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1821 FIVE DOLLARS
OR HALF EAGLE
PCGS No: 8129
Mintage:
Circulation strikes: 34,641
Proofs: ??
Designer: Robert Scot & John
Reich
Diameter: 25 millimeters
Metal content:
Gold - 91.7%
Silver and Copper - 8.3%
Weight: 135 grains (8.748 grams)
Edge: Reeded
Mintmark: None (all dates of
this type were struck at the Philadelphia mint)
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Images courtesy of Ron Guth
Significant examples:
NGC MS-63 (illustrated above). Offered by Mid-American Rare Coin
Galleries at the October 2000 Long Beach Numismatic Exposition
NGC MS-61 (illustrated
below). Ex - Auction '89, Lot 888 - Superior's "Michael Keston"
Collection Sale, January 1996, Lot 112 @ $24,200 - the Rogers collection -
Superior
Galleries' "Pre-Long Beach Sale" May 27-29, 2001, Lot 3603,
where it was described as follows: "1821 Breen-6479. NGC graded
Mint State 61. The Michael Keston Specimen. Earlier this sold in Auction
'89 and Superior's 1996 sale of the Keston collection (diagnostic features
include some faint scratches above 5D. on reverse.) Very sharply
struck in rich yellow gold with dusky orange gold highlights on some of
the hair curls, brow, nose, and tip of bust. The centers are slightly
reflective and the borders frostier; throughout both sides the surface is
quite clean with only scattered small marks noted. As on all known
examples of this date there are raised die lines below the final star on
the obverse. The 1821 Half Eagle is, for some reason, among the more
overlooked rarities from this period. We estimate there to be 30 or
so around, with a typical specimen grading just Extremely Fine. The
specimen offered here clearly rates high and is one of the finest seen or
offered for sale in many years. Coin is in NGC holder 567780-001."
PCGS EF-45. Ex - Superior Galleries "Pre-Long Beach" Elite
Coin Auction, May 25- 27, Lot 3697, sold for $22,425.00
Notes:
This is one of the rarest dates in the entire Half Eagle series,
although the mintage figure might indicate otherwise. PCGS has
graded only four examples of this date, the finest of which is a single MS-66! NGC has graded seven examples, including a single MS-61, a
single MS-62
(Eliasberg), and a single MS-63 (illustrated above).
Sources and/or recommended
reading:
"Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia Of U.S. And Colonial
Coins" by Walter Breen
"The PCGS Population
Report, July 2003" by The
Professional Coin Grading Service
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