This 1853 $5 Liberty gold half eagle went down with the SS Central America in the September 1857 hurricane that claimed the Ship of Gold off the Carolina coast. The coin rested more than a mile deep for over a century before recovery teams brought it back to the surface, and the holder pairs it with a pinch of California gold dust from the same wreck. Bob Evans, the chief scientist on the recovery, certified that both the coin and the dust came from the Central America. Very few pre-1933 half eagles carry a shipwreck pedigree this well documented, which is what sets this piece apart from an ordinary date-and-mint example.

Christian Gobrecht's Liberty Head fills the obverse, her coronet lettered LIBERTY and her hair gathered in a beaded bun, with thirteen stars ringing the portrait and the 1853 date below the truncation. The strike is bold through the coronet and the facial profile, while the stars and dentils remain crisp around the rim. On the reverse a heraldic eagle spreads its wings behind a striped shield, clutching an olive branch and three arrows beneath UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. No motto appears above the eagle, since IN GOD WE TRUST did not reach the half eagle until 1866.

PCGS graded this half eagle AU-53, with light friction on Liberty's cheek and the eagle's wing tips and reddish-gold color across even, well-preserved surfaces. Eye appeal runs strong for the grade, and the fields show the softly satiny look that collectors associate with Central America gold rather than the scuffed appearance of long circulation. The accompanying gold dust capsule and the Evans signature line make the display a complete record of the recovery, packaged in a single PCGS holder. A welcome addition to any collection of pre-1933 gold or California Gold Rush history. The coin pictured is the exact coin you will receive.

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