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Sale 51
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Lot 1477
1869-S $5 Liberty. PCGS graded MS-61. A nice untoned example. One stray mark in the field below the chin. Very rare in mint state. Only 31,000 minted. The strike is finely detailed on this handsome half eagle, with just a touch of high-point weakness to keep us from saying that it is "razor" sharp. Although a few stray abrasions are as expected, such as the one mentioned, this coin has attractive old-gold finish, and taken as a whole offers the attraction of a finer specimen.
Like most half eagles from this era, the 1869-S issue circulated heavily on the West Coast and in the Basin-and-Range province of Nevada, Utah and Arizona. This contrasts with states east of the Mississippi where circulating gold and silver was virtually unavailable due to the competing greenback currency which upset the monetary balance from the Civil War until 1879. Certified survivors of the 1869-S half eagle tend to grade VF or EF. In Mint condition the issue is as rare as it gets: Pop 1; 1 finer in 62. (PCGS # 8318) .
1869: the year of the Golden Spike. Promontory Summit in Utah was the center of worldwide attention when the driving-in of the golden spike joined the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railraods. The ceremony took place on May 10, 1869. What happened next is almost entirely absent from school history texts: Because of the shoddy manner in which the rail lines were laid on the heavily government subsidized system, work began almost immediately to reconstruct the entire project! Three years after the celebrated meeting at Promontory Summit the Union Pacific Railroad was bankrupt.
As for the spike itself, the golden spike was made of 17.6-karat (73%) copper-alloyed gold, and weighed 14.03 troy ounces (436 g). It was dropped into a pre-drilled hole in the laurel ceremonial last tie, and gently tapped into place with a silver ceremonial spike maul. The spike was engraved on all four sides. Immediately afterwards, the golden spike and the laurel tie were removed and replaced with a regular iron spike and normal tie. At exactly 12:47 p.m. on May 10, 1869, the last iron spike was driven, finally completing the line.
Estimated Value $17,000 - 18,000.
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| Realized $16,100 |
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