Lot 2386
1929 $5 Indian. PCGS graded MS-64. Lovely rich golden toning. Sint in once to PCGS for grading. Popular key date. The frosty textured surfaces are awash in rich orange-gold colors, and both sides are uncommonly well struck for this key year, a date that can be indifferently struck on occasion. In fact, as the photographs show and as a 5x loupe amply displays, the coin is desirable with this exact strike. This coin is a brilliant exception to rule that only dullish or abraded 1929 half eagles are the norm. It has sharpness everywhere.
The 1929 five-dollar Indian is an example where the original mintage is a deceptive gauge of how truly scarce the coin is. Mintage was officially 662,000; however, the great volume of these must have stayed in the Treasury or been locked in Federal Reserve vaults, as only a few hundred remain. Most are believed to have been melted in 1937 and later years after the government "nationalized" (seized) the gold coins held in trust for the American public and recast them into gold ingots. Few collectors of the time appreciated the corollary of this seizure: that few 1929 half eagles would remain. Pop 96; 8 in 65. (PCGS # 8533) .
Estimated Value $28,000 - 32,000.
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| Realized $31,050 |
