Lot 2118
1929. NGC graded MS-63. CAC Approved. Key date. Lovely reverse toning. A frosty, well struck example. Housed in an Old Holder. During this historic year, the Philadelphia Mint produced quarter eagles, half eagles, and double eagle gold coins while the branch mints were quiet on the subject of gold coins. The quarter eagle is a common issue. The half eagle and double eagle issues are both rare and elusive. For collectors of Indian half eagles, examples at the MS63 grade level can be found from time to time, and everyone appreciates it when an appealing specimen in this grade is offered for sale. This representative has highly lustrous and frosty yellow-gold surfaces with traces of light orange to rose-gold toning for the reverse. A few faint surface abrasions on each side control the grade of this piece. All the same, it retains the eye appeal of a higher grade. Pop 49; 86 finer (PCGS # 8533) .
Historic note: The 1929 Half Eagle is a perfect example where the original mintage is a misleading indicator of how truly scarce the coin is. Mintage was listed as 662,000; however, the great bulk of these must have stayed with the Treasury or been locked in bank vaults, as only a few hundred remain. Most are believed to have been melted in 1934 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 day realized the consequence of this seizure and so few retained any 1929 Half Eagles for their collections.
Estimated Value $36,000 - 38,000.
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| Realized $51,750 |
