One per year US gold set (1834-1878)
1855

Owner Comments:

With the 1854-S essentially unobtainable (only three are known and the last example to trade brought $687,500 back in 1982), the 1855-S is really a first-year-of-issue for San Francisco half eagles. While 61,000 were produced, the survival rate is low and this issue saw considerable use in commerce, making it rare in properly graded AU55 to AU58 and exceedingly rare in Uncirculated. I have only seen one 1855-S half eagle in Uncirculated (a PCGS MS62 that brought $17,250 in 1999 as Bass II: 1077) and not more than four or five properly graded AU58's. The present example is completely original with pleasing natural orange-gold and light green colors over uncommonly unabraded surfaces. There is dirt in the lettering on the reverse and a good amount of soft, satiny luster below the aforementioned color. As with most of the pre-Civil War half eagles from this mint, the 1855-S is very undervalued and it would be hard to find a nicer example of this date.