1874 Liberty Head $5 Half Eagle

1874 Liberty Head $5 half eagle gold coins were produced at the Philadelphia, San Francisco (S), and Carson City (CC) mints. Of these three mints, the branch facilities of Carson City and San Francisco would strike significantly larger quantities of 1874 gold half eagle coins than Philadelphia.

Here’s a look at the mintages and values of 1874 $5 Liberty Head half eagle gold coins:

• 1874, 3,488 minted; $1,081

• 1874-CC, 21,198; $3,000

• 1874-S, 16,000; $1,019

• 1874 proof; 20; $27,500

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

The mintage figures above are certainly important for numismatists in the academic sense, but they don’t come close to reflecting the current surviving number of the various 1874 half eagles. This is particularly true for 1874-CC half eagles, which are now exceedingly rare. Natural attrition thinned the population of Carson City gold coins, but so, too, did the loss of these coins through melting. For the record, 1874 half eagles contain a net total of 0.24187 ounces pure gold per coin. Still, 1874 Liberty Head $5 gold half eagles, which were designed by Chief Engraver of the United States Mint Christian Gobrecht, are far more important as numismatic coins than bullion pieces.