1854 Liberty Head $5 Half Eagle

Five different types of 1854 Liberty Head $5 half eagle gold coins were made, with Philadelphia, Charlotte (C), Dahlonega (D), New Orleans (O), and San Francisco (S) all producing respective issues. All 1854 Liberty Head half eagles are scarce, and the Charlotte and Dahlonega gold issues are among the scarcest from 1854. However, the rarest of these coins by far is the 1854-S $5 gold coin; only 268 were made and just 3 are known to exist today.

Here is a breakdown of the mintages and values of the 1854 $5 Liberty Head half eagle gold coins:

• 1854, 160,675 minted; $841

• 1854-C, 39,283; $2,000

• 1854-D, 56,413; $2,000

• 1854-O, 46,000; $982

• 1854-S, 268; $2.5 million in a grade of About Uncirculated 55

*Values are for coins grading Very Fine 20.

Christian Gobrecht, designer of silver Seated Liberty coins from the 19th century, was also the designer of the 1854 Liberty Head half eagles. Given the pre-Civil War vintage and are overall quite scarce of Liberty Head $5 gold coins, they are historically significant and have high price premiums over the value of their intrinsic gold content; 1854 Liberty Seated $5 gold coins contain 0.24187 net ounces of pure gold and weigh a total of 8.359 grams.