1850-C

Charlotte struck 63,591 half eagles in 1850, a generous figure that placed the date among the more available Charlotte issues of the series. California gold dominated the year's headlines as Sutter's Mill output reached full flow, but Charlotte's bullion supply was unchanged. Federal channels routed California metal to Philadelphia and the new West Coast assay and mint operations, never back to the southern branches. The Charlotte facility continued working placer gold and vein-mine bullion from the western North Carolina fields. The 63,591 figure puts 1850-C in close company with 1848-C at 64,472 and 1849-C at 64,823, all comfortably above genuine Charlotte rarities like 1842-C Small Date and 1846-C. The mintmark sits on the reverse, a small C just below the eagle.

Specifications follow the standard Coronet half eagle: 8.359 grams, 21.6 millimeters in diameter, .900 fine gold over a copper alloy, reeded edge. Authentication starts at the mintmark. The most common deception is an added C punched onto a genuine Philadelphia 1850 half eagle, so examine the area below the eagle under at least 10x magnification. Look for a clean tool-free join with the field, surface flow consistent with the surrounding metal, and a font matching the small serifed C used on other Charlotte half eagles of the period. Strike weakness is the second pitfall worth knowing. Charlotte coins of this era routinely show soft stars, flat hair detail above Liberty's ear, and weakness on the eagle's left wing. That softness is a striking artifact, not wear, and a properly graded coin should not be marked down for it.

The 1850-C sits in the obtainable tier of Charlotte half eagles per Doug Winter, well behind appearance-rarity keys like 1842-C Small Date, 1844-C, 1846-C, and 1854-C. Estimated survival lands in the 350 to 500 range across all grades. Circulated VF and EF examples appear at Heritage and Stack's Bowers regularly in the four-figure range, AU pieces climb into the low five figures depending on eye appeal, and Mint State coins are genuinely scarce, with most certified examples clustered between MS-60 and MS-62. Anything finer is a true rarity. New Charlotte collectors often reach this date early, alongside 1847-C and 1849-C, before working toward the harder issues. Read the full Liberty Head Half Eagle series history.