1866-S $5 (1866-S Half Eagle) With Motto, NGC AU50.  Some mint luster remains within the devices of this rare Western branch mint 1866-S Half Eagle. A couple of small bag marks and light wear on the highest points keep this coin from a mint state grade. The strike shows central weakness on both sides. The first 6 is also weak as are the eagles neck and left wing. The Liberty Head (Motto on Reverse) half eagle was minted from 1866 to 1908. It was designed by Christian Gobrecht and showed Liberty wearing a coronet as she faced left in profile. Her hair is tied in the back with beads while two loose curls flow down her neck. She is surrounded by thirteen six-pointed stars with the date below. Dentils are near the edge of both sides of the coin. The reverse shows the heraldic eagle with its head turned to the left. In its talons it holds an olive branch and arrows, symbols of peace and preparedness. Above its head on a banner, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added. This design element was added by James B. Longacre. The denomination is below. In addition to dentils, the coin has a reeded edge.

In March, 1865, a coinage act was passed that required that the motto be added to all coins large enough to accommodate it. The Mint interpreted this to mean for gold coinage the half eagle, the eagle, and the double eagle. The Liberty Head (Motto on Reverse) half eagle was created as a result of this mandate. (All silver coins larger than a dime also had the motto added.)

In 1866 dies were shipped to San Francisco for the new reverse to be struck; however, evidently they did not arrive on time and 9,000 1866 No Motto coins were struck. Later in the year 34,920 Liberty Head (Motto on Reverse) coins were made bearing the S mintmark. The present coin is one of these.

The 1866-S half eagle had an original mintage of 842,250. In its population report, NGC has certified 4 in AU50 with 11 better.

The first Carson City coin was the Liberty Seated 1870-CC dollar. A person who had deposited silver at the mint received 2303 silver dollars. Shortly afterwards, gold eagles, half eagles and double eagles were struck. The mint at Carson City did not strike coins made of copper or nickel, and it never struck half dimes, gold dollars, quarter eagles, or three dollar gold coins.

In 1873 silver was demonetized; however, the Bland-Allison act of 1878 required the Treasury Department to coin two to four million sliver dollars each month. The act attempted to keep silver at artificially high levels. Large quantities of Morgan Dollars were minted, but they did not circulate well and were kept in Treasury storage vaults.

In 1884 Democrat Grover Cleveland became president. He fired all the Republican appointees including the top officials at the Carson City Mint and shut it down. A year later it reopened as an assay office. When Republican Benjamin Harrison became president, he fired Clevelands appointees and replaced them with Republicans. In 1889 coining operations at Carson City resumed.

In 1890 the Sherman Silver Purchase Act modified the Bland-Allison Act. Under it the government was required to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver per month which was to be paid with bonds that could be redeemed for gold or silver. Much to the surprise of the officials, most bond holders chose gold, which depleted the governments gold reserve. This instability was one of the causes of the panic of 1893, which led to the repeal of the Sherman Act and slowed the production of silver dollars. At the same time the Nevada mines were no longer as plentiful as they had been before. Combined with a low silver price, a scandal (a worker tried to smuggle gold out of the mint in his lunch box), and a struggling economy, the Mint Director, Robert Preston, ordered the Carson City Mint as a coining facility closed in 1893.

The 1881-CC had an original mintage of 13,886. In its population report, NGC certified 77 coins in all grades. In MS61 there are 2 with only 2 better. PCGS also reports 2 in MS61 with one better. These numbers do not account for resubmissions and crossovers.