Jeff Ambio: All known 1876-CC half eagles were struck from a single die marriage. The obverse has the date level and somewhat low, and is most readily identifiable by the presence of a small raised die lump on Liberty's neck just below the jaw. On the reverse, the mintmark is close and level with the edge of the arrow feather midway between the two Cs.

Rusty Goe: Earlier in 1876, the Carson Mint had faced charges of making inferior quality and lightweight trade dollars. The accusations were later proved groundless. Coincidently, the workmanship on some groups of coins in 1875 and earlier years had received complaints. Half eagle gold coins from 1875, for instance, showed distracting signs of weakness on the eagle's breast and the upper portion of the shield on the reverse. The Journal of July 19, 1876, was happy to report that "the imperfections in the coins turned out ... have been attributed to machinery defects, which have now been remedied." Credit was given to Joseph B. Harmstead, who had "spent most of his life in the Mints," and who had in early 1876 "been appointed General Machinist at the [Carson] Mint." Ever since, "no more complaints have been made about imperfect coins." Superintendent James Crawford received accolades as well and, in The Journal's words, was "to be congratulated on his management of affairs...." Crawford had spent his first year and a half in office assembling a top-notch crew, which included his hiring of Harmstead, in 1876, and Coiner Levi Dague the year before. Crawford had also secured two additional coin presses by summer 1876, which aided operations in that department immensely.

All of the 6,887 1876-CC half eagles were minted in the second half of the year -- after the coining department had eliminated most of the problems experienced earlier. Despite the low mintage, this was the third consecutive year that the Carson Mint had bested the other two coining facilities in half eagle production.

As is evident from surviving coins from the Carson Mint today the quality on several series showed noticeable signs of improvement in the post-1875 years. The 1876-CC half eagle is a perfect example, as the quality on surviving specimens is clearly superior to the ones dated 1875-CC. The Battle Born example illustrates this fact beyond doubt. It memorializes the centennial year output of gold coins at the Carson Mint in a similar way as the finest 1876-CC twenty-cent piece specimens honor the silver coinage. Gold coin experts recognize the extraordinary 1876-CC half eagle from the Battle Born Collection, graded MS-66 by PCGS, as not just the finest example known for this date, and not just the finest known half eagle of any of the 19 dates issued at Carson City; but as the finest surviving gold coin of any denomination from that mint.

Q. David Bowers: Rusty Goe estimates 135 to 160 1876-CC half eagles survive, with two or three in Mint State. When I did my research some years ago I was not able to confirm a single Mint State coin beyond the marvelous Eliasberg Collection coin that was later sold in the Battle Born Collection.

It was in the summer of 1982 when Louis E. Eliasberg, Jr., one of two sons (the other being Richard A.) invited me to come to Baltimore. After due deliberation he and his family awarded my firm the privilege to auction the gold portion of the Eliasberg Collection, while the copper, nickel, silver, and many other coins were retained by Richard (and later sold separately by us). Security arrangements in place in 1982 had it that the to-be-auctioned gold coins were to remain in Baltimore until the sale time. I went to visit with Louis Jr. and with magnifying glass in hand filled out over 1,000 index cards with data. I then returned to New Hampshire and in leisure and with my reference library at hand, proceeded to catalog the coins one by one.

This particular landmark half eagle earned accolades after it was sold in the Eliasberg Collection auction in November 1982. David W. Akers offered it as Lot 1395 in Auction '89 in July 1989:

1876-CC Gem Uncirculated 65. This has long been one of our very favorite coins, ever since we first saw it in the Eliasberg Sale back in 1982. It is so much better than any other 1876-CC Half Eagle that to call it only the "Finest Known" doesn't seem to do it justice. In Walter Breen's Encyclopedia he notes that this issue is "Prohibitively rare above EF" and then goes on to mention this piece specifically.

We have never seen another example graded as high as MS-60 and so it is our feeling that this coin is not only Unique in this gem condition but possibly unique in Mint State as well. Ex Eliasberg (1982), Clapp (1942), Chapman Bros. (1893). Quality-wise, this coin leaves little to be desired. It is fully struck with lustrous, semi-prooflike surfaces and superb coppery gold toning. Under a glass, a few stray hairlines can be seen but absolutely no nicks, bagmarks or abrasions. This would be called a "gem" if it were a common 1901-S. In the Eliasberg sale in 1982, this 1876-CC realized $26,400 compared to $19,800 for the perfect 1894-S. However, as Q. David Bowers said in 1982 in the Eliasberg catalogue, "this certainly will be one of the issues attracting the greatest attention (in this sale). Everyone likes to own something no one else has, and here is a good opportunity." On that basis, a bid in the mid-five figure range will probably be required to buy this coin.

As noted, half eagles circulated at par in the West at a time when gold coins were not seen in circulation in the East or Midwest. These were produced in the era in which large denomination Carson City $20 were widely exported (this having commenced in 1873), including to European banks, but the half eagle denomination was generally excluded from this. It was far easier to ship a given amount of gold in the form of double eagles, than it would be to have four times as many half eagles. In foreign depositories, assets were counted from time to time, and the $20 pieces facilitated this.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the August 2012 Battle Born Collection of Carson City Coinage, where it realized $487,625.