REDISCOVERING ELIASBERG'S 1839-C HALF EAGLE

 

It's always a great day when an Eliasberg coin is rediscovered. In this case, his 1839-C Half Eagle showed up in a random review of the Numismatic Detective Agency's (NDA) Condition Census for that date and mintmark. The coin itself has long been known as one of the finest examples, but the provenance was broken years ago and the Eliasberg connection was forgotten.

Like most of Eliasberg's coins, his 1839-C came from the Clapp Collection. In a perfect convergence of opportunity, timing, and wherewithal, Eliasberg bit a big bullet when he purchased the Clapp Collection intact in a mega-deal brokered by Stack's. Eliasberg went on to become the king of the numismatic hill when, in 1950, he completed a collection of all U.S. coins known at the time.*

Included in the Clapp Collection was a high-grade 1839-C Half Eagle. When Bowers & Ruddy sold Eliasberg's gold coins in 1982, the cataloger described his 1839-C Half Eagle thusly: Brilliant Uncirculated MS60 obverse; Choice AU55 reverse. The coin sold for $6,325, which was a strong price for the time, but far short of the $16,000 realized by John Work Garrett's Choice About Uncirculated-55 in 1979. In an ironic twist, Eliasberg's 1839-C is now graded finer than the Garret coin (NGC MS63 vs. PCGS MS62, respectively).

As a near Mint State example, Eliasberg's was considered one of the finest 1839-C Half Eagles, at a time when the Condition Census dipped down to the AU level. Today, the NDA Condition Census includes ten examples ranging in grade from MS61 to MS64. That means the Eliasberg example, not quite fully Mint State in 1982, would be overlooked by modern researchers as not being important enough. However, plate-matching tells a different story.

After the Eliasberg sale, it is unclear – at least for several years – what happened to his 1839-C Half Eagle. Just under 20 years later, the coin showed up in Bowers & Merena's 3/2002 sale as an NGC MS62 (Lot 230), with no mention of the Eliasberg provenance. The coin can be identified by a nearly vertical line in the field just left of the eagle's head, some shallow scrapes in the field just to the right of Liberty's neck, and other marks and toning spots.

From there, the Eliasberg 1839-C Half Eagles has gone on a roller coaster ride, appearing in six auctions since 2002, reaching a high of $126,500 in February 2010, then losing over half its value in a 2012 auction where it sold for $48,875 as an MS63. No mention was made of the Eliasberg provenance in any auction after the 1982 sale.

From a purely numerical standpoint, the Eliasberg 1839-C Half Eagle is tied for second place in the NDA Condition Census with a PCGS MS63 and one other NGC MS63.

The current whereabouts of the Eliasberg 1839-C Half Eagle are unknown to us, but we hope the new owner will be happy to have the Eliasberg provenance attached to their coin.

To read the complete article, see:
The Eliasberg Project: Rediscovering His 1839-C Half Eagle (https://numismaticdetectives.com/blog/f/the-eliasberg-project-rediscovering-his-1839-c-half-eagle)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
THE ELIASBERG PROJECT (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n26a14.html)
THE ELUSIVE ELIASBERG 1858-S DIME (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n40a20.html)

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