GTG: 1836 half-eagle

Just won in a Heritage auction. Guess the grade, if you're so inclined.

This will be the first Classic Head I've owned that wasn't dated 1834.

 

Indeed, I feel fortunate to be able to buy the sort of stuff I’ve been buying over the last year. Wasn’t that long ago that I could not have afforded the melt value of any common half-eagle, let alone buying a nice undamaged early one like this.

I’m a believer in the “buy the best you can afford” mantra, though. I had as much or more fun on a smaller budget than I do now, with my improved financial circumstances. Whether it’s circulated, low-grade Indian cents or certified early gold, holed coins, ancients, or cherrypicking through cheap world coin “junkbox” lots - I’ve enjoyed it all, regardless of the price level.

 

Type. The 1836 has a slightly lower mintage (553,147) than the 1834 (657,460) which is the date you usually see for this type. But it’s still the second-highest mintage for the type. The Charlotte and Dahlonega issues of 1838 are the rarities in this series.

 

I believe this now completes my basic type set of post-1834 gold. I have all the basic designs now from dollar through double-eagle, with all denominations covered. What I do not have completely represented are the subtypes like Motto/No Motto, etc.

 

For the record, I’d have guessed VF30 if I didn’t know the grade. Not saying that’s the actual PCGS grade here. Just the way I’d have seen it. But for whatever reason, I have found (in my limited experience) that the TPGs tend to grade these more liberally than I’d expect, a lot of the time.

 

By way of comparison with its little sister, here is my Classic Head quarter-eagle, which is a PCGS 40.

 

Here’s the answer, for those ready to see the reveal:

https://www.pcgs.com/cert/43096849