1858 Liberty Head $5 Half Eagle

1858 Liberty Head $5 half eagle gold coins were made at the Philadelphia, Charlotte (C), Dahlonega (D), and San Francisco (S) mints, with each producing less than 40,000 pieces. While all 1858 Liberty Head half eagles are considered scarce, the Charlotte, Dahlonega, and San Francisco issues are the scarcest.

Here is a rundown of the mintages and values of the 1858 $5 Liberty Head half eagle gold coins:

• 1858, 15,136 minted; $841

• 1858-C, 38,856; $2,000

• 1858-D, 15,362; $2,000

• 1858-S, 18,600; $1,500

*Values are for coins grading Very Fine 20.

Notice that more than two times as many 1858 half eagles were made at the Charlotte mint than the Philadelphia mint. In fact, the Philadelphia mint has the lowest mintage of all four 1858 half eagles. Yet, the price for the Philadelphia $5 gold coin from 1858 is also the lowest. What this illustrates is the important fact that mintages don’t necessarily correspond to the number of existing coins today; this is especially true of 19th-century gold coins, many of which have been melted over the years.

Because 1858 half eagles are considered scarce and historically significant, they are worth much more as collector coins than gold bullion coins. While they contain 0.24187 ounces of gold – a notable amount – the premiums for these coins are much higher than their gold values. An interesting side note about 1858 half eagles is that they were designed by Christian Gobrecht, who also was the designer of the 19th-century Seated Liberty silver coinage.