1859 Liberty Head $5 Half Eagle

1859 Liberty Head $5 half eagle gold coins were made at the Philadelphia, Charlotte (C), Dahlonega (D), and San Francisco (S) mints, with each striking less than 35,000 pieces. Of these four mints, Charlotte struck the most half eagles in 1859, with the other mints producing half eagles in much smaller quantities.

Here is a look at the mintages and values of the 1859 $5 Liberty Head half eagle gold coins:

• 1859, 16,734 minted; $985

• 1859-C, 31,847; $2,000

• 1859-D, 10,366; $2,000

• 1859-S, 13,220; $1,500

• 1859 proof, 80; $50,000

*Values are for coins grading Very Fine 20 unless otherwise stated.

As is not uncommon for some 19th-century gold coinage, Philadelphia represents the least expensive option for gold coin collectors, even though that mint struck a relatively small number of coins. This reflects the fact that mintages don’t necessarily indicate how many pieces of a specific issue exist today. All 1859 half eagles survive in smaller numbers than the mintage figures above suggest, and the branch mints were saved in the smallest numbers, thus they are now the scarcest (and generally the most expensive).

1859 half eagles are scarce and historically significant, thus they are worth much more as numismatic collectibles than as gold bullion coins. They do indeed contain a significant amount of gold – 0.24187 net ounces of pure gold – but their price premiums are far higher than most gold investors would rather pay for the bullion metal content.

A footnote about 1859 half eagles is that they were designed by Christian Gobrecht. Gobrecht, who served as the third Chief Engraver of the United States Mint, also designed the 19th-century Seated Liberty silver coinage.