1850 Liberty Head $5 Half Eagle

1850 Liberty Head $5 half eagle gold coins were struck at the Philadelphia, Charlotte (C), and Dahlonega (D) mints. In all, this results in there being three basic varieties of 1850 Liberty Head half eagles. Certainly, all 1850 Liberty Head $5 gold half eagles are considered scarce today, though the Charlotte and Dahlonega gold pieces are by far much scarcer.

Below is a glance at the mintages and values for 1850 $5 half eagle gold coins:

• 1850, 64,491 minted; $785

• 1850-C, 63,591; $2,000

• 1850-D, 43,984 $2,000

*Values are for coins grading Very Fine 20.

Interestingly, the 1850 (Philadelphia) and 1850-C were struck in roughly equal quantities, yet the branch mint is worth nearly four times as much in VF 20 as its Philadelphia counterpart. This is a great example of why mintages, especially those corresponding to older coins, should not be used as the equivalent of a population count. Only a tiny fraction of the original 1850-C mintage survives today, whereas Philadelphia issues remain more abundant today.

Christian Gobrecht, the designer of silver Seated Liberty coins from the 19th century, designed 1850 Liberty Head half eagles. Because of their vintage and overall rarity in today’s market, 1850 $5 gold coins are historically significant and carry high price premiums over the value of their intrinsic gold content; these coins contain 0.24187 net ounces of pure gold.