As the patriarch and matriarch of the family, William and Naomi may be seen, aged but certainly very much alive, in this family photo dated Spring 1911. Per our consignor, Col. Robert Rich:

"William and Naomi are in the front row; she is just right of center. My Aunt Letha is sitting on my Grandfather Dan Rich's knee (4th from right) in the first row. My father, Lloyd Rich, is the first child to the right on my Grandmother Lillie Duff Rich's knee.

According to what Aunt Letha told me, her grandmother gave her the $5 gold piece in 1938 when she graduated from nursing school."

Col. Rich goes on to state that he received the coin from Aunt Letha in the fall of 1967, and he has had it ever since, giving the chain of ownership as: Vineyard Family (in 1865) -> Naomi Vineyard Duff (in 1938) -> Letha Rich Mckenzie (1967) -> Robert Rich (today).

Thus, the coin has been in Col. Rich's family for about 150 years, since the time of the Civil War, and this only adds to the mystique as a Charlotte piece (1838-C gold half-eagle).

Mintage: 17,179. 2 graded MS-60, 2 higher at NGC. The population report for 1838-C practically says it all with regard to its extreme rarity in high grade. The present MS-60 example is the newest entry into the mint-state population (in fact, it has never been tried for certification before) of four pieces, having been certified in July 2014, and of the known mint-state examples, at least one has been permanently placed into a museum collection. Further, 1838-C represents THE key to the short-lived "classic head, no motto" series, having the lowest mintage, and apparently the lowest survival rate. Thus, the opportunity presented here qualifies as "once in a lifetime" for the collector who desires a certified mint-state example.

That the coin shows no evidence of circulation exemplifies NGC's basal "mint-state" grade, since the details rise up off the coin with no evidence of rub. Furthermore, so sharp is the strike (for classic head gold) that tooling details within the die show up as raised texture on the base of the profile, just beneath the lowest central curl. That being said, the peripheral areas do not offer such pronounced definition, as the first three stars display rounded upper relief, and a couple of others manage only partial definition. However, some of the stars toward the right side did receive fine central delineation. Turning to the reverse, the presence of very well separated segments in the eagle's talons joins some pleasing detail in the leaves, reaffirming the sharpness level.

Obviously, NGC chose not to give a grade at the "choice" level, so further investigation is required to determine what factors may have led to that decision. Magnification reveals a plethora of tiny, feathery hairlines fluttering within both obverse and reverse fields, although there is also evidence of strong die polish which helps confuse matters. Let's just say the coin undoubtedly saw opportunities to get wiped during 176 years of existence. Luckily, at normal viewing distance, the coin does offer complete flowline luster, albeit the cartwheeling shimmers weakly under a good lamp. A thin, curving contact scratch can be seen in the obverse right field, but falls within normal parameters for this grade range (or higher), with minimal signs of contact evident elsewhere. Khaki-gold color predominates but sees very slight tinges of tangerine-yellow against the rims. (PCGS# 008177)