and C mints, but I like them and getting tough to locate with the nice original patina. Those are very nice.
Love the look of those half eagles!
Considering the age and composition of the coins you collect you have done VERY well. Love the old gold look. The surfaces of the coins in your collection are phenomenal. Congratulations
Sweet coins. I too like the VF-EF unmolested look.
Well done Brian. I think a very fun and wise choice of sets given the current market conditions. In many ways, collecting original coins in this grade are more liquid in the long run as fewer collectors can afford the high grades.
siliconvalleycoins.com
Rarity, history, and great eye appeal...the trinity of numismatics.
Outstanding pickup!
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Beautiful gold coins... I like the O mint gold... and that 1842 O is very nice indeed.
Cheers, RickO
Nice pick up!!!
New Orleans doesn't have a popular gold rush story...what the mint needs for a boost is for someone to find a shipwreck or hoard of mint state rare date O gold coins...
Very well matched colors and surfaces. Love the irridescence on most of those pieces.
That is sweet gold!
Perhaps the great commonness of boring O-Mint Morgan dollars has prejudiced collectors against the rarer O-mint issues. If Charlotte and Dahlonega Mint coins had been struck in huge quantities after the Civil War would we still care so much for the 1838-1861 coins?
Very nice looking half eagle’s with terrific eye appeal.
The 1846-0 looks like it might be undergraded.