1854-S G$5

The only one that has come out since I've been in the game is the Eliasberg specimen. It's in strong hands, but you never know.

<< <i>The only one that has come out since I've been in the game is the Eliasberg specimen. >>



Wow.

<< <i>How many are known to exist? >>



3, two in private hands

Tell Ryan Seacrest, seriously. I see no reason why a very elusive rare coin shouldn't qualify as a legitimate long time dream. All you have to do is make a very entertaining presentation.

For $250,000, perhaps you could rent it for a couple months.

At any rate, it is more about the opportunity than the cost. I do not think that Ryan Seacrest can make one appear.

Wow, that is a seriously rare coin. More likely a lifetime pursuit.

the first SF mint 1854-S five is excessively rare, obviously

the next year, 1855-S, features the large S mint mark, plus the quirky Longacre italic 55

<< <i>

<< <i>How many are known to exist? >>



3, two in private hands >>



Do we have a photo and good, non-contradictory pedigree for the third one?

Let me rethink what I am thinking. We've all seen pictures of the Eliasberg coin (is it in the P.... collection now?). We've possibly seen in person the Lilly-Smithsonian coin, not that I remember doing so. Most of us, including me, do not have the Wolfson auction catalogs. The Breen pedigrees seem to me to be to some extent confusing, and I've wondered (in my head) whether or not the Wolfson and SI coins are one and the same. So, do we have photos of the SI and Wolfson coins, and does someone know where the Wolfson coin is now, if it is different?

>>why do i remember some story about a lady walking a 54S into a show
one day and selling it? is that one of the three or just a story... >>



i recall the story as well from a couple of years ago......i want to say it was the 1854-S Quarter eagle and not the Half eagle but i could be mistaken......i'm thinking it was a westcoast (Calif.) show and the coin was handed down from her Asian-born (great?) grandparents.....

<< <i>>>why do i remember some story about a lady walking a 54S into a show
one day and selling it? is that one of the three or just a story... >>



i recall the story as well from a couple of years ago......i want to say it was the 1854-S Quarter eagle and not the Half eagle but i could be mistaken......i'm thinking it was a westcoast (Calif.) show and the coin was handed down from her Asian-born (great?) grandparents..... >>



It was the quarter eagle. It was graded XF-45 by NGC and sold by ANR for about $250k, IIRC.

The question was raised as to why would the Mint go to the trouble to make so few 1854-S Half Eagles. The same might be asked about the Quarter Eagles of that year.

There was a logical reason. People who deposited raw gold were supposed to be paid off in coin gold. Naturally, random deposits of odd weight raw gold in slightly varying finenesses yield random final values after refining and fees, if any. Those final values might end in any number from .01 to 9.99.

So, you make multiple batches $10's and $20's over and over again to pay off the bulk of the payouts, but first you make a small batch of $2-1/2's and $5's, and a slightly larger batch of $1 golds, and eventually some $3's, to settle up those odd number payouts. The depositor gets back most of his gold, and never more than 99 cents in small change.

@Zoins said:

• Sale Price: $1,920,000 - This price was likely affected by the onset of the Coronavirus.

there is no shortage of commentary to be made for the contrast of quality between the 2 coins you posted vs their hammer prices and time frame.

i think i will just make this commentary/observation(s) for now and that is i bet there was someone willing to pay more for that amazing coin but at auction, it takes at least 2. did it show up somewhere else (dealer's site) for considerably more? the auction estimate was right on. BUT it seems that the potential buyers hadn't done their homework because their rather HUGE difference in quality between the 2 for the prices to be so close and within a year or so of each other, pandemic or no is difficult to overlook. also, i haven't looked at as many auctions for other firms compared to HA's wonderful site/archives so i can't comment about them bringing top-dollar for coins like this by comparison to HA. perhaps $2M for the au58+ is closer to what the perceived value actually is and the lower quality one was overpaid for? many variables as usual as we certainly have seen plenty of variance like this for many 5, 6 and 7 figure coins.

that glamor shot of the au58+ is nice but after viewing the SB full slab images (ty SB), i am compelled to show what it would look like, most likely, in-hand.

@vulcanize said:

wasn't this the date/mm/denom that someone tried to sell to a dealer at a show in the past few? years but passed figuring it was a counterfeit, only for it to be posted about here some time after in a TPG holder ready for auction?

now i think about it, perhaps it was a lesser value but major find in the 50-150k range? something is ratting around about this in my noggin.

@yosclimber said:
We discussed the examples of this coin in 2018 when the EF-45 was authenticated and sold at auction.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/998024/find-of-a-lifetime-collector-finds-fourth-known-1854-s-5-and-authenticated-ats
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/998528/the-wolfson-dupont-1854-s-half-eagle-compared-to-the-newly-discovered-piece
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1002792/1854-s-5-half-eagle-to-cross-auction-for-over-1-million

And the Eliasberg / Pogue example is now in the D.L. Hansen collection
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/12567543/#Comment_12567543

Thank you.
Wonder why the PCGS data has not been updated for such a rare coin?

@yosclimber said:

@vulcanize said:
Wonder why the PCGS data has not been updated for such a rare coin?

PCGS CoinFacts is out of date in places, probably because it is expensive to pay someone to maintain/update it.
The last paragraph was updated in 2018 to describe the EF-45 authenticated and sold in 2018,
but the table listing the known examples was not updated.

It's still an excellent resource.

I agree. But there was chatter that it crossed over from NGC to PCGS and that should have been more the reason for the pages to be updated.