Is there a gold $5 1844 "Earring" Variety?

philographer

Browsing some dealer webpages I came across a really nice $5 1844 PCGS MS63 CAC. A gorgeous coin. But it looks to be wearing an earring! Here's the TrueView...

Looked at CoinFacts to see if this was normal, as I don't recall $5 Libs wearing an earring. None of the CoinFacts coins show this:

Looking through auction records, some 1844's do show this "earring". Here's one sold by Stacks in November 2017 in Baltimore (PCGS MS62 CAC):

Is there a known variety for $5 1844 with this earring?

Boosibri

Yes that is a known variety. A few other dates as well, 1854 $5 from top of mind.

philographer

Awesome thanks..I didn’t see anything on the CoinFacts page. Was this someone at the mint having fun playing with the dies? 😀

MsMorrisine

@philographer said:
Awesome thanks..I didn’t see anything on the CoinFacts page. Was this someone at the mint having fun playing with the dies? 😀

it would have to be raised on the die. perhaps a hole in the hub?

PerryHall

That "earring" is in the exact center of the coin and was caused by the point of a compass used to lay out the stars.

LanceNewmanOCC

@philographer said:
Browsing some dealer webpages I came across a really nice $5 1844 PCGS MS63 CAC. A gorgeous coin. But it looks to be wearing an earring! Here's the TrueView...

i haven't seen many coins or much commentary about pvc and gold but if you do get that coin, be sure to do some research and also verify if it is pvc. from those pics, a few of those spots look greenish. may be nothing, may be something.

fun thread.

philographer

Thanks. Some dates e.g. 1854 show a variety in CoinFacts such as DDO FS-101(earring). Others like 1851-C...and the 1844 I note above do not. Can someone explain why not? Also, is there an authoritative source for major varieties in gold? Thank you.

CharlotteDude

Yes - a known variety. As noted above, there are other Half Eagle dates that have this mark. Most 1851-C Half Eagles are typically found with this "ear piercing". Given is location, it appears to be a centering mark. There is a variety of 1851-C Half Eagles without the punch mark, but those are much rarer than the aforementioned variety. Here's my "with ear piercing" example:

philographer

1854 as pointed out by @Boosibri

This is the 1851-C

philographer

@CharlotteDude said:
Yes - a known variety. As noted above, there are other Half Eagle dates that have this mark. Most 1851-C Half Eagles are typically found with this "ear piercing". Given is location, it appears to be a centering mark. There is a variety of 1851-C Half Eagles without the punch mark, but those are much rarer than the aforementioned variety. Here's my "with ear piercing" example:

Very cool. Nice coin

ricko

Interesting variety.... @PerryHall.. Thanks for the explanation. Cheers, RickO

messydesk

The two shown in the OP are the same coin.

Interesting that it's said to have been from a compass point used to lay out stars. Why would they do this on the hub? Other period coins have raised center dots. At any rate, it's a pretty cool variety I was unaware of.

philographer

@messydesk said:
The two shown in the OP are the same coin.

Nice eye @messydesk

Here's a different coin, same variety, from Heritage

johnny9434

theres some good knowledge in here thats for sure