The Liberty Gold Half Eagle was the longest-used design in the history of the US Eagle denomination. From the $10 Eagle to the $5 and $2.50 Eagles, the Liberty Head design was used from the 1830s until 1907. The Half Eagle was one of the more unique in the series given its production at a wide variety of US Mint branch locations. Right now, certified 1846 $5 Liberty Gold Half Eagle Coins from the Fairmont Collection of US Eagles are available to purchase online at JM Bullion.
Coin Highlights:
- Arrives in a protective plastic slab from the PCGS!
- Struck in 1846!
- Repatriated to the United States in the Fairmont Collection!
- Large-date format!
- Contains .242 Troy oz of actual gold content.
- Bears a face value of $5 (USD) backed by the federal government.
- Issued a Grade of XF40 by the Professional Coin Grading Service.
- Obverse features Lady Liberty.
- Reverse includes the heraldic eagle.
- Product of the Philadelphia Mint.
Each 1846 $5 Liberty Gold Half Eagle Coin available here is housed in a slab and arrives in XF40 condition. This grade stands for Extremely Fine and the numerical grade of 40 puts it toward the lower end of the XF range. Generally speaking, coins in the XF range have light wear only on the high relief points and may also contain traces of the mint luster.
There’s no shortage of uniqueness to the Liberty Gold Half Eagle Coin, particularly these 1846 strikes. First and foremost, these coins are from the Fairmont Collection. Coins under this banner found their way into European banks in the 19th century through international commerce between the United States and Europe.
In the 2010s, European banks began to repatriate historic US Eagles discovered in bank vaults. While hundreds of these historic US gold coins were returned to America, many of the dates and denominations have very scarce numbers available in Mint State or other certified conditions.
Beyond being part of the Fairmont Collection, these Half Eagles were produced by the Philadelphia Mint. The Liberty Half Eagle is the only single design from this denomination struck by seven US Mint branch locations: Philadelphia, Dahlonega, Charlotte, New Orleans, San Francisco, Carson City, and Denver. It is also unique in that Philadelphia Mint coins no longer had silver in the gold alloy of the coin, while the same coins struck by other branch mints still had silver content because of the higher natural silver content of the gold ore used by southern branch mints, in particular.
Obverse design elements on these 1846 Liberty Gold Half Eagle Coins include the left-profile portrait of Lady Liberty wearing a coronet crown. Reverse visuals include the heraldic eagle of the United States with the arrows of war and the olive branch of peace.
One final notable point on these coins. Each one is a Large Date format. The 1846 issue included coins with large and small fonts for the dates on the obverse. You can detect the larger date format primarily through the spacing of the numbers in the date. The Large Format coins have a slightly smaller spacing.
If you have any questions about gold for sale, JM Bullion customer service is happy to help. Please call us at 800-276-6508, chat with us live online, or email us directly.