Prooflike Half Eagle

[physics-fan3.14]

Good afternoon to all! 

My most recent score arrived the other day, and I've finally had a chance to photograph it. This 1885S Half Eagle was graded MS-64PL by NGC, and it is gorgeous! The fields are quite reflective, and the devices appear to have some cameo contrast. This is a very beautiful coin. 

Prooflike Liberty Head gold is generally pretty available, especially compared to some other series. However, most of it is usually fairly low grade. 61 and 62 are the most common grades. 63 is sometimes available, but less frequently. When you start getting to 64, prooflike gold is downright hard to come by. For the Liberty Half eagle series, for example, there are 343 prooflike coins graded (out of 212,116 total). Of those, around 20 are 64 - and only 8 are higher than 6! The majority of the prooflike coins come from the 1880's. I'm not sure why, but there is a cluster of prooflike coins in the early half of that decade.

Because prooflike gold is scarce, and because it is beautiful, there is generally quite a premium for these coins. DPL coins always sell for strong money, and 63/64 PL coins generally go for 2-4x what a normal business strike sells for. 

The 1885S is not a key date, with 1.2 million made, but there have only been 5 prooflikes designated for the date. My new 64PL is the highest graded PL for the date. I had to pay strong money for it, but it was worth it to add this gorgeous piece to my collection. I've included a video below as well, so that you can get a better idea of how the light plays on these mirrored surfaces. 

 

[PocketArt]

Nice example, and congrats on pickup.  I didn't realize that PL qualities existed on other denominations aside from DE's.  The inclusion of video is pretty cool to capture the mirrors.  Thanks for the info too! 

[Nutmeg Coin]

Nice coin, its too bad that PCGS does not PL these and with the stiff premiums, people may try to get real pls in NGC holders.  A dealer was selling an old Anacs AU55 prooflike $5 lib today at a show for around $350.  It looked like a good deal.  

[physics-fan3.14]

2 hours ago, PocketArt said:

Nice example, and congrats on pickup.  I didn't realize that PL qualities existed on other denominations aside from DE's.  The inclusion of video is pretty cool to capture the mirrors.  Thanks for the info too! 

Oh yes, PL is known on every series of Liberty gold coin. There are actually several classic head and draped/capped bust gold coins certified PL as well (although they are as expensive as you think they would be). The 20th century is where we starting running into difficulties. There is a single St. Gauden's $20 certified PL, but no $10. There are no Indian Head quarter or half eagles certified PL. I'm still not sure what I want to do with these series for my set..... The Standing Liberty Quarter is similarly unknown in PL.

If you peruse my Registry set (in my signature below), you'll see a number of really interesting and supremely rare coins. I've gotten to 49% on the Registry type set so far, all in prooflike (or semi-prooflike for extremely rare series like the Walker or Ike). 

17 minutes ago, Nutmeg Coin said:

Nice coin, its too bad that PCGS does not PL these and with the stiff premiums, people may try to get real pls in NGC holders.  A dealer was selling an old Anacs AU55 prooflike $5 lib today at a show for around $350.  It looked like a good deal.  

Some dealers know that PCGS doesn't designate these, but some dealers don't. The PL market is thin, and there are a lot of misconceptions about PL coins. 

I personally am not a fan of AU PLs. The wear and abrasions in the field remove the PL qualities, so that the mirrors only show in the protected areas. I've seen AU Roosevelts, Bust halfs, Morgans, Liberty eagles, and a few other series... and none of them did it for me. I've seen as low as AU-53 PL. Really weird. Honestly, the number of abrasions in the field on a 61 or 62 coin also tend to impede the mirrors to a point that it doesn't appeal to me. The whole point of buying a PL coin (and paying the PL premium) is to see the PL fields.... if there are so many marks and scrapes and wear that I can't clearly see the mirrors, I don't want it. I'm trying to maintain my set at a minimum of 64, unless it is a rare or expensive series. 

As for ANACS: be careful about buying PLs in ANACS slabs. Make sure that the mirrors are fully reflective and meet the PL standards. I've bought several ANACS PLs that didn't cross. They were semi-prooflike at best. 

[Walkerfan]

That's a really NICE one!  Your video really shows the black mirrors and frosted devices.  A big congrats on this acquisition. 

[PocketArt]

I looked at your PL registry Jason- you have a very nice set!  Interesting specialization.  The Peace Dollar with semi-proof like qualities is a type I've looked for, haven't found one yet, but would love to.  Pretty neat to see one like yours- great coins.

Rich       

[Amazon]

Those are some nice mirrors. Congratulations on the pick up!

[ldhair]

Great coin. I love it.

[BillJones]

That is a really attractive half eagle. I have an 1846-O with a similar look. From what I have read, the look was achieved but Mint personnel who rubbed the dies with leather straps.

[physics-fan3.14]

Thanks guys, for all the positive comments! Slowly but surely, this set is coming together! 

On 4/2/2017 at 10:21 PM, BillJones said:

That is a really attractive half eagle. I have an 1846-O with a similar look. From what I have read, the look was achieved but Mint personnel who rubbed the dies with leather straps.

Bill, where did you read that? I hadn't heard that one before? Maybe @RWB can shed some light? 

 

[SkyMan]

Nice looking Half Eagle!