1849-C Half Eagle - 1849-C $5 NGC AU55. This pre-Civil War, branch mint 1849-C Half Eagle has subdued mint luster remaining in protected areas of both sides of the coin. The strike of this 1849-C Half Eagle is above average for a pre-Civil War Southern branch mint gold coin with somewhat weak centers but strong peripheries, especially on the centers of the stars. In addition most of the dentils are complete. There is light wear on the high points and surface abrasions that are in keeping with the grade, but none of individual significance. Overall it is a decent example of a difficult branch mint piece.

When Mint Engraver William Kneass was unable to resume his duties after a debilitating stroke, Christian Gobrecht was asked to do his work, which included making a new half eagle that would be uniform with the eagle. The Liberty Head half eagle with No Motto was minted from 1839 to 1866.

Gobrechts design for the shows a left facing profile of Liberty wearing a LIBERTY inscribed coronet. Her hair is tied in the back and there are two loose curls that hang down her neck. Around the head are thirteen six-pointed stars, and the date is below the truncation. At the periphery of the coin are dentils. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle similar to the one on the Classic Head eagle. The inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA surrounds the eagle, except for its wing tips, in an arc. The denomination is below, separated with dots, and written as FIVE D.

In 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to Kneass. After Kneass stroke, Gobrecht did all the die and pattern work for the Mint. He became Chief Engraver in 1840 and served until his death in 1844. He was famous for his Liberty Seated motif which was used for all denominations of silver coinage including the half-dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar and silver dollar. He also designed the Liberty Head gold eagle, a motif that was also used on the half-cent, the cent, the gold quarter eagle, and the gold half eagle.

All Charlotte gold coins are scarce. Much of it is rare, and some is extremely rare because of a combination of low mintages and melting overseas. Many coins that were minted before the Civil War were used to purchase armaments abroad. Much of this coinage was melted in Europe to make coins of the realm. Only a tiny fraction of the C mint coinage survives today. In its population report NGC shows 40 1849-C Half Eagles in AU55 with 53 better.