1839 Liberty Head Eagle - 1839/8, Type of 1838
Strike Type
Coin Details
Value Estimates
Values as of May 2026, from published price guides and, in some cases, recorded auction sales. For most coins the range runs from a well-worn example (around G-4) to an uncirculated one, but individual coins can sell for more or less depending on grade, eye appeal and demand. Compare recent sales of similar coins for a closer estimate.
Auction Record
- Price realized
- $402,500
- Sold
- Grade
- MS66
- Auction house
- Heritage Auctions
Description
This is the 1839/8 overdate variety of the 1839 Liberty Head Eagle. Dies were expensive, and a serviceable die left over at the end of a year was often kept and re-dated rather than destroyed: the new digits were punched directly over the old ones. The earlier date survives underneath wherever its strokes fall outside the digits punched over it, which is why an overdate is read from the shapes that do not belong to the date as printed. The effect is in the die, so every coin struck from it carries the same remnant in the same position. The 1839 Liberty Head Eagle - 1839/8, Type of 1838 was struck at the Philadelphia Mint as a Gold Eagle in the Liberty Head Eagles 1838-1907 series. Standard references record 25,801 coins for the 1839/8, Type of 1838 variety on its own, separately from the rest of the 1839 Liberty Head Eagle issue. The obverse features Liberty facing left wearing a coronet inscribed LIBERTY and the reverse displays a heraldic eagle with shield on breast, olive branch and arrows in talons. Struck in 90% gold, 10% copper, weighing 16.72 grams, 27 mm in diameter, with a reeded edge. Cataloged as PCGS #8576.
External References
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