1870-CC Half Eagle (1870-CC $5) PCGS VF25. The $5 Half Eagle gold coin was a proverbial part of American life. Having been in constant use since the early days of the Republic, it was one of the longest lasting denominations in United States history. $5 Half Eagles would go on to be produced almost continuously from 1795 to 1929, never being used for trade.

The Liberty Head $5 gold Half Eagle was designed by Mint Engraver Christian Gobrecht, and was minted since 1839. Gobrecht's Coronet Liberty was a modified version of the John Reich/William Kneass "Classic Head" that had been in production since 1834. Liberty is depicted thinner and more delicate than on the previous version. She is wearing a tiara engraved with the inscription LIBERTY and her hair is tied in a bun with a string of beads. Thirteen stars surround the bust with the date positioned below. The reverse shows an eagle with outstretched wings, Union shield on its breast, perched on an olive branch and holding three arrows in its left claw. The inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the denomination FIVE D. encircle the eagle just inside the beaded border. In 1866, Gobrecht's successor as Chief Engraver, James Longacre, added the new motto IN GOD WE TRUST to a scroll placed above the eagle's head.

The example featured is an 1870 $5 gold half Eagle struck at the Carson City mint. The story of the Carson City minted coins starts in 1859 when Patrick McLaughlin and Peter ORiley discovered a vast silver deposit on land owned by Henry Tompkins Paige Comstock. As millions of ounces of silver began to be pulled from the newly named Comstock Lode, many began lobbying for the construction of new minting facilities to process the vast amount of precious metals being excavated from the ground. The location that was chosen was Carson City, Nevada. The Carson City mint was under utilized as many miners shipped their gold and silver to the San Francisco mint. This odd occurrence was only made worse by a man named Abe Curry, the first superintendent of the Mint. Curry had more enemies than friends and many vowed not to send their metals to a facility run by Curry and instead continued to send their gold and silver to the San Francisco mint. When Curry resigned, Carson City mintages only continued to decline and today, many of the lowest minted coins came out of the Carson City mint.

Graded VF-25 by PCGS, this 1870-CC Half Eagle has a mintage of 7,675 examples. The coin is well struck with some areas of moderate wear. The example is reasonably priced, perfect for the collector looking for that special coin to become the focal point of their collection.