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***Auction Highlight*** 1844-o Gold Liberty Half Eagle $5 Graded ms61 BY SEGS (fc)

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:2,500.00 USD Estimated At:5,300.00 - 10,600.00 USD
***Auction Highlight*** 1844-o Gold Liberty Half Eagle $5 Graded ms61 BY SEGS (fc)
***Auction Highlight*** 1844-o Gold Liberty Half Eagle $5 Graded ms61 BY SEGS. Although one of the more plentiful New Orleans Liberty half eagles of this period, the 1844-O remains quite difficult to find in Mint State despite the mintage of 364,600 pieces. This issue was unusually large for the New Orleans Mint and comes in as the second highest mintage for any gold coin that branch mint produced, behind only the 1847-O Liberty eagle. Given the rather remote (in 1844) location for this branch mint and the need for gold coinage in circulation in 1844, it is only by chance that any of these survived in Mint State. Collectors today can obtain such a coin with patience, but this offering is clearly one of the very finest known, The gold half eagle represented a backbone of the American banking system at the time and the primary denominations seen and held by banks were the half eagle and the half dollar. New Orleans was a major port where goods from all over the Midwest and portions of the East arrived by boat down the Mississippi River, and from there to points on the East Coast as well as to the West. Other goods arrived in New Orleans and went up river to the farmers, trappers and towns to the north. A few years after this coin was struck, New Orleans became a major destination for the gold coming from California and some of that California gold became New Orleans coinage. When holding this condition rarity in your hand, it is interesting to imagine New Orleans during this historic time when it was a major shipping port and bustling crossroads of American commerce. A Key Date's Pick, Bid to Win, Don't let it get Away, you might not find its equal Coin