1880-CC $5 Liberty Head Half Eagle PCGS AU55 Ex. Rian's Bequest Collection

Here’s a rare piece for the specialist in Carson City gold to enjoy for many years to come. With its mintage of 51,017, this is not an easy specimen to acquire, for only 370 examples of this issue have been graded by PCGS. PCGS has graded 55 as AU55 with 60 finer. Please take a careful look at the images of this quite rare coin.

The famous Carson City Mint, where this rarity was struck in 1880.

In the grade of AU55, a Carson City $5 Liberty head is considered a high state of preservation. That is because in the American Old West from the 1850s onwards, paper money was contemptuously scorned. Such an attitude made gold coin significantly important in everyday commerce. They were the accepted—and embraced—method of payment in the Old West.

That explains why so many Carson City-minted $5 gold pieces are found in relatively low grades today. More than most other Liberty head half eagles, those that emanated from the Carson City Mint remain extremely popular and have grown in value over the years. Among the reasons for this is the romance associated with the Old American West, the Comstock Lode, and the Carson City Mint itself.