Market value of a true small date 1837 $5 gld Breen 6513

[reid1836]

Anyone have any info on the market value for a small date 1837 $5 gld. In Walter Breen`s Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial coins it is rated as being "very rare" with and est. 13 -30 examples known. In CW`s Comprehensive Catalogue & Encyclopedia of United States Coins it is also given a "very rare" rating. Just looking for some type of guide line for value in the middle circulated grades fine thru ef. Oh, yeah ! Salutations to the forum ! Long time no read ! . It`s good to be back ! Any info would be appreciated. .

Sincerely,

Reid1836

[Hoot]

I can't tell you anything about the rarity assessments since Breen, but as for the value, Heritage shows two that sold (1 in 2003 and 1 in 2004) in AU50 for around $750 each. An MS61 piece sold this year for $4255. Heritage reported that the MS coin had a pop of 5/19 , while the AU pieces had pops of 19/68 at sale. Looking at the NGC pop reports, however, there's no reference I can find to make the distinctions, and the numbers for 1837 pieces don't match in any way, shape or form.

 

So, what's the value over the more common Breen 6512? I have no idea. Perhaps the specialists are rare enough for there to be little demand? I'm not familiar with McCloskey's work on classic head $5 pieces, but someone associated with the Gobrecht Journal might be.

 

 

Hoot

[DaveG]

All I can do is echo Hoot's recommendation to check the Heritage archives.

 

However, my guess would be that, although the variety is rarer (than the already uncommon large date), there are so few collectors of classic half eagles (other than as a type coin) in the first place and even fewer who are interested in varieties, there may not be much of any demand for it.

 

Even in Doug Winter's article on classic half eagles, he barely mentions the variety.

[DaveG]

I just came across a reference to John McCloskey's articles on Classic Head Gold in the latest issue of the E-Gobrecht (Vol. 2, Iss. 3: March 2006). He wrote "A Study of Classic Half Eagles, 1834-1838, part of the ANS Coinage of Americas Conference Proceedings in 1990. Additional articles on classic quarter and half eagles have appeared in the John Reich Journal (9/1989, 1/1994, 7/1997, 1/2001)."